Jacksonville Night Life (Miami, Lee: rooftop, restaurant, floor)

[Sum1Else]

I think it would be great to have a club with versatility. No reason you couldn't have a few clubs within one building to serve different clientele.

I miss some of the places where I grew up (LBI, NJ). We had live music and D.J. Sometimes there was a comedy night. There were special events sometimes too. Heck, I even saw The Hooters (circa 1990s in Philly area) at Joe Pop's Shore Bar for my 21st b-day. LOL OMG I'm showing my age.... lmao Well I have another b-day soon.

I digress...

[crslnd]

Originally Posted by TREE4309

I'd like to see more "clubs" downtown...with Marks, Dive Bar, The Pearl and TSI (they'll be back) seemingly stable and The Ivy Ultra bar opening this weekend, the momentum is building. I'm not into dance clubs (much prefer a pub or just a chill spot without a dress code), but as long as you set yourself apart from the other night spots and offer something unique and giving your patrons a reason to come out, then you should be able to get by.

As for my personal wishes...I'd like to see an old building renovated downtown that has a huge import/craft/microwbrew beer selection on tap as well as a nice selection of whiskeys, eclectic and hip live music at least once or twice a week, and didn't cater to the top-40 dance/pop crowd...the more casual, chill, comfy and shabby-chic, the better.

I'll second this vote!

[LandShark99]

Over half or more of the Baby Boomers are now either divorced, widowed or for whatever reason, single. That is the majority of the population in this country. I don't see them being represented in the clubs anywhere. Boomers like the old time rock and roll, some pop, most can still dance and relate to a variety of age groups. The only club I know of here for that group is 57 Heaven and that gets old real quick.

Personally, I like a pub with a vareity of things to do and live music on the weekends at least. You can carry on a convo and actually get to know people (many are regulars). I've made friends with lots of people I've met at pubs. The best ones have a huge variety of beers on tap with a very large selection of imports. Darts, pool, games offer a way to interact with people. I have no reservations about going into a pub alone (I am female) whereas in the case of a bar you can figure you're a moving target to get hit on when you'd just like to go out and dance and meet some people.

I just moved here and haven't finished unpacking so hardly know a soul yet. I'd love to find a nice pub to go meet some locals and make some friends but I don't know of any here on the Southside.

Southside would be my pick because people are moving here in droves.

[stephen3]

I think having a few 'theme' nights throughout the week is a good idea. Personally, I would like it to be downtown and on the weekends have live music on Fridays and/or Saturdays.

And, having sometype of attractive happy hour on Thursday and Fridays would be good esp with all the young working people downtown. Maybe some guys playing acoustic during that time.

Whatever you do I would try to have it where it is big enough to have a big dance floor and another area where people can still hang out and it is not too loud from the music to hear each other.

Just my 2 cents, hope it works out because we need some more cool places to go out. I'm 24 and still hope to have a few more good going out years ahead of me.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by LandShark99

Darts, pool, games offer a way to interact with people.

Ping Pong!

[agreatlife]

Originally Posted by riveree

Ping Pong!

gesundheit!

I'd consider going to a place that didn't require me to scream to my partner in order to be heard. And maybe some music that I recognized. Oh, and also not someplace that is so crowded that you lose your drink being bumped around so much. But that's what places need in order to be profitable. Catch 22 I guess.

A bourbon night would be a lot of fun too.

God what an old geezer I've become.

[OnlyTheLonely]

How about something a little less like the Globe and Bourbon street, and a little less emo than 5 points and downtown, and a little less Paris Hilton style than The Landing?

I'm getting sick of wanting to take my wife out for drinks/dancing only to be surrounded by 18-21 year olds, most of which could easily pass for 16 year olds with fake I.Ds.

I'm only 28, but this is rediculous. I would entirely like to see a club/bar where there is an age limit, of oh say 23. When I lived in Hawaii, most clubs were 21+, and there were a select few that were 23+ and 25+, which Ironically, were the better clubs, because you rarely found the immature wanna-be gangster in there trying to "holla" at the young girls.

As far as music, well, techno is for children, there are enough techno/trance clubs in Jacksonville to satisfy the few remaining pill poppers. Hip hop and rap, well, there is Bourbon Street. What I would like to see, is something similar to one of my favorite night spots in Hawaii, and one that I went to a year or so ago in Miami:

Located near the beach, or Downtown, preferably where people walk, almost in a Landing setting, but not the Landing. Have the majority of the club in a fenced in outside setting, with not really a tent, but something above to prevent rain from getting in while still leaving you with the feeling of nothing above you. 2 stories, bottom is the outdoors dance floor, with a couple outside bars, then an inside area with a bar and some seating, with a DJ actually playing stuff that people 23+ would enjoy listening and dancing to.

