North Texas’ Two Biggest Cities Converged At It’ll Do On Friday Night As DJ Sober Threw Leon Bridges A Big Ol’ Birthday Bash.
All photos by Karlo X. Ramos.
If you weren’t at the It’ll Do Club on Friday night for Leon Bridges’ birthday shindig, we’ve got some kinda good news for you and some definitely bad news, too.
First, the kinda good news: Having not seen how DJ Sober threw down in honor of his pal Bridges’ turning 28 years old this week, you won’t have unreal expectations about how your own next birthday bash will go, and you’ll avoid being met with crushing disappointment that the coolest people in the two most major cities in North Texas weren’t all gathered in one big party hall just for you.
As for the bad news? Well, you missed one of the best times that this region’s seen in some time.
For one thing, everyone was eager to be in the spot — even the Fort Worthians who made the 30-plus-minute pilgrimage to Dallas for the occasion. And the fact that the place was packed — so much so that you could barely even seen It’ll Do’s famous light-up dance floor — only seemed to add to the good vibes. The bartenders poured drinks nonstop for lines that seemed to never end. Dance circles could be found just about anywhere you looked.
Sure, some people might’ve been a little sad that they missed the chance to take a highly Instagrammable photo of their feet on top of some neon tile, but with DJ Sober spinning jams all night night long, most everyone was content to put their phones down, get out on the floor and shake their asses.
Sober’s set was like a Dallas-Fort Worth citizenship test: He played a mix of all the best and legendary bangers from D-Town to The Funk. Meanwhile, the man of the hour proved himself as fine a dancer as he is a singer and performer; seriously, Bridges was getting down to these tracks — and, better yet, encouraging the crowds around him to do the same. In turn, the floor was filled with folks flashing their best Dougies, boogies and Ricky Bobbies — and these were some high-quality efforts, too, the kind normally reserved for cell phone video recordings in Home Depot parking lots.
It was glorious.
And yet, impossibly, things only heightened from there: After the crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to Bridges was when the surprises took place. First up, the legendary big Tuck popped out for a song. Then Bridges himself busted out an acoustic guitar and performed a mini-unplugged set of a few songs. It was more than anyone could’ve rightly anticipated in exchange for the night’s $20 cover, the proceeds of which were donated to charity.
As for Bridges himself? It was his party, sure, but he was the one who ended up giving out the best gift of the night. Dude brought the entire region — two entire cities, even — together under one big roof for a night that was filled with joy, love and stories that should only be shared drunkenly in Waffle House dining booths.
We’re already marking our calendars for next year.