THE NIGHT STUFF
Subdued Last Resort could use some frisky fun

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Sharon Ogawa, left, of Manoa and Cherilyn Inouye of Kailua have plenty of room on the dance floor at Phillip Paolo's Last Resort party at Restaurant Row. Photos by Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

John "DJ Wreck" Himphayvanh, of Kane'ohe, spinning for Mystical Sounds, played urban R&B and hip-hop sounds on a recent Thursday night.

Cody Tait, of Kane'ohe, dances at Phillip Paolo's Last Resort party at Restaurant Row. The weekly Thursday jam has R&B and hiphop music, with a casually dressed clientele.

"It was never really happening the one or two times we came by," said Melissa Kishimoto, waiting at the Row Bar for a couple of friends to meet her for half-price sushi at Sansei. "But I think a lot of the summer club crowd that used to come (to Restaurant Row) on Thursdays has homework again."

Kishimoto was probably on to something. But once ensconced in Phillip Paolo's with a couple of friends, I found little in common between the strangely subdued Last Resort and the far friskier Puma it compared itself to.

Problems? Not with drink service or a nicely varied urban R&B and hip-hop soundtrack to set the mood. (I have to admit, hearing Lauryn Hill's "Everything Is Everything" spun in a club setting again gave me chicken skin.) Instead, the main problem we had with Last Resort was that it didn't have much else to offer, or recommend. And on a school night, it wasn't exactly a party worth the trouble of missing morning classes for.

Last Resort may have simply been riding out a slow night. But an 11:30 p.m. peak of 40 patrons mostly content to simply sit back, drink and talk was hardly reminiscent of Puma's far more dressy, energetic and dancefloor-crazed crowd.

"It is kind of dead isn't it?" admitted Laura Higuchi, scanning the room and finally giving in to her friends' insistence that Sansei's sushi menu was calling ... loudly.

"You should come, too," she added. "Doesn't The Advertiser reimburse you for stuff like that?"

Uh-huh. Except that somehow I didn't think my editors would appreciate a $100 sushi and sake receipt from Sansei.

Half-price or otherwise.

Got a night spot, night event or club event we should check out? Reach Derek Paiva at 525-8005 or dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.

What: Last Resort.

Where: Phillip Paolo's Italian Restaurant, Restaurant Row, 585-8142.

When: 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Thursdays.

Our arrival/departure: 11 p.m./12:15 a.m.

Cover: $5.

Younger than 21 OK? No.

Age of crowd: 20s-30s.

What to wear: Dress casual. There were a couple of women in cocktail dresses, but most patrons were comfortable with casuals.

Peak crowd while there: 40.

Queue?: No.

The soundtrack: Urban and Top 40 R&B and hip-hop. "Everything Is Everything" (Lauryn Hill), "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can't See" (Busta Rhymes, "Hypnotize" (Notorious B.I.G.)

Half-price sushi menu at neighboring Sansei: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, after 10 p.m.

You can find "Everything Is Everything": On Lauryn Hill's 1998 CD "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," track 13.

Puma Party: 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Wednesdays, Compadre's Bar & Grill, Ward Centre.

Overheard line of the night: "It was a'ight but I'll move out of the country if they do a Hollywood version." — A Last Resort patron on "Ko Mil Gaya," which he had just seen at the Art House. Among other things, the Indian film is about a mentally challenged twentysomething male who befriends a space alien.

Night notes ...

Nick's Fishmarket's continuing (and much welcome) adventures in after-hours partying translates to a couple of promising events this week.

After debuting at Indigo last month with a fashion-heavy theme, Tasty's The Associates Club moves its weekly gatherings to the Fishmarket on Tuesday. "Jazzy/funky/mellow drum-n-bass pared with rare grooves of soulful hip-hop/trip-hop jazz" is being promised in one room; deep house and mixed grooves in the other. 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; 21 and older.

The Trend, from the folks at Doorman Productions and Sarah Jane Productions, starts up a Thursday night residency with two rooms of DJ love as well. MC Trace and DJ Epic will provide the hip-hop, while Mei Lwun of San Francisco-based OM Records' Soulstice SoundSystem messes with some "soulful and dirty" house. 10 p.m.-2 a.m.; 21 and older. Opening night cover is $10, but drops to $5 starting Sept. 25.