Bitter:Sweet’s Unprivate Engagement
Holly GoNightly
May 08, 2008
Like so many nights before, the ever innocent “after work cocktail” slides into pre-show tequila shots with a band, crashing an awards ceremony, and the notion of staying in and getting caught up with Gossip Girl is somehow replaced by the thump of bass and the clink of glasses. GG will have to wait. Last night I came to the Highline Ballroom to do what we writers call "work." I was interviewing the buzzy band Bitter:Sweet, whose albums have been securing a lot of airtime on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, not to mention the theme song for Lipstick Jungle. I’m instructed prior to the interview that I cannot actually stay for the show, as it’s a “private engagement.” I take it in stride, drinking a bottle of water as I sit through Bitter:Sweet’s sound check, which is quite entertaining in itself.
Kirin Shahani, one half of Bitter:Sweet, skips down from the stage and declares that it’s time I had a drink. The image I had of an evening with my DVR blurs into oblivion, facilitated by Kirin’s enthusiastic face and a bottle of Peroni that has just appeared in my hand. A few cocktails later, and I’m invited to said private engagement. I consent, though completely unsure of what this “engagement” may entail. Another beer later and I find myself reclining in an oversized booth, eating catered bits as the attendees of the 2008 One Show awards filter in. The One Show, as I learn from the business cards being tossed around, is a ceremony awarding creatives within the advertising and media world.
Creatives indeed. As Bitter:Sweet take the stage, a pulp-film atmosphere manifests by way of men in tilted fedoras and women with red lips and razor sharp bobs, swaying to the stylish electronic set. The band makes everyone seem sexier; Shana Halligan is draped in a floor-skimming number, and her voice emanates a sultry retro texture. As the show ends, the ambiance quickly dissipates into business-card exchanges, and I retreat from the sloppy company conversations—happy to have crashed while the party was festive, and even happier to leave before the party became corporate.
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