Mercedes-Benz Evolution Tour NYC

Questlove, Chelsea Leyland, and Nicky Hilton walk into a concert hall...

That was the set-up at Terminal 5 last Thursday for the Mercedes-Benz Evolution Tour. New York was the inaugural stop of a nine-city tour to introduce Mercedes-Benz's latest model, the GLA, with a celebration of music, art, and technology. Emphasis on celebration.

The musical lineup boasted Alabama Shakes as the headliner and Questlove as guest DJ. But, they could have easily pulled from the audience for backup — DJs Chelsea Leyland, Hannah Bronfman, and Brendan Fallis were all in attendance. They left the mixing to Questlove, though, and spent the evening hanging with Hilary Rhoda, Nicky Hilton, and Derek Blasberg.

The theme of the tour is evolution. As such, Mercedes-Benz has enlisted artist Mr. Brainwash to turn the GLA into a piece of art over the course of the tour. At every stop, Mr. Brainwash will work on a new layer of the piece, until they reach their final destination: L.A.

Coming along for the ride are Alabama Shakes (NYC, Atlanta, L.A.), Young the Giant (Chicago), and Mayer Hawthorne (Miami, Dallas, San Francisco). The musical acts for Washington, D.C. and New Orleans are TBD, but from what we saw at last week's kickoff, Mercedes-Benz is pulling out all the stops. Check out some of our favorite party pics from the tour's launch.