Final Thoughts on Town?

(Photo by Jay Premack For The Washington Post)

I was contacted by a reporter from the Washington Post based on my original post on the new nightclub/danceclub Town. He was interested in hearing some other voices speak up about this new venue. I definitely gave him an earful. Sadly, when the article came out only a fraction of what I offered up made the cut. Here's my quote from the article:

What people are saying: "When I read the description [on Town's Web site, http://www.towndc.com], I expected a diverse mix of danceable music . . . but what I found was nothing out of the ordinary," says transportation planner Michael Eichler, 34. "The first song I heard . . . was a remix of a Whitney Houston song, so I proceeded upstairs, where I was greeted by a Britney [Spears] song. At that point, I realized that neither of the floors was going to play the electro-pop-rock advertised on the site."

I've posted my full email statement to the reporter below the fold...

Well, I've probably typed a lot more that you were expecting and possibly haven't answered any of your questions. Send along any follow questions you might have. I hope my perspectives are useful...

First off, I'm not a real DJ per se. I've DJed at Taint recently, but only for two hours and without any beat matching or really technical skill. When I did Feint, I would "pre-jay", meaning I'd mix the music up front and burn it onto CDs.

What was I expecting from the music? Honestly, when I heard about Town opening, I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. I rarely went to Velvet Nation, as it wasn't my scene. However, lots of people told me that Town's Friday nights were going to be "edgy." And their website confirmed it, at least somewhat, as you've read my critique of their description and how well it described the Friday night event I attended.

There are a lot of types of music that people dance to. On any given weekend night, there's some crazy dance party at the Black Cat where people of all ages and colors are shaking their stuff to all sorts of stuff: 70s soul/funk, 80s and new wave, indie rock, goth/industrial, hip-hop/rap, electronica, techno-pop, electro-clash, etc. And all of it is somewhat accessible. I guess what I'm saying here is that music to dance to doesn't have to be "dance music."

When I read the description of Downtown, I expected a diverse mix of danceable music, a mixture of the genres I listed above probably, plus some more traditional dance music. But what I found was nothing out of the ordinary. The first song I heard walking in the door was a remix of a Whitney Houston song, so I proceeded up stairs where I was greeted by a Brittney song. At that point, I realized that neither of the floors was going to play the "electropoprock" advertised on the site.

I find it funny that you suspect that Town is shying away from the "edgier" stuff for fear of being inaccessible. I find the hard-edged techno dance remixes completely inaccessible. There's no song structure (verse-chorus-verse), little if any lyrics to speak of, and, really, nothing to connect with, nothing to hold on to.

The overall vibe was up-beat, for sure, but there were some dark edges. Shortly after I first arrived on their opening Friday night, I watched one underaged boy (as denoted by big black X-es drawn on the back of both hands) practically carry a friend (also underaged) towards the exit. The kid was so hopped up on something that he couldn't walk. And this was at midnight. I talked with one mid-40s African-American gentleman in the 2nd floor lounge about our perspectives of the night, and he was equally disappointed as me about how unoriginal the club was turning out to be. Like me, he was hoping for something... different. But in general, it appeared to me to be just another venue to drink, drug, dance and date.

The venue itself is very "pretty." It's like a nice lounge with big dance floors in the middle of it. It's like they took a mid-sized dance club out of Chelsea and dropped it at 8th and Florida. I appreciate that Town is trying to look like something different and new. Neither Tracks nor Velvet had even the slightest touch of glamor. (Tracks had a volleyball pit out back, for chrissakes!) But perhaps upscale isn't the right "different" direction to go in. DC's attempts to be glamorous always seem fake. Like copies of NYC or LA. There are no similar venues in DC to speak of, at least not gay dance clubs, so it's hard to draw a comparison. I've heard friends describe Town as "Halo with dance floors" and I'd tend to agree with that.

As I was doing some fact checking for my review of Town, I stumbled upon this interview (http://www.metroweekly.com/feature/?ak=2196) with Ed Bailey from summer 2006, where he described what Tracks was like back in 1983, how amazing it was when he was first going out to gay clubs, dancing to The Smiths and The Cure, and Shannon's "Let The Music Play."

I wonder now what young kids going out to clubs for the first time -- and choosing Town as their virgin venue -- will remember about their nights out: loud, monotonous beats, screaming divas, pre-pubescent-looking go-go dancers, and velvet couches. No one will remember a song, because they all sound the same, if they're lucky enough to remember any details of the evening at all.

I can think of some circumstances where I might go back to Town. If a friend was having a big birthday blowout weekend and wanted to dance all night, or if I had friends coming into town who wanted to see what a DC super-disco was like. But if I do go back, I'll walk in the door without any high hopes for something different, and I probably won't be disappointed.

In the interview cited above, Ed Bailey described Tracks in 1983 as being "very alternative." Gay used to be closely linked with "alternative." But as gay culture has gotten more mainstream acceptance, it has developed into a mainstream itself, and one that I find very flat and lifeless. Instead of Town recalling how much fun it was to come out and be an individual, the club perpetuates the new gay coming out story: one of how young men and women come out and give up their individuality to become part of a larger group and gain group acceptance. My biggest disappointment with Town is that Ed Bailey had a chance in opening his club to do something really different and special for the community, but instead he is just strengthening the bars of this cage we are building for ourselves, a cage that we call "gay culture."