Fairytale Town opened its gates on Thursday for a special After Hours event, the Once Upon a Night: Moonlight Costume Ball, just for adults. The event was open to adults 18 years of age and older and featured live music, a DJ, dancing, two themed bars, food and beverage, a henna artist, and more.   Fairytale Town continues to promote the imagination, creativity and education of children as their core mission.  However, its After Hours programming will help develop an avenue to reach new audiences, and raise funds to support the park's programs for children and families.  "So many Sacramentans remember coming to Fairytale Town as children, and hold fond memories of the park.  We want to

The Submarines are an indie-pop group comprised of married couple Jack Dragonetti and Blake Hazard.  Touring with drummer Jason Stare and new bass player "Scott," they passed through Sacramento on Wednesday night, playing a small show at Blue Lamp. If you don't recognize the band name, you would certainly recognize the music. Their songs have been featured in Nip/Tuck, Weeds, Grey's Anatomy, Gossip Girl, and in maybe the most well-known placement, the songs "You, Me and the Bourgeoisie" and "Submarine Symphonika" were used in Apple commercials for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. Originally working as solo artists in Boston, Dragonetti and Hazard played in each other's bands and were romant

There was a lot of fishnet at Blue Lamp on Wednesday night, which could mean a few things, but in this case it was lo-fi pop quartet Dum Dum Girls visiting Sacramento in support of their debut album I Will Be. Dum Dum Girls is led by Dee Dee (real name: Kristen Gundred), the creative force behind the all girl group, á la Trent Reznor. The name of the group is a nod to both The Vaselines' album Dum-Dum, and the Iggy Pop song "Dum Dum Boys". The 27-year-old singer/songwriter started recording songs in her bedroom and eventually looked to her friends to take the show on the road. The debut album I Will Be was produced by Richard Gottehrer, who is responsible for writing 60's classics "My Boy

  There is Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus pop, and there is Rooney pop. It was nice to see the Rooney kind on Wednesday night at the Boardwalk in Orangevale. Both Rooney and one of their support bands on this tour, The Young Veins, have a throwback pop sound that isn't so common these days. As someone who grew up with Weezer, I was definitely looking forward to seeing Rooney for the first time. The Young Veins were a great opener (the other support bands were local band Flatlin, and Black Gold, from Brooklyn). The 'Veins are compromised of two former members of Panic! at the Disco and are touring in support of their first release Take a Vacation!  If The Byrds and The Beatles had a baby, their

A longtime restaurateur who once served the likes of Sonny Bono, Meat Loaf and Tim Allen has moved MVP Sports Grill to a new Midtown location. The sports bar opened last week in the St. Anton Building, 2110 L St. Ron Long, the sports bar's legally blind proprietor, had operated MVP at the corner of 17th Street and Capitol Avenue in the state of California's East End Complex for four years. The move was not prompted by the impending sale of the complex, one of 11 state-owned office properties up for sale by the state Department of General Services. The state plans to lease the properties back, and MVP would have been able to stay at 1629 Capitol Ave., Long said. Instead, Long felt the ti

If you've never had the chance to try riding a mechanical bull, get ready to hold on tight. Downtown Sacramento will welcome a new Western-themed restaurant and bar called Bulls this summer featuring such an attraction. "The theme will be Western meets rock and roll," said owner Andrea Martin. "There's nothing like this in Sacramento." Construction continues at 1330 H St., where Bulls will be located. Martin pointed out an 18-foot-wide space where a mechanical bull will be installed, and the skeleton of the "horseshoe bar" being built. The indoor space and outdoor patio can hold 60 people. "(The mechanical bull) provides entertainment long after you have dinner or lunch," Martin said.

