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The nightclub shuffle
By Kevin C. Johnson Venerable rock clubs Hi-Pointe Café and Frederick's Music Lounge: Rest in peace. Vibrant Washington Avenue maverick Velvet: You've danced your last dance. Urban meccas Seven and Formula/Isis: It was nice knowing you. St. Louis' nightlife circuit has taken significant hits in the past year or so, and many of the passings are significant enough to make scene watchers pause and question what's happening. "There have been a lot of really creative and positive venues that have come and gone," says longtime Washington Avenue promoter Doug Hall, now with Throttle/Feisty Bulldog on Laclede's Landing. Still, he sees a lot that's encouraging, including continued growth in the area known as the Grove on Manchester Avenue, mainly between Sarah Street and Tower Grove Avenue. Atomic Cowboy, Amp, Freddie's and Novak's operate on that strip. More promising signs: the arrival of several new, often pacesetting nightspots in the past year. Upscale lounges/clubs such as Mandarin, Xes, Lucas School House and Dolce are new; Nectar, Kyo, Copia, Loft Jazz Club, Boogaloo and Monarch remain fresh. Dante returned, Creepy Crawl moved from downtown to Grand Center and Bar Italia expanded from a restaurant to a dance destination. Not to mention all the name and programming changes — Trainwreck becoming Throttle/Feisty Bulldog, Kastle turning into Dreams, Churchill's morphing into Posh, and Nik's Wine Bar transforming into Filter Bar. To the casual observer, it all looks a little crazy. But "there's a very healthy nightlife scene right now," says Amit Dhawan of venue-event marketing company Synergy, who is working with Mandarin. "Clubs are getting more and more packed, and there are more clubs." The evolving scene is full of hope, excitement and diversity. And it simply may be experiencing normal sign-of-the-times transitions. MORE But some people think the scene may not be as solid as it looks because of inexperienced people stepping in and trying to run clubs and bars, says Munsok, who recently opened Xes nightclub behind his Drunken Fish restaurant on Laclede's Landing. "Most of them just don't have enough money or marketing (savvy) or background to do this," he says. Hall says that when amateurs "open up quick places, it affects the market and makes it hard for experienced operators to operate. There was a lot of that in the '90s, a lot of carbon-copy Velvets." That's something Sonja Branscomb may have experienced after the success of her urban nightclub Isis. It paved the way for Seven, Toxic, Suite2Fifty, Loft Jazz Club, Plush and Dreams — the former three are gone. "A lot of the new club owners know it's not as easy as they think," says Branscomb, whose Formula closed last month, not long after its first anniversary. She had reworked Isis into the more diverse, Miami-style Formula, which was the victim of, among other things, the fickle nature of clubgoers. "They're always going to go to what's new, and they don't like change," Branscomb says. "Some people just like things the way they are. When you start changing, they start looking for other places. Look at Spruill's. Have they ever changed anything? You got to cater to what people want." Caviar to catfish Andrew Mullins of the experimental marketing agency DJ and the Spark promoted Washington Avenue clubs for years. He contends that the nightlife scene is a reflection of what people want. "They support what they want and walk away from what they don't need," says Mullins, who is DJ at several clubs. Cynde Castillo, columnist for the Pulse of the City section of the Evening Whirl, says there's little loyalty in the St. Louis nightlife crowd. "They're always looking for the BBD — the bigger, better deal," she says. "Urban-geared nightclubs often falter by trying new ideas, going elite or avant-garde — and falling flat," she says. "They realize their idea was a little too big for St. Louis, and to maintain the club they have to let the riff-raff in the backdoor," Castillo says. "Then the club goes from caviar to catfish in no time." Like Branscomb, Lisa Andris retired from the bar business after 20 years of running Hi-Pointe Café. "It's hard economically to sustain a place like this," Andris said at the time of the closing. "It's an exhausting business, a real challenge keeping it afloat, and it was time to change hands again. Nothing like this can last forever." Steve Pohlman, who with his wife, Kit Kellison, took over running Off Broadway earlier this year, says: "I think it's sad to see any music venue go. But there's always extenuating circumstances. We've had our ups and downs. We've had some great, well-attended shows and some not particularly well-attended shows. It's a challenge for every (concert club). How do you speak to that audience that comes out to see a show? Because there's a lot going on in the city right now." Upping the wow factor That includes the increasingly busy Lucas School House, owned by Dan Jameson and his wife, Mia. He didn't let nearby club closings stop his plan. He did some research before opening the venue, was told his vision wouldn't work and went ahead anyway. "We just did it our way, making up some of it as we go along," Jameson says. "We had no preconceived notions of how it was supposed to be done, and we weren't paying attention to what the competition was doing." People are gravitating toward the smoke-free Lucas School House's upscale approach to concertgoing. Nightclubbers are becoming more sophisticated about their options, says Xes/Drunken Fish's Munsok, who ran Kaboom several years ago. Dhawan and others say St. Louis' nightclubs are in transition, making way for the next generation of hot spots. Dhawan has noticed several evolutions over the past decade. About 1997, he says, the scene was music-driven, focusing on who was bringing in which DJ. After 9/11, people began steering away from megaclubs, preferring smaller spaces with higher service that they could enjoy with their friends. The current trend is toward clubs that are architecturally fantastic, "clubs taking it up a whole new level," says Dhawan. He's also seeing clubs attracting black and white or straight and gay patrons, or having appeal outside of their regular core. Munsok says people also are looking for destinations where they can do more than one thing, such as have dinner and party, at one locale. They're finding it with Drunken Fish/Xes, Feisty Bulldog/Throttle and Pepper Lounge/Nectar. Another factor: More people are experiencing the scenes in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Miami and know nightlife's full potential. "When they come back home, they want a taste of that here. They want the 'wow' factor," Mullins says, whether through theatrics, atmosphere or service. "If you don't wow them, you'll lose them," he says. "But the few who can deliver it are successful. The bench mark has been elevated." kjohnson@post-dispatch.com | 314-340-8191 |
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