25. Bootie LA

Bootie LA is a dance/theme party at the Echoplex in Echo Park. The event is known for its crazy mash-ups and DJ re-mixes.

My friend and I went for the "Back to School" theme party. The event called for naughty school girl and nerdy boy outfits, crazy mash-ups, battle of the vjs, photo booth, and a dance troupe. We didn't get there til after 11 PM so we might have missed some of the events.

If you arrive before 10, you get half off tickets, so $6 versus $12. I would highly recommend getting there early, because when we got there it was definitely full, so it would have been just as fun an hour earlier, and cheaper. Upon arrival we were greeted by the "photo booth," which in actuality is a man with a camera and a fish eye lens in front of a station. The station was school themed - there was a chalkboard, rulers, chalk, a desk, etc. I was a bit bashful, but the photographer was kind of nice and helped us make some cool poses. It was somewhat awkward because people kept walking by and staring (unlike what happens in a normal photobooth - privacy!)

There were a lot of people dancing, scantily clad dancers and a dj on the stage, disco-esque lights, the whole nine yards. I really liked that most of the dancers were men and women in outrageous, sparkly costumes. It was refreshing and in opposition to all the Hollywood bars which have women dancing sexually in lingerie (I've noticed that when this happens, most of the men in the bar/club just stand there and watch...and it's creepy. This was different because the dancers were hyping up the crowd and everyone else was dancing. There was no ogling, at least not to my knowledge). There were two bars, and an outdoor area (mostly for smoking, but also getting fresh(?) air). The bathroom attendants had candy stations, and my friend and I were given lollipops, which kind of played with the whole school/kid theme.

Overall the event was really fun. It was upbeat, had a non-hollywood crowd, which is a plus in my opinion (it was very diverse in terms of age/gender/sexual orientation/ethnicity, but was mostly heterosexual mid 20's peeps). There were two downsides, in my opinion. While the mash-ups were really fun and flowed together very naturally, I thought there would be more 90's songs due to the theme. Britney Spears was on the cover of the ad for the event, so I thought we'd be jamming to mash-ups of Britney, N'Sync, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, etc., but it was mostly current songs or songs from a few years ago, and some indie pop/rock songs I'd never heard before. It was also extremely hot - which most clubs are, I suppose. We found a huge fan located near one of the bars, and kind of danced in front of it and stationed ourselves there for most of the night.

I would highly recommend Bootie for a night out - they have events twice a month. Oh - and I would also recommend getting valet - that area can be a bit sketchy, and not particularly safe for walking multiple blocks just to save five bucks.

Learn more about Bootie here: http://bootiemashup.com/la/