  The newest best kept secret in Sacramento cocktails and cuisine is House Kitchen & Bar.  Located at 555 Capitol Mall, slightly inset on the corner of 5th and Capitol, the pleasantly open environment exists where 55 Degrees once was.  55 Degrees was owned by Ali Mackani, the owner of Midtown Sacramento's Lounge ON20. House opened earlier this month and transformed the once urban kitchen into a city dweller's culinary masterpiece.  The service is top-notch, the staff is friendly and articulate, and the management redefines professionalism.  In fact, the only thing that overshadows the food and service inside is the fantastic bar service.  Jennifer Dunmore, an area native and stylist at Im

Vive Cocina Mexicana and Ultra Lounge has replaced Three Monkeys on K Street. Vive Cocina opened last month at 723 K St., next to St. Rose of Lima Park, according to a restaurant manager. The opening had been scheduled for December, then January, said Felipe Olvera, one of the owners. Juan Ayalagarcia, who operated Playa Azul Night Club on Auburn Blvd., is partnering with Olvera and four or five others in the venture, according to Olvera and records from the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. A Franchise Tax Hold was issued against the liquor license March 8. However, Vive Cocina has had an active license since Nov. 23, said Lori Ajax, administrator of the Sacramento A

Kimio Bazett doesn't remember exactly when he and buddy Jon Modrow came up with the idea to open a bar. It might have been while Modrow was sharing his misery over the lack of human interaction he found in his job as a genetics researcher working on fruit flies. Or it might have been one of those golden afternoons spent bombing down sugared white slopes at a Tahoe ski resort. Modrow on skis, Bazett carving turns with his snowboard. Whenever it happened, the result was one of Midtown's most popular and laid-back watering holes -- The Golden Bear. "We were two people who made a huge effort to make a dream become a reality," Modrow said last week. "The idea came from the kinds of places I

I was out and about the day before Christmas Eve and as usual looking for something to eat when I came across Sweetwater Restaurant and Bar. The restaurant stands on a decent piece of midtown real estate with a good amount of foot traffic through the neighborhood. Upon walking in you are immediately facing the bar. Since there is no podium or hostess we sat ourselves and our server Jo Beth promptly came by with menus. One of the first things I noticed was the extremely bright lights which took so much away from what would have otherwise been a very welcoming room. I’ve been in emergency rooms more dimly lit. The crowd was quiet and average at the bar most likely due to the fact it was s

Some people are still scratching their heads over Whiskey Wild Saloon. As recently as two weeks ago, regulars posting on yelp.com wrote to ask what had happened to the tavern, where for two years, people danced on the bar and drank $2 "train shots" whenever trains rolled by. "Did this place officially close?" wrote someone who stopped by, only to find the place dark and the front doors chained and bolted. The bar at 1910 Q St. closed over the summer for reasons that aren't clear. The owners surrendered the bar's liquor license to the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control on Sept. 9. The bar closed at least a month earlier, according to its MySpace page, where someone post

East Sacramento has a new hangout: The Corner Restaurant & Bar, which opened its doors for business last Friday.     "I want this to be a place people want to come and hang out at," said owner Joel Thompson. "As cliche as it sounds, I hope The Corner will be a place like the 'Cheers' bar 'where everyone knows your name.'"     The Corner is located down the street from Sacramento State University at the corner of 57th and J streets in the historic building that was home to the original Shakey's Pizza until the mid-1990s. The Thompson family opened the restaurant with the goal of creating a family-friendly place where students, parents and kids alike could enjoy reasonably priced food

Happy hour is alive and well in the Downtown Sacramento area on Thursday nights. While there are countless restaurants offering discounts on food and drinks for varying days and times, eight of the grid's Thursday happy hours stood out from the pack. Heading off the list is the Dragonfly Japanese restaurant. Located at 1809 Capitol Ave. and voted "Best New Restaurant" by SN&R, the Dragonfly offers some impressive deals during happy hour. Running from 3 to 6 p.m. and 9 to 10 p.m., the restaurant offers half-off sushi rolls, $2 sake bombs, $3 drafts and half-off well drinks. Another good place to kick back and enjoy some good deals on food and drinks is Level Up Lounge at 2431 J St. Their

