This past weekend, I went on my own little sanctioned Uptown bar crawl… the non-EpiCentre crawl.
Nothing against the EpiCentre, as I have spent many a night there at its many venues. But that’s just my point … I spend too many a night there. Do you suffer from a monotonous nightlife — as in your friends always want to go to the same places, which is where you usually end up? Well, if your nightlife is falling into a routine, like a 9 -5 … just take a vacation.
I started my vacation at the grand opening of Fiji and Kashmir — which felt like a trip to the Twilight Zone. I don’t know what it is about the 5th Street corridor, but it really does have the vibe of a curse that no amount of remodeling can seem to eradicate.
Especially when it’s haunted by the bad attitudes of some of the pretentious patrons and bouncer the grouch. But the sushi is good at Fiji, and the (one) table-top touchscreen in the Zen Lounge of Kashmir was fun to play on — literally play on as you aren't able to control the music, dictate the television screen, and order food, but we doodled our names and played tic-tac-toe. Either I am just a big kid, or I was just bored … either way, we sailed onward on our Uptown foot cruise.
We tried to go to Connelly’s, but they tried to charge a cover. Um … why? Why would I pay to get into a slow bar with no special event or live entertainment, just so I can spend money at their bar? Especially when it’s neighbored by bars that do, and don’t charge a cover.
So, we kept trucking, making a stop at Buckhead Saloon, which has a vibe of nostalgia for me. Buckhead used to be the place we always went to, and for some of friends, still is — it was the first bar I ever set foot into in Charlotte.
I moseyed on down to Forum for its four-year anniversary party — and it was as crowded as it was for its grand opening. They had Kanye West’s DJ, but they didn’t exactly advertise that fact … I suppose so that no one would interrupt his set and tell him that he’ll "let him finish DJ’ing, but that DJ AM was the greatest Forum DJ of all time..."
The thing about the Charlotte nightlife scene is that it is big enough to not have to do the same thing over and over again, and not fall into a routine, in Uptown let alone other neighborhoods of Charlotte. With new bars always opening, I am never at a loss for something to write about, and there are too many events and happenings for me to cover them all.
And with the EpiCentre monopolizing the nightlife scene, more and more bars are opening their doors to the under-agers and hosting college nights, so they don’t have to fall into a routine before they graduate from Nightlife U.
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