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DJ Samantha Ronson moves the crowd at GLO in Westbury

BY KEVIN AMORIM | kevin.amorim@newsday.com

9:41 AM EDT, October 16, 2008

People dance as Samantha Ronson, guest disc jockey, plays at GLO Nightclub in Westbury on Wednesday night.
(Newsday Photo / Ana P. Gutierrez)

The smiles said everything.

After Samantha Ronson's DJ set in Westbury last night, the shy DJ-musician hustled out the front entrance of GLO Nightclub to the waiting Ford Excursion.

Her gal pal, Lindsay Lohan, arrived with her two hours earlier, but never ventured inside the renovated club and left during her set. But LiLo returned in a black Mercedes SUV about 10 minutes after Ronson's set ended. When Ronson opened the back window of the Ford, Lohan jumped out of the Mercedes and rounded the back of the Excursion looking giddy.

Ronson was all smiles, too, and looked happy to see her friend.

So forget those "Headed for splitsville" headlines on those gossip sites. For today at least.

On Wednesday, it was Ronson's show at the former Mirage Nightclub (and, going back further in time, Sprat's) on Merrick Avenue in Westbury -- one of the last of Long Island's mega clubs. (Trivia: the giant disco ball hanging in the middle of the dance floor is from Madonna's 2006 Confessions tour, according to GLO general manager Scott Bass.)

Ronson, stepdaughter of Foreigner guitarist Mick Jones and sister of producer-DJ Mark Ronson, arrived on time (!) for her midnight-to-2 a.m. DJ shift at the grand reopening of the club. She made it to the DJ booth, unlocked her silver MacBook with the "Obama HOPE" sticker on the case and proceeded to get the 900 or so club-goers going.

"There were no handlers, no entourage," said promoter Brian Rosenberg, who added that total traffic in and out of the club Wednesday looked to be about 1,400 people. "She just walked right in. It's all about just doing the gig."

Wearing a gray and maroon striped shirt and skinny jeans, the 31-year-old got audible cheers when she remixed "Walk This Way" (The Aerosmith/Run-DMC version). There were more toys in attic, including: beat-heavy redos of Prince's "Kiss" and "Erotic City"; Simple Minds' "Don't You (Forget About Me)"; and Madge's "Into the Groove."

The crowd was in the groove, with some folks showing up after the Hofstra debate. "I had some VIPs call and ask us to save a table for them," Rosenberg said. "They said they'd be over after the debate. I've never heard that in 25 years of promoting shows."

As her spinning shift headed into overtime, Ronson melded The Outfield ("Your Love"), Rick Springfield ("Jessie's Girl") and -- ta-da! -- Billy Joel ("It's Still Rock n Roll to Me") into one cohesive track. And it worked.

The crowd kept moving through it all, perhaps thanks to the vodka Red Bulls (by one count, the most popular drink Wednesday at $12 apiece). But after Ronson made her escape, with stuffed backpack and leather jacket, into the chilly early morning, GLO's dance floor was thinning out but still moving. Pretty good for a school night.