Aggravating_Rise_179 t1_iwhayll wrote on November 15, 2022 at 5:15 PM

Reply to comment by notmymainaccountbruh in If Newark had a downtown, we’d be goated by poete_idris

Newark's night clubs are usually just lounges or restaurants that reconfigure after dark to a more night club experience. Off the top of my head, Vivo Lounge on Ferry goes from a quiet bakery and restaurant to a Brazilian night club with women dancing on the bar after 10 pm. The same is true for Tijuana Bar and Grill and many other places in the Ironbound. Hell, even McGoverns becomes more night clubish after 10 pm, on certain nights, when they close the back area and make it a dance floor.

In the rest of Newark, its a bit more hit or miss as certain bars dont advertise the lounge aspect in order to keep the place more insulated to locals.

We can definitely use more nightlife here, I agree with that, but the spots are there if you are looking for it and know where to look. Hell, local Jersey Club DJs host large parties all over the city if you follow them on social media, and those kind of fill in the void of more traditional night clubs.

I do think if everything goes to plan, the city is looking to make the lots around Mulberry Commons a nightlife destination in the city, and I hope we can attract more night clubs or Hoboken style bars that can easily become night clubs.

notmymainaccountbruh t1_iwirj3n wrote on November 15, 2022 at 10:55 PM

I'm familiar with those. I was more so talking about soulful and deep house when I said "dance music." Should've been more specific. Vivo Lounge was the spot in the Ironbound tho for us househeads and house dancers when they had Sol Deep every Wednesday and Lou Alverez was resident dj. Great sets, live performances, and album/single releases. It was a vibe. That's a dub now unfortunately. Coffee Cave on Halsey was another dope space in the city for creatives. They would fly in some of the top dj's from all around the country (first time seeing DJ Karizma in Jersey) but that eventually closed. The CAVE on Mt. Pleasant Ave (same owner as Coffee Cave) was another good lowkey spot for underground househeads and fans of electronic music. Amazing soundsystem. Good rave vibes. Shut down again. Another space is being built on Clinton Ave called BlkboxNWK by John Murray. He has the support of the city this time around and it will be part of the Gant-Gilbert Arts Collective building that opened earlier this year so hopefully that is a success. It has just been kind of dragging along for a year and some change tho. I still have high hopes for it.

I'm not saying Newark never had any nice nightlife spots or doesn't have any, but the best ones for fans of a certain type of underground dance music (not EDM) usually have a nice lil run for a few years but they eventually shut down. If I'm being real, Irvington always had better spots than Newark like Club Elevation (now closed) and the Cricket Club, as far as house. If you include those, you really did not have to travel outside of Essex County to have a good time. Now we gotta go to Brooklyn, lol. I'm clownin but I'm just saying, for a place that's considered one of the house meccas, I think Newark could do better. It's a major part of our culture and most of us grew up on it. The random one-off parties are cool but there should be more outlets for music & arts in Newark, in general. I plan on doing my part to help change all that though. You can clearly see I'm passionate about it, lol.

Aggravating_Rise_179 t1_iwng216 wrote on November 16, 2022 at 10:53 PM

That's true... the spots for house in Newark has kinda been lacking lately, but I know in the summer the main branch of the library hosts weekly House Dance Parties outside. Military Park also has a community events with house playing all the time during the summer and you still have the Lincoln Park Music Festival.

I only point out the underground house parties, as that is how much of those clubs are now functioning especially once Jersey Club came on the scene. I do think the warehouses at the end of Raymond Blvd in the Ironbound could be converted to a nightlife district kinda like out in Brooklyn, etc. Im sure they will revive, but I totally get what you are saying. I just think those clubs come and go with the times, and right now Newark's house scene is very much dominated by Jersey Club and the more improvised house party scene that came out of it.

do_aflip t1_iwxboro wrote on November 19, 2022 at 1:38 AM

I’m from the ironbound and been into house music since I was young. The Brazilian day feasts before “EDM” became popular had a lot of deep house and tech house sets. It’s was crazy because they would shut down all of ferry street! That culture is gone now unfortunately. We definitely need venues for live music out here because it’s so dry.