Nightclub & Bar Show Ties One On

The 2011 Nightclub & Bar Convention and Trade Show rocked the Las Vegas Convention Center in the second week of March, with some 600 exhibitors on hand to showcase what’s on tap for next season’s bar scene.

A slew of attendees—34,000 strong—included club, bar and restaurant bigwigs, and such dubious celebrity types as Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino and Dave Navarro, all there to sniff out the latest and greatest in pub fare and, no doubt, to partake of exhibitors’ generous sampling programs.

Bearing such exotic names as Lixir, Vivid High Roller and Cougar Juice, a preponderance of vodka and tequila suppliers topped the bill this year. Booze boasting of triple, quintuple and even 88-times distillation was on offer, as was vodka distilled from sweet potatoes and vodka infused with protein.

In addition, the hangover cure/detox market demonstrated its legs at the show, represented variously by products with such monikers as Rebootizer, Last Round Hangover Support and GTOX Hangover Blocker. Dr. V Feel Good energy shots and Dr. V Fizz, a vitamin-infused soda mixer developed by a bonafied doctor, were also on hand.

Energy drinks like Monster, Liquid Ice, Xyience and Roaring Lion dominated the non-alcoholic category, with the former—by far the biggest exhibitor at the show—announcing its presence by driving 18-wheeler trucking rigs into the convention centre and hosting a rollicking “Monster Hour” rock show.

More than that, exhibitors showed funky wooden bar stools, the latest point-of-sale systems, smoking-hot bar tap technology, psychedelic laser light effects, an interactive quiz game for bars and nightclubs called The 3rd Degree, and the Emulator, a Canadian-company-manufactured multitouch-screen DJ system that attracted attention by blaring Notorious B.I.G.’s Juicy over its considerable speaker system. Former porn star Jesse Jane showed up to launch her new line of tequila, Diosa. And one ambitious corporate participant even came to show off his waterless urinal.

What happens in Vegas….