As Basnayake likes to say about his parties, “Nothing could be more DC.” And he’s kind of right. So yeah, this isn’t Miami or LA or wherever. This feels like a rooftop in wherever.’ ”īut Washington’s power set is getting down to go-go tunes with the Lincoln Memorial behind them, while the guy running the show needs to be up in a few short hours for a partners meeting at his firm. “Tonight, I guarantee, I will put money on it,” Basnayake said to me earlier, “somebody’s going to come up to me and say, ‘This doesn’t feel like DC. I’ve got to get it on!”-croons Prince’s “1999.” He pumps up the crowd to make some noise for the mayor’s birthday, then-“Quiet, everybody. Between nightlife and swamp life, Basnayake has thrived in the murky thickets where it pays to be the guy who knows a guy.Īs midnight approaches, the comedian takes the mike, red Solo cup and cigarette in hand. He has the ear of government on both sides of the federal/local divide-a Hill top-lobbyist list-maker, a confidant of DC mayor Muriel Bowser, and no stranger to a White House holiday party. He’s a lobbyist.Ī protégé of the famed late King of K Street, Tommy Boggs, Basnayake reps foreign governments and corporations. Washington isn’t exactly known for its nightlife, but when the scene does hit, say, Page Six, Basnayake’s spots tend to be the backdrop.īut get this-all while trying to build up the city as a Saturday-night playground for the young, trendy, and ready to party, Basnayake has also held down the most Washington job in Washington. (Basnayake has since sold his stake.) Now there’s the cocktail den Morris American Bar, near the convention center the Cuban-inspired hot spot Casta’s Rum Bar in Foggy Bottom and Heist, which Michelle Obama rented for her 53rd birthday and where the Nats and Caps popped bottles after their championship wins. First was Eden, where Kevin Durant and Drake and the Backstreet Boys came to party. For the past ten years, he has operated some of DC’s sceneiest clubs and bars, drawing an international crowd and big-name celebs. Basnayake-just “V” to his friends-used to be the tour manager for a mega R&B superstar, has done tequila shots with Justin Timberlake in Vegas, and once appeared in a music video with Nicki Minaj (blink and you’ll miss it, but still). Right photo of Basnayake with Chappelle at Mayor Bowser’s birthday party. Left photo of Dave Chappelle and Basnayake at the party Basnayake produced for the comedian. only said company hasn’t actually set up in the right place yet. A company called Yondr will put everyone’s devices in secure pouches they can’t access until they leave. About 250 guests are about to arrive all at once, and every single one needs to get a rapid Covid test to enter. To top it off, Basnayake’s usual point man is out tonight the logistical nightmare is all his.Īn army of cocktail waitresses in skimpy red dresses drag lounge furniture beneath an overhang and cover the cabanas with tarps. But Chappelle’s private soiree is the most VIP yet-with a guest list of White House staffers, local-DC bigwigs, and the comedian’s closest friends.
![liaison gay bar las vegas liaison gay bar las vegas](https://www.reviewjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/12350872_web1_LGBT-BAR-CLOSE-JUN22-19-bh-005.jpg)
![liaison gay bar las vegas liaison gay bar las vegas](http://images.citysearch.net/assets/imgdb2/reinvent/profile/2012/7/25/23/UdlJBzPR.jpg)
The producer of the bash is a 39-year-old born-and-bred Washingtonian named Vinoda Basnayake, whom you can hereafter think of as our town’s hookup to the Washington Famous and the Actually Famous, too.īasnayake’s bank-robber-themed Dupont nightclub, Heist, has been hosting sky-high parties atop the Kennedy Center all summer. Once the credits roll, a crowd will parade up here to the rooftop for the after-party. Chappelle is downstairs in the Kennedy Center, back home to screen his new documentary about doing comedy in a pandemic.
![liaison gay bar las vegas liaison gay bar las vegas](https://s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/J4smDGq6WmsqSw22IKi5TQ/168s.jpg)
It’s a Sunday night at the end of a second Covid summer in Washington. Dave Chappelle arrives in less than two hours, and now, go figure, it’s about to rain.