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Are any of you out there wishing that our fair little island had a more vibrant nightlife, especially for folks who love to dance?
Having Rhythmix (the new music and cultural arts center on Blanding) is a great boost to our options. Still there are very few actual nightclubs here. I figure that the police and city planners are probably discouraging and tough to deal with, as well as concerns that a new venue would have enough clientele to stay profitable.
When I look at the as-of-yet-unrented spaces available in the beautiful new "Towne Centre" I really get to wishing we could take advantage of one of the few convenient Alameda locations where a nightclub would be far enough away from the nearest residential buildings to make sound, foot traffic and parking less of an issue.
Do any of you share this dream? How could we go about creating momentum in this direction?
Having Rhythmix (the new music and cultural arts center on Blanding) is a great boost to our options. Still there are very few actual nightclubs here. I figure that the police and city planners are probably discouraging and tough to deal with, as well as concerns that a new venue would have enough clientele to stay profitable.
When I look at the as-of-yet-unrented spaces available in the beautiful new "Towne Centre" I really get to wishing we could take advantage of one of the few convenient Alameda locations where a nightclub would be far enough away from the nearest residential buildings to make sound, foot traffic and parking less of an issue.
Do any of you share this dream? How could we go about creating momentum in this direction?
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Tue, January 1, 2008 - 9:09 PMa little late to bring back the Twilight Zone...
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Unsu...
Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Thu, January 3, 2008 - 3:13 PMI wouldn't mind there being more clubs and stuff in Alameda, but I doubt much would be financially viable.
Pretty much everyone in Alameda either has a car, or will deal with getting to SF on BART, so we can get anywhere there are already clubs. Meanwhile, people who don't live on the Island don't make it out here much. The long drives through sketchy Oakland neighborhoods to get from the freeway to a bridge or the Tube deter some, and the Alameda PD's reputation deters others.
Several music clubs have been tried - Coffee For Thought and Kelly's - and failed recently. Another problem is that the market is too fragmented - if there was *a* dance club in SouthShore, what would it play? 80s? Disco? New pop? Goth/Industrial? Latin music? Rap? Country/Western? Even assuming the police didn't make life too difficult, how big is the audience for a club playing just one kind of music, a long speed-trap away from the freeway? -
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Fri, January 4, 2008 - 8:16 AMYou are probably right that deciding which type of music would be an issue and that we would need to expect that a club could be supported by Alamedans pretty much exclusively. It just seems like eventually we will have enough folks here who prefer not to bother with leaving the island each time they want active nightlife.
It IS a ton of work and financial investment--that I have asked for 'someone' else to make. The devoted people at Rythmix have already built a gorgeous facility. We can pay attention to their growing calendar and create our own dance-based evenings that CAN be more specialized for a diverse range of musical preferences. They rent out the facilitiy and would probably help with marketing.
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Fri, January 4, 2008 - 12:12 AMRhythmix is probably going to do a salsa night... and a tango band contacted us about doing something too.... Hopefully in the next few months! -
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Fri, January 4, 2008 - 3:02 PMLet's see how Rhythmix does. It has a good location (right off freeway) in a neighborhood that can tolerate a bit more noise.
I'm thinking that most of us live in Alameda precisely beause it's quiet, etc. I love visiting the Mission, but there is a reason I don't live there.
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Fri, January 4, 2008 - 5:02 PMViva Rhythmix! -
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Unsu...
Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Mon, January 7, 2008 - 4:29 PMSo where do we look up what's happening at Rhythmix? -
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Mon, January 7, 2008 - 4:39 PM -
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Tue, January 8, 2008 - 12:33 AMI just updated the calendar page... not a lot going on this month... but classes are starting, and there's a gallery opening on Friday!
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Fri, January 11, 2008 - 7:01 PMThe rooster roadhouse occasionally has DJ dance nights.
I helped put together/DJ a month'ish dance night at The Driftwood (now closed) 7 times in 2000.
17 times between 2001 and 2003 at The Minnow/Rooster's as my thing or joint ventures. and once at A'town pizza (when Tom the old Minnow owner was doing weekend band night there). and once at John Patrick's in 2005 (this was DJ sets between bands) and another one-off joint venture back at Rooster's in 2005.
We did 80s/goth/industrial.
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Re: How about more dance clubs in Alameda?
Thu, January 17, 2008 - 8:19 AMDJ nights and movable parties like you were doing is definitely the way to go! It is a much less expensive way to generate interest and community to support a party environment. I used to put on parties called "Praise the Beat" with various performances interspersed with the open dance music. It was just a lot of work for me as the 'everything person' (including performer sometimes) on the project. If a core group of people (3-4?) want to put on events it would be much more fun and probably more successful. My parties were at a dance studio in Emeryville and it was really difficult to draw people in the Oakland/Berkeley area where there are so many more choices each night.
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