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The Rice Thresher
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Corey E. Devine Thresher Lifestyles editor
The new dance club in Willy's Pub will offer an alcohol-free alternative to boring Saturday nights, but can it last? corey e. devine Thump, thump, thump — I was quite sure that it was techno music emanating from Willy's Pub. But why would dance music be coming from the Pub on a Saturday night? I've been to the Pub, and I never heard techno. Curiosity somehow got the best of me. I decided against the Subway sandwich and went downstairs to find the source of the music. I guess I discovered how uninformed I am about campus events. Saturday was the grand opening of Rice's very own piece of Houston night life, the Digital Undergrounds.
When I first heard about this, I was sure that it was some sort
of avant-garde musical show in the The logic behind the club seems to be that most clubs in
Houston (the good ones anyway) are acces A group of students, spearheaded by Baker College junior Sanford Holmes, decided that the Pub — normally empty on Saturday nights — would make a great place to have underage students come and dance without alcohol. I'm still a bit skeptical about the no-alcohol policy for the Digital Undergrounds. Clubs make the bulk of their profits from alcohol sales. The Digital Undergrounds isn't selling alcohol. To compound the problem more, there are competing events around campus all the time. I'm not sure how the Digital Undergrounds plans to handle college-sponsored parties that will pull from their patronage. My real question is: How long can this last? When I entered the club, I wasn't overly impressed, and I heard someone talking about how the Digital Undergrounds had really turned out to be "the Pub with lights." It was apparent from the myriad of lights attached to the ceiling that considerable money has been spent to install a modest but adequate lighting system for the club. Much to my chagrin, most of the expensive lights didn't seem to
be up and running for opening night. Most everything else was the same as Willy's Pub on any other night. Well, everything is the same except, of course, for beer and wine coolers. Since the Pub will now be serving two purposes, the physical space can't really change all that much. I'm sure the club designers did all they could within the parameters they were given. These observations were made around 11:30 p.m. when the
Digital Undergrounds wasn't very packed at all. In fact, I wasn't even sure
the As the night wore on, more people showed up — some wanted to dance, others were interested to see what had been done to the Pub, and a few more were drawn in (like me) by the steady beat of dance music thumping away. I was impressed by the musical selection. I've never been a big fan of the fast, heavy beat of techno, but I understand that other people are, and there were other musical styles mixed in as well. One song was definately garage, and some of the music bordered on my personal favorite, house. Apparently, after I left the music switched to hip-hop. The point is, there was definitely something for everyone. Few clubs that I've been to, if any, attempt to mix such diverse musical styles to draw such an eclectic base of partiers, so I can't be sure how it will work out for the Digital Undergrounds. Nevertheless, kudos to the organizers for making the effort to please all of the people some of the time. From the perspective of someone who's been to most of Houston's hotter nightspots (as well as quite a few in other cities), I didn't expect people to be very impressed with what was going on in the Student Center basement. At first, I was right. However, as About a hundred people were hanging around when I left, but it's possible that the party got even better later when the DJ began to spin Rice's favorite bass-filled hip-hop tunes. In the end, I found that I had a decent time at the Digital Undergrounds. Sure, it lacks a few things that I think are integral to a clubbing experience, but everyone seemed to be having fun anyway. If nothing else, clubs are about promoting good times, and the Digital Undergrounds served its purpose. It's really a mix between the casual atmosphere of the Pub on a Thursday and the fun of dancing at a club on a Friday. Next Saturday, I recommend that you check it out. The Digital Undergrounds is open every Saturday night from 10 p.m. until 2 a.m. It features five different DJs who spin a variety of music from electronica to hip-hop. For the first few weeks, there's no cover for students and a $2 charge for their guests. As support grows, cover will rise to $2 for students and $5 for guests. sarah ahrens/thresher
This group is all dressed up with somewhere to go. Summer Bell,
Liza Ruckman, Erin Brand, Kelly Bolen, Stephen Bess and Brooks Bohn get hyped.
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