The one night a year that the old abandoned IX warehouse is packed is the night of Artini. The IX sits over on Monticello Avenue a block off the downtown mall. Second Street Gallery took the space from just an abandoned warehouse to the biggest dance party in Charlottesville on Saturday night. Over 500 tickets were sold including 100 vip tickets to party goers that wanted to see the IX transformed.
It’s hard to throw a really good party at the IX. I was on the committee, but there were a couple girls that really took charge to make everything come together. You could tell they really put a lot of thought into every detail of the event. You have to think of everything and bring everything to the space including light, sound, and furniture. Starting off with the bathrooms, using trailers this year was the greatest idea. Wearing a cocktail dress and using a port-a-potty is gross. The trailers were nice and had a rug, mirror, light, sink and soap for each individual bathroom. Great idea! 
I previewed the artinis at the Wednesday night preview events and I was impressed by how similar the Minimalist and the Modernist were to the martinis that I had sampled. The Post Feminist was quite a bit different at the party than with the previews. The poprocks turned my mouth bright red and it was really sugary. But, if martinis weren’t your thing there were plenty of other choices including beer and cokes.
The dj was set up in the middle of the space towering over the dancers. He really did a good job keeping the energy high. The dance floor was always crowded and there was rarely a seat around the room to rest. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves up until 1am, when everyone was rallied together to leave the party. Waiting outside was Hamdinger’s, just keeping it classy in Charlottesville.
