Editor’s note: Men’s Club Head DJ James Randall Shred is back again with his story on his night at the Ritz in Houston . Make sure you check him out while you’re in Dallas and to visit our friends (and Jerry Butler) at the Ritz Houston!
by James Randall Shred| Head DJ, Men’s Club Dallas, Owner/operator at Reel Unicorn Productions movie studio.
I was actually BORN in Houston, TX….a city I have barely known. I lived there for the first few years of my life, which of course I can barely remember. Having moved back to Texas several years ago, I have been in and out of Houston on various business ventures and shows with bands. I have never actually had a chance to enjoy the city, scope out it’s various hot spots or take in its nightlife. You would think being in a band you could do that, but the truth of playing on the road is that you are just waiting to go to the next venue and hoping whoever drives isn’t too plastered to read one-way street signs.
Ritz DJ Jerry Butler with 50 Cent
Fortunately for me, I got the opportunity to hit H-Town recently thanks to an invite from DJ Jerry Butler of the Ritz! His club was throwing a gigantic party with rapper 50 Cent hosting, and I happened to have…well…”time off.”
Jerry cleared it with his club and dancers to have me film, so like any “young” director I, of course, LEAPT at the opportunity to go to my own hometown and hang out with one of my best DJ friends and cover his club’s party! Dallas, where I currently live and work, is just a few short hours down the road so with the help of my business partner Sherman Schufford, I hit the road to document a sneak peek into the heart of
Feature entertainer Riley RouletteHouston’s nightlife.
My first stop, of course, was to the Men’s Club of Houston. As I DJ for the Dallas version, I was, of course, curious and more than a little proud to see how the Houston side of the organization worked! The club is absolutely stunning, with a dining table prominently featured in the wine room and plush accommodations everywhere you look. Fine dining is taken to a whole new level with a dining room complete with candles and private booths. DJ Joe was amazing, jamming it out like it was a hot Saturday night even though the club had just opened in the afternoon.
Next up was, of course, the Ritz. I was quite surprised by how vast the club is, with several rooms for pretty much any kind of partier there is!! There was the usual private areas, as well as a fully loaded sports room complete with big screens and a mock sports field on the floor. The vibe was spot on with your favorite local sports bar, only you could actually sit at a table that is placed by the stage, complete with an open “window” to tip dancers through as they did their rotation! On the reverse side, upstairs there is a complete champagne style ballroom with gorgeous chandeliers and seating available to relax with while the ladies of the Ritz see to your every desire!
Even more impressive was the staff. Every few minutes a waitress or manager dropped by to ask how I was doing, see if my drink needed to be topped off, and make sure that I was happy with where I was sat. They weren’t the usual pushy or invasive type, just bright smiles and genuine care for how their customer was treated.
DJ Jerry Butler was on point, mixing a blend of classic rock and 80’s rock with some of the newer techno tunes and beats. His selections drummed up the crowd, who roared at him every time his gravelly voice rocked through his wireless mic! At front and center and yet behind the scenes, he set the crowd on edge only to have Feature after Feature entertainer swing through the stage’s doorway and impress with fire shows, hot wax shows, and even a show where two entertainers smashed cake on each other! It was a delicious way to entice the crowd, and they soaked up every second of it with dollars flying and high fives following.
Before the show, I was lucky enough to be invited to a “pre-game” dinner at DJ Jerry’s favorite Mexican place, where he and his features gathered around a notebook. It was a completely different side to him than I was accustomed to, as he quickly launched into a series of discussions over who would go where and to what. The 
entertainers actually listened, hanging on his every word before offering their own suggestions and views which he scribbled down and mulled over in between bites of Mexican food. It was an interesting thing to take in, a DJ with his staff of girls all plotting their world conquest while sucking down Queso and Margaritas. When the meeting ended, you got the feeling of a SuperBowl contender prepping for that final drive…a confident Quarterback and his Receivers fist bumping before taking the field to WIN.
The performances were stunning. Entertainer Krystal Dawn shocked the house with a wax show that would make you squirm in both good and bad ways, her curvy body soaking up the hot wax without even a gasp elicited from her. Customers shot to the stage to tip her for the chance to take one of her candles and wax her themselves!
Entertainer Riley Roulette stole the show with an extreme pole dancing routine followed immediately by an energetic fire show, twirling and spinning hypnotically while the flames fanned around her and the dollars rained down. You could not help but feel like you were transported away to an earlier age, where risk and daring paid off and the truly entertaining gave themselves fully to their craft whether they were paid or not.
Our Commercial for the Ritz in Houston! Hit us up for pricing if you need video work, or music video work!
Posted by Reel Unicorn Productions on Wednesday, January 27, 2016
All in all, The Ritz delivered in every way possible even before every dancer they had climbed onto the main stage and introduced the guest of the night, party host 50 Cent who signed autographs and took pictures with VIP customers who were purchasing bottles of his own Effen Vodka. The electricity in the air could not be denied as throngs of people jostled for position in the plush VIP, all trying to gain the famed rapper’s attention.
By the time I was back at the hotel, I was sore and exhausted but thoroughly impressed. I will absolutely be back at the Ritz….but next time? No cameras. Just a stack of one dollar bills!
