as told to (your name here)

Saturday night

If you'll recall, last month I was out after dark taking pictures of a fountain and the museum of fine arts. I didn't mention all the additional people and the lights set up. What I didn't realize at the time was that the museum was having it's third monthly nightclub night. I thought it was a private party. Back in November, the museum started turning itself into a nightclub, complete with live music and/or DJs, alcohol, and priceless works of art. This only happens once a month, so I had to wait until last night to actually experience it properly. Oh yeah, and they don't advertise (that I'm aware of).

The event was scheduled from 8pm to 1:30am, and figuring it was like any decent nightclub, showing up at 8pm was simply not an option. What my friends and I didn't count on was the exponential volume growth the crowd experienced between last month and this. We arrived around 9:30 to find a line around the block at least 100m long. There was clearly no way we were getting in, and the police announced around 9:45 that they had reached maximum capacity. The line remained in place, since they would let people in as others left. Well back, with no hope of getting in, we ditched the line and walked back around to the front. Standing around for a few minutes, one of our group walked right up to cash registers and paid for 4 admissions, BLATANTLY cutting in front of at least 100 people. Nobody seemed to notice, so we got our hands stamped and walked right in. Into the tightly packed throng.

A line on one side of the museum foyer was for buying drink tickets, while the line on the other side was for redeeming them. Reasonable prices for mixed drinks, beer, and wine, considering this was supposed to be a nightclub after all. The other major difference between this place and most nightclubs was the crowd. This was a public venue, after all, so there were actually children there with parents, as well as a few senior citizens. The majority of the crowd was the typical 20-something club-going crowd, with a fair number of teen-something, 30-something and a few 40-somethings as well. Along with reasonable prices (entry was $10) and the diverse crowd, the other major difference between this and a "real" nightclub was that it was very well-lit. There were flashing lights of all colors, as one would expect in a nightclub, but also the regular gallery lighting. The music was loud, but not overwhelming, also different from my previous nightclub experiences.

The first floor of the museum, for those not familiar, is a split level, with the foyer at ground level and the first gallery on a raised, half-level. The main gallery was empty, of artworks, having been converted to dancefloor and it was solid people. The periphery of the dancefloor was more boozé stations as well as two stations of free Fourbucks coffee and tea. (Yeah Sass, I said FREE!) The second floor of the museum was the Basquiat exhibit, along with a roped off area for the DJ booth overlooking the first floor gallery/dancefloor. Entry to the exhibit along with the other museum rooms was unrestricted, so we strolled through the Basquiat exhibit - I have to say I'm not a fan, don't go for the modern art.

The rest is detail (as if I haven't written enough) - Grandmaster Flash came in around 10:30 to a huge reception. I'm not exactly a fan, but when I see someone at the peak of his particular art perform, I can certainly appreciate. GMF mixed old and new, worked the crowd, and put on a hell of a show. 30 degrees outside, 100+ inside. We partied until about 12:30 or 1 and rolled-out ahead of the crowd.

The museum calendar does not yet have a date scheduled for next month, but with the crowd both inside and out, it's a foregone conclusion that it'll happen again.

posted by tinyhands @ 11:59 PM