Paraphernalia

Black is Back

Part Five : Rising from the Ashes

"No posing bitches!" warns the flier for tonights grand opening party for mr. black's new den of debaucherous dancing.

As my last installment in my week dedicated to This American Life I'm going to tell you an abbreviated story of the little night club that could.

Those of you seriously loyal readers might remember when I first posted about mr. black in march of 2006 shortly after they opened and months before they became THE place to be on friday nights in Manhattan. Or maybe you remember when I posted about how I took a picture that led to a legendary tradition that has resulted in at least 1 award for NYC Nightlife Personality of the Year.

Since we last checked in, there is good news, then bad news, then more good news.

Good news part 1 - mr. black recorded their dj sets and posted them as podcasts. (You can subscibe through iTunes like other podcasts, including TAL) Many of the sets are amazing. Sammy Jo is generally a good bet. The most recent DJ Sveta is possibly my new fave as is the DJ Vienna Sausage. But there are so many more I really can't list them. Great for working out or getting ready to go out. I wish every club did this!

Bad news - On January 1st of this year, I woke up very hungover and very early to head home to Austin for my brother's wedding. As I was leaving the apartment and slowly making my way to the airport, the night before spent partying at mr. black started to come back to me in flashes. "Oh my god I made out with a trannie!" "Oh my god I did a line of coke off the embankment in the lounge!" "Oh my god we hailed a stretch limo home!" (this was all good news, here comes the bad). So, was it any surprise that there was a sting/raid operation at mr. black about a month ago where they arrested every single employee and a few of the patrons and effectively shut down the club for good? Not really.

Good news part 2 - You can't keep a good bitch down. mr. stuart black, the owner, was tossed lemons and made some dirty lemonade. He said,"Oh yeah! well that place was too crowded anyway, over it." and went and found a new, 2 floor location that is having the grand opening tonight.

I'm so there.

For once I was first!

Remember this picture?

Check this out : assshot.blogspot.com
That's right folks, I started the face next to cocktail boys butt trend.
I'm such a hipster.
This was from my mr. black post
- UPDATE -
Still loads of fun. Just a bit more crowded these days.

What you doin’ on your back aah?

You should be dancing, yeah!

Nightlife in NYC is often frustrating and disappointing.  If you wanna dance, mostly your choices involve waiting in line for some snarky door bitch drunk on "power" to deem you worthy of paying a $20 cover to enjoy mindless gay diva house along with thimble sized, watered down, overpriced drinks. You're other option is to wait in line to pay a $10 cover to be crammed nipple to nipple into some dilapidated "space" where the music is too loud to hear the person talking in your ear, there's no dance-floor (note the ubiquitous "NO DANCING ALLOWED" signs), and 1 bartender for every 100 people sidled up to the bar. It's a wonder no one has been trampled to death at some of these "open bars". (What's up with all my quotes, have I been Zagatized??)

Every once in a while there is an opening in the vortex. Suddenly, with a flash of light and minimal fanfare, all the right ingredients come together to form a kick ass night out. Such is Mr. Black on Friday nights.

I got a flier and saw that S/J was spinning and looked at the website and it said exactly what I love to hear.

Nestled at the NW corner of Broadway and Bleeker, you could almost miss it, is an entrance to a basement minded by the requisite bouncer and a refreshingly cheerful, buxom, British (unless she's pulling a Madonna) door mistress who collects your $5 cover. Down the stairs and into the bar.  Coat check to your left - bar to your right.

Hearty wood paneling (à la winter lodge) accents the exposed brick interior. It's definitely not a mega club, but it's not too small either. Just the right size. There are large, open, brick archways suggesting a separation between the more loungey section lined with nice couches and cocktail tables that faces the stand n bop area in front of the bar that bleeds seamlessly into the totally unpretentious dance floor.

Friday nights features one of my all time favorite DJs to dance to, Sammy Jo, who spins a mélange of House/Electro. His range is wide but always a crowd pleaser. I dance for hours, and that has been such a rarity for me since I moved to NYC 7 years ago.

Do to minimal (if any) advertising, there isn't a large crowd of people, plenty of room to do your thing. Not that it would hurt for more people to show up. Thus far, the crowd has been a mixed bag of straights and gays. I haven't seen it billed as a gay bar, but Michael insists it is. I say, it's a kick ass place to get your groove on so who cares. I must admit that each time we've gone there's been a decent selection of hotties. And there's plenty of space for more.

Generally, the few times I've stumbled on these rays of sunshine in the bleak NYC nightlife scene, they end up blowing up and losing the je ne sais quoi that made them my weekend beacon of joy. I hope Mr. Black able to find the delicate balance of attracting enough business to make it worth his while without overpromoting and turning into another NYC clone.