Music Issue Launch Party Extravaganza!

Who: The VegNews Team + 250 of our closest friends
What: July+August Music Issue Launch Party
Where: The Electric Works Art Gallery in San Francisco
When: June 26, 2008
Why: Why not?

The Scoop: It was yet another historic happening for VegNews: Our first Issue Launch party. To celebrate two other premieres—our first-ever Music Issue and the doling out of our initial veg Bloggy Awards, the staff decided to throw a little party. Our capacity of 200 guests quickly grew to 250, and the waiting list was almost as large. Yes, this was one hot ticket.

Speaking of hot, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, one of the 50 musicians featured in the July+August issue to whom we were paying homage, performed two hour-long sets of silky vocals and soft jazz, perfect for the intimate venue. Lavay and her long-time partner/keyboardist Chris Siebert, both vegan, were honored and overjoyed to be part of the festive evening. And we couldn’t have chosen a more perfect five-piece. Here's Lavay with the VN gang:


In addition to the Skillet Lickers, several other musicians from the new issue were in attendance, including The Astral Projectionist, Edge with the Dreads, members of Blammos, Cult of Sue Todd, and Zepparella. Bloggy winners who graciously graced us with their presence included Super Vegan’s Susie Cagle, The Urban Housewife’s Melissa Elliot, Vegan Talk’s Billy Amon, Vegan Yum Yum’s Lauren Ulm, and Walking the Vegan Line’s Amanda Mariano. Had so many noted veggies ever been assembled in one place in San Francisco before? We think not.

Then there was the food. And drink. And more food. And even more drink. Can you say “VegNews Rock & Roll Martini,” made with tasty ModMix? How about organic red and white from La Rocca Vineyards? The beer nuts were happy with Mateveza Yerba Mate Ale, and the prohibitionists had their fill with four choices of new Steaz sodas and two flavors of MetroMint H2O.

So much liquid refreshment was needed to wash down the ample and delectable hors d’oeuvres provided by Millennium, Herbivore, and The Usual Suspects, as well as Personal Chef Justin Lucke. All these were followed by dee-lish mini cupcakes by Sugar Beet Sweets, which were gobbled up in approximately 11 seconds. For optimal snacking, roaming candy girls delivered mini Clif Bars, Sjaak's Organic Chocolates, and Tofurky Jurky.

Other noted guests were Matt Gonzalez, former San Francisco Board of Supervisors president and current Independent Vice Presidential candidate with Ralph Nader, and New York Times #1 selling authoress Rory Freedman, who Skinny Bitched herself up from L.A. just for our party (that's her in the top photo with VN Publisher Joseph Connelly). And did we mention authors Karen Dawn (Thanking the Monkey) and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (The Joy of Vegan Baking)? If that isn’t enough, key members of the Californians for Humane Farms ballot initiative were on hand, including Jennifer Fearing, Heather Carpenter, Karin Olsson, and Nora Kramer. Oh, we also had a little silent auction to raise some much-needed funds for the campaign.

Yes, vegans know how to have fun. The gallery was packed all night, and the buzz continued far longer—though that might have been those martinis.

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This night wouldn't have been anything like the success that it was without our dedicated, tireless volunteers, all of whom were rock stars in their own right. Thank you!

The staff of VegNews would like to thank Noah Lang and the very accommodating staff of The Electric Works for opening their doors to VegNews. Will we be back? You betcha!