THE NIGHT STUFF
Skyline shows off Hanohano again

By Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

DJ SubZero spins tunes at Skyline in the Sheraton Waikiki's Hanohano Room on a recent Saturday night. Photos by Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Juaont "JuJu Beats" Bodden of San Francisco jams on congos.

Chenoa Farnsworth of Kaimuki gets into the groove on the dance floor.

Jeffrey Sabo, center, of Edmonton, Alberta, feels the vibes on the dance floor at a recent Skyline event in Waikiki.

"We've been here, like, twice," I'd tell my partner in Night Stuff, swizzling my sour with a skewered

cherry and slice of pineapple. "And every band does 'Play that Funky Music.' And 'Celebration.' And 'Long Train Runnin'.' Badly."

I'd survey the half-filled room, watch some kind of berry dessert set afire at a table near us, and gaze at the usual quartet of fiftysomething couples on the dance floor grooving to a cover of Rufus and Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody."

Sigh.

Now, before the e-mails start pouring in, know that I have nothing against fiftysomethings getting down with their bad selves on a Saturday night. I'll be lying about being one of 'em soon enough anyway.

Still, noticeably fewer baby boomers in recent years have been opting for flambé and Kool & The Gang covers at the Hanohano Room over an evening of, say, home-brewed coffee and CBS. My favorite room with a view was being wasted.

Enter Skyline.

Orchestrated by promoters Flash Hansen, Matty Hazelgrove and Komo Low (who collectively and individually are responsible for über weeklies/monthlies such as Wonderlounge, the Pussycat Lounge, Glitter-N-Glamour Experience and Star Bar), Skyline is a party that finally takes full advantage of its well-known, already appealing location by making the Hanohano Room its star attraction. Everything else at Skyline is a star-crossed accouterment.

Skyline's décor is subdued modern elegance — a large room darkened just so, ice-blue lighting over the main bar, blue-tinted votives on every table, black cloths draping booths and windowside tables, and little else. Downtempo house grooves welcomed guests arriving early.

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WHAT: Skyline (formerly Twilight) WHERE: Hanohano Room, Sheraton Waikiki Hotel, 2255 Kalakaua Ave., 922-4422 WHEN: 9 p.m.-2 a.m. monthly, on designated Thursdays OUR ARRIVAL/DEPARTURE: 9:30 p.m./shortly after midnight COVER: $7, before 11 p.m. YOUNGER THAN 21 OK?: No AGE OF CROWD: 20s to 40s WHAT TO WEAR: Dress up for this one, dare to be different fashion-wise, or risk missing the elevator. Abercrombie & Fitch might be risky. Banana Republic to Emporio Armani will work. Leave the skull cap home. PEAK CROWD WHILE THERE: 300 (strictly-enforced maximum capacity) QUEUE?: Yes. Arrive early. The line, and the wait, gets longer the later it gets. THE LAYOUT: One large dance floor, a main bar, satellite bar, centralized VIP section, open tables overlooking Waikiki on either side of the Hanohano Room THE SOUNDTRACK: DJed downtempo house, house, current dance remixes, classic remixed '80s grooves BATHROOM ATTENDANT HOLDING PAPER TOWELS HOSTAGE?: No VIP PACKAGES/BOOTH RESERVATIONS: Call 349-1224 CH-CH-CHANGES: 1. That name change from Twilight to Skyline, a decision meant to accompany 2. A move from Saturday to Thursday evenings. NEXT SKYLINE: Thursday, featuring guest Superstar DJ Keoki

The crowd composition offered a similar dichotomy. On one table near us, a group of females moved breezily from a discussion about their designer cocktail dresses to another about how many of them were high school homecoming princesses. Turned out, four out of five.

On another table, guys in resort wear chowed on egg rolls and shumai and asked if Bud Light pitchers were available. Female fashion plates strutted bustier-and-skirt/jeans combos in the VIP section; a quartet of giggling girls in tiaras and princess dresses took starring roles on the dance floor. A guy with a head of blue hair surveyed the room in a leopard-print suit.

A strictly-enforced 300-patron maximum capacity maintained by Sheraton kept the Hanohano roomy, and lent Skyline a palpable air of exclusivity. This was especially hard to miss when exiting, post-midnight, to find hopefuls still waiting to get in.

The only thing that pulled me away from Skyline early was another club assignment. Play that funky music ...

Reach Derek Paiva at 525-8005 or dpaiva@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Night notes ...

There may be entirely too much '80s nostalgia in downtown Honolulu tonight.

At Studio 1, Pussycat Projects, Stone Groove Family and Veejay Entertainment host Lifestyles of the Rich & Shameless. The best '80s costume wins $100 (which was, like, totally a fortune in 1984). From 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.; entry is $5. Meanwhile, Indigo Eurasian Cuisine serves up 80 Cent '80s, with three rooms (pop, hip-hop and underground) of music from the Gipper years. 80 cents gets you in all night long, all night. And POPular: Pretty In Pink (yup, dedicated to John Hughes) goes off from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at Club Pauahi.

Hey, if it was good enough for Josie & The Pussycats ... This week's edition of The Pleasure Dome features Quadraphonix, literally, throwing down the acid jazz live on the lanes at University Bowl-O-Drome. DJed hip-hop and dancehall spins. Cosmic bowling knocks the pins. From 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., at 820 Isenberg St.

And finally ... has the dating pool got you down? Ocean Club's second annual Burning Down The House: Hawaii Heroes Bachelor Auction offers up the kind of warm and fuzzy feeling you can only get from paying up to date a firefighter, lifeguard or police officer for a good cause — in this case, battling breast cancer. Auctions at 8 and 11 p.m. No cover before 8 p.m.; $5 thereafter. 531-8444.