'Tender Is the Night

by A.D. Amorosi

Back when cigarette promotion companies roamed the earth proudly and boldly, a certain brand sponsored what used to be known as the Bartender’s Ball; a mega-bash thrown in Philly’s swankiest nightclubs and salons for the city’s most notable high-end bartenders.

"We hated those events," said Steve Ferrell, longtime bartender at Bob & Barbara's, one of Philadelphia's most tapping taprooms. "They were ridiculously stupid events. They weren't for bartenders. They were for scenesters and fancier people who worked in club atmospheres." The bars Ferrell knows are dive bars that require patience between their barkeeps and their diverse crowds. "It's a lot of neighborhood people, guys trying to pay in change, university students who think they can do anything they want just because they have a $20 bill in their pocket."

This type of dive bartender -- like Rick D. who created the Pabst Blue Ribbon Special 10 years ago for B&B's Bar Stool Mountain parties -- felt unwelcome at the Bartender's Ball. "There's 15 different names for the $3 dollar PBR can and Jim Beam Special. Like [restaurant] Latest Dish calls it the "Fishtown." In West Philly bars, they call it the "Real Man." That's a dive bar.

With cig companies leaving the ball behind (at least for now) Ferrell, local PBR distributor Dave Kasper and Modern Drunkard Magazine have created the PBR Bartender's Ball, one where the men and women of Tattoo Mom's, Sugar Mom's, Fergie's, Bar Noir, The Khyber, Anthony's and their ilk can join in. "This isn't exactly the same sort of "Ball" they used to have. Instead, ours is a salute to all the bartenders who work the dive-bar shift. They can have a night off and get drunk together in one place." So this PBR Special will be a different sort of ball -- one with a potluck buffet from every taproom's kitchen and lots of honking R&B jazz from Nate Wiley and the Crowd Pleasers. But Ferrell does promise one thing that's a lot like the old ball: its award ceremony for best well, they don't know what or who yet. "We haven't worked all that out," said Ferrell. "But it'll have something to do with Best Storyteller or Best Jokester or something or someone like that; something you couldn't get at those types of big clubs."

PBR Bartender’s Ball, Mon., April 12, 10 p.m., no cover (but only bartenders get free drinks and prizes), Bob & Barbara’s Lounge, 1509 South St., 215-545-4511.

-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there