Tonight, the Shady Lady Saloon will have two guest bartenders, Erick Castro and Owen Westfield of San Francisco's Bourbon & Branch. Bourbon & Branch has a set of house rules that coincide with the simplicity and no-funny-business attitude of the Shady Lady: No use of cell phones No photography No standing at the bar Please speak easy (or quietly)   Don't even think of asking for a Cosmo Please be patient as the drinks are labor-intensive Bourbon & Branch used to be the location of the JJ Russell Cigar Shop which operated as a speakeasy from 1923-1935, complete with a password that needed to be uttered to gain admittance, a trap door that opened and led down to the bar and five s

I see you all the time at Tupelo Coffee House, but you don’t know me. We both like it that way. Neither of us will exchange a word, but I have created your brief back-story for my own entertainment. It is fiction, but this is the nature of our relationship. I have 900 Facebook friends, and I frequent all the same spots, but I do not know anyone. We work here, meet here, and play here. When home is where the couch is, we spend most of our waking hours out and about; returning home only to crash for the night. Time is calculated in semesters, leases, and rental agreements instead of years or friendships. Neighbors have come to represent mysteries rather than faces or lives. Forgotten are t

A mouthful of gin spews into an open flame sending a ball of fire several feet into the air and the heat from the blast can be felt from the audience. With the fireball's deafening sound, Kris Laidlaw, bartender from GV Hurley's, draws the whole room's attention as well as a round of applause. Earlier, this article previewed Wednesday night's cocktail competition, which took place from 6-8 p.m. at Lounge on 20. To add to a base of Broker's London Dry Gin, the competitors used ingredients as diverse as frozen papaya to Peruvian chili peppers to edible flowers. Ali Mackani, owner of the Lounge on 20 MC’d the event and interviewed the 10 competitors for the nearly 100 people who showed up.

Anything goes Wednesday night when eleven area mixologists will mix drinks in a cocktail competition with only one rule: the drink must include Broker's London Dry Gin. But aside from that, contestants will be putting in anything and everything else to express their creativity and win a cash prize. The event host, Lounge On 20, will open doors at 5 p.m. and the competition will begin at 6 p.m., with a specially priced cocktail menu being served all night. It is sponsored by Broker's London Dry Gin and company Director Andrew Dawson will be one of the four celebrity judges along with Joe Anthony Savala of Z´calo, Darryl Corti of Corti Brothers, and Mike Heller of the Heller Company. Alma

While many local businesses are shutting their doors, three ambitious Sacramentans are putting their heads and money together to open a new saloon in Sacramento, The Shady Lady. Garrett Van Vleck, Jason Boggs and Alex Origoni first met working at various Paragary restaurants. After months of searching for the right place, the three took to the old Wonderbread factory and named it after the nickname for the first bar that Origoni went to when he was in school. "That's one of the things that hasn't changed through our entire two year process of doing this," Van Vleck said. The trio has gone through countless menus and concepts, but the name Shady Lady has been one constant. None of the

 de Veres Irish Pub, located on 15th and L has recently opened up. Yesterday there was an event where locals sold hip new clothing, anywhere from hats to snowboarding gear, out on the patio. While visiting the clothing event, I was able to experience the pub for my first time. Inside the building is incredible. It is lined with dark wood, giving it the Irish feel, while maintaining a totally classy look. The beer selection is great and tasty. I managed to try the BLT sandwich, potato leek soup, and the lamb sliders. All were delectable. I carried my refreshment to the patio with me, while I browsed some of the great deals. Jay Gatlin of Hell-Bent Sales, was selling snow boards and gear,

The speed with which development in the downtown/midtown grid takes place can be snail’s pace slow, or lightning fast. Here’s an example of the latter. One week ago, I drove past the corner of 15th and L and checked out the progress on that corner, where the old Firestone tires store used to be. There is going to be a California Pizza Kitchen on the corner, and upstairs, Mason Wong has already quietly opened his gorgeous new lounge, Mix. But downstairs, one week ago, the commercial space to the left of those two businesses was bare bones, construction workers doing all that behind the scenes work that civilians can’t really fathom. Electrical, plumbing, etc. But last night, on my way to