In specific instances, a yearly celebration is cause to pull out all the stops. And when you're talking about one of Detroit's hottest nightlife venues, things get ramped up a little more for special occasions. Furthermore, when it's V Nightclub celebrating their fifth anniversary (the Roman numeral "V" stands for five – it's destiny!), there should be some reflection on what exactly it takes to execute a proper anniversary party. So we spoke with three sets of twins that are directly involved in the festivities for the weekend of 10/5 and 10/6. The first are simply gorgeous. The second set are entertainment personified. And the third aren't twins, they're more like partners in crime – but if you spend an evening with these guys, you'll see that their hijinks are one-of-a-kind and how exactly they've been able to build V into the entertainment juggernaut that it is. | RDW
There might be some of you, dear readership, that aren't avid readers of Playboy. If that's the case, we'll be more than happy to enlighten you about two of the special guests who will be at V's birthday extravaganza. On 10/5, Double Vision Fridays will be bringing in Channel 955 and the Shannon twins. Who are these ladies? They just so happen to be ex-girlfriends of the one-and-only Hugh Hefner, which means they're incredibly attractive – blonde, built like a brick house and completely vivacious. But we'll dig a little deeper, just for research sake.
As the first and only twins to be Playmates of the Month for two distinct months, it wasn't really a stretch to get themselves booked for the spread. After a small bit of internet research, they put together their portfolio and emailed it off to the magazine – and got a return call the very next day. "I know that Playboy liked how animated our photos were," says Karissa. "We were dressed as an angel and a devil – and Hef likes that kind of stuff."
Miss July and Miss August 2009 really just catapulted from there, landing on The Girls Next Door (which began the season more highly-rated than the show has ever been). As two of Hefner's three main girlfriends, their fame only rose from there – and it hasn't even come close to descending yet. "We want to do things separately and together," says Kristina. "We're getting more into acting, directing, producing, writing – pretty much anything and everything in entertainment. We're actually working more on the business aspect of things. We've got a make-up line, a clothing line, we're working on a book and we recorded a song together."
While there are never any promises in this business, the entertainment ante has actually just been upped – with their appearance at an ideal venue, there really isn't a better stage to debut said track. True, they could simply hang out and mingle – these two are totally bubbly, laid-back and extremely personable – and no one would be disappointed. But perhaps hearing them perform too? Now that would just be icing on the birthday cake. | RDW
Every Saturday night at V brings you Volume Saturdays, a weekly party that is never dull in any way, shape or form. On 10/6, however, this will most definitely be the most intense example of "fun" that you've experienced in quite some time.
The EC Twins are, as the name would imply, a couple of fun-loving brothers from England, who have managed to not only build quite the following here in the States – including residencies in some of the biggest venues in the nation – with their combined DJ prowess, but they successfully and single-handedly (double-handedly, if you count all four of their appendages) made their Edinburgh club, Eye Candy, into an international powerhouse of fun. "The crowd that tends to follow us are the bottle club people, the millionaires, celebrities – the jet set crowd," says Marc Blackham, one half of the twin duo. "That's not really who we are, we're really just kids from the hood. But we are very grateful for that support. They came out and found us."
It's also entirely fair to say that Marc and Allister Blackham are familiar with Detroit, having brought party central to V before. And on this trip, they're definitely going to only be building on the foundation they've laid. But that's not the only reason they're familiar with the Motor City. Their hometown of Manchester, England has many times been compared to Detroit – for various reasons. "When people talk about our hometown, Manchester, they always compare it to Detroit," says Marc. "They're both industrial cities that saw that industry slow down. They're both gritty, rough and have their share of poverty and struggle. When we came to Detroit for the first time and drove through, it did remind us of home. The people have a lot of culture, passion and want to go out and party."
Well, guys, that passion and desire to go out and party will be firmly in your hands come 10/6 – and we're counting on you. | RDW
Nick Haddad, Program Director and resident DJ at V Nightclub, and Awsem Zbair, Nightlife and Entertainment Manager for MGM Grand Detroit, are a pretty formidable duo. They've managed to take V to the next level of entertainment, and in addition to their charismatic and vibrant personalities, these guys get things accomplished in a big way.
"It's really the only place in the city that can offer the type of amenities that MGM has to offer, while providing the kind of talent and entertainment that we bring in," Haddad says. "Detroit is still not seeing the tourism that it is reaching for, so for a lot of people, a weekend at MGM and a night at V is like taking a small vacation without ever leaving the city."
In a metropolis like Detroit, which has fallen on hard times in the past few years, building a successful entertainment empire is not an easy thing to do. That said, it's obviously taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears by both Zbair and Haddad to get V to the point where they're able to throw a birthday party of this magnitude. "When two people have the same goal it's very easy to have consistency in making things happen," says Zbair. "We both want people to have a great time and enjoy themselves when they come to our venue. I like to think we are a dynamic duo, but both of us are Batman, there is no Robin!"
So, in addition to bringing in some top-notch talent, V has also managed to put together a prize package for its party patrons – a Florida vacation, courtesy of visitflorida.com, the B Ocean Ft. Lauderdale Resort and the Greater Lauderdale CVB. Yes, you get to not only ogle over the hot Shannon twins and be amazed by the dynamic entertainment of the EC Twins, you can actually win a trip to Florida too!
"We try to be consistent with what's really important and that's treating the customer to an experience, not just a night out," Zbair adds. "We want that person to tell everyone they know how great of a time they had at our venue and how it's unlike anything else in our market – that's where we leave our mark as management." | RDW