Upstairs would be a live band, preferably rock, not emo depressed rock, but rock, or reggae, or something that makes people feel good and relaxed. NO COUNTRY MUSIC EVER, I can not stress that enough, it attracts the wrong type of people, usually the type who hoot and holler and want to start fights just because they had 4 Miller Lights and are trashed.

I'm a tough crowd, I've lived in Detroit, Hawaii, Atlanta, Miami, California, Alaska, and have had the pleasure of partying in all, some were better than others, some were more dissapointing.

1 thing I will mention, is Jacksonvilles nightlife has gone bland as of late. In 98, there were Shades OP and Shades Beaches, The Milk Bar, Club 5, The Paradome, and a few other clubs, and honestly I think those were the best Jacksonville had. There needs to be something different here, I mean hell, Paris Hilton basically gave a huge F-U to "her" club that was started at the Landing. Not that I think anything she says or does is worth anything, but it does give a hint of how aweful it has to be.

[Orphean]

The real problem with the Jacksonville nightlife is no one seems to have progressed beyond 1996...Tops...Anywhere.

I've just spent the last 3 months in jacksonville as a scouting trip to see if I could actually move there from overseas where the nightlife is light years beyond anything I managed to see in Jacksonville. One of my biggest concerns was the nightlife and here's the best advice I can give having roamed from Downtown to southside to the beaches 5 times a week...

*It's not the 80s anymore.
*Ronnie Van Zant is dead and Lynyrd Skynyrd should call it quits as well as the people in Jacksonville who haven't yet realised it has been 30 years since they were anyone.
*There is an AMAZING world of music out there and it would be great if someone in Jacksonville managed to play some of it once in a while. Every club is jacksonville is trying so hard not to offend anyone that they mostly manage to bore the hell out of you. The same genres, styles and even songs were played in the same places....just in different proportions.
*The popularity of dance clubs in Jacksonville is strange given that there didn't appear to be a single male in the entire county/city who actually danced because it's fun...Unless holding a drink while standing in the middle of the dance floor and watching the girls wiggle it constitutes dancing...
*Not all clubs need to be about getting laid...My friends and I couldn't go anywhere without someone approaching and giving us business cards, lame pickup lines or a pat on the ass.
*Places need to learn that creating a party atmosphere doesn'nt have to start with a band obliterating every hope of a conversation with the person next to you.
*Contrary to what some posters put here about bringing in different nights for different crowds, what Jacksonville REALLY needs is some sort of identity rather than the "offend as few as possible" mentality that abounds. Every scene we found in Jacksonville was about as mainstream and cliched as it is possible to be. We didn't enter a single place where we felt we were witnessing something unique to Jacksonville...Alas, the Lynyrd Skynyrd fascination proved to be common throughout the Southeast.
*You can have all the ladies night, cheap drinks nights and whatever other promotions you can think of but ultimately if you can't give people something unique and entertaining when they get there all you'll have are cheap drunk people who eventually realise they have more fun at home with friends. That's jacksonville in a nut shell.
*People need to get out earlier than 11 pm (see next point)
*Places need to stay open later than 2 am.

Overall, we just came away with the thought "There must be some AMAZING house parties in jacksonville because there's not one club/bar that could hold the jockstrap of a good club in any other major metropolitan city we've been too on any continent"

There are some pluses though.

*Drinks are cheap and strong (compared to many other cities).
*There is a lot of variety if you like standard variety. There are plenty of "rock" places and plenty of "hip hop" places etc etc...but...they all play what would be the Top 40 in each of those genres. Even the metal clubs were so Top 40 metal it was painful to witness. Even "alternative" or "college" radio was playing 90s stuff that was bland.
*None of the places we went to were ever crowded or what we would consider crowded anyway. While this can be a detriment to feeling like you're having a good time mingling with a bunch of happy strangers, it does mean you can "hang out" without too many dramas.

And for the poster who said Jacksonville has gone bland of late has it all wrong...Jacksonville may be the liveliest I've ever seen it. I go there every few years to visit family and stuck in the past it is. Generic and Top 40 it is. But truth be told it always has been.

The night life isn't actually that bad. It's just predictable...middle of the road...Top 40...appealing to the greatest amount of people while offending no one stuff. If you're interested in seeing hot bands, hot djs and a grassroots subculture unique to a particular city then Jacksonville just isn't it.

It's a pretty place and the quality of life is very high. There are great opportunities in every respect (new clubs being one) and the people are all very nice...but "hip" it isn't.

[he's so hott]

^You've pretty much described most clubs in this country. A business owner isn't going to set out to offend any potential clients. Therefore, you will as a owner try to draw in the largest group of individuals that you can by casting the widest net. Nothing new there.

[PinoyDoc]

Originally Posted by toneloc007

We're looking more in the area of Downtown because there isn't much to offer there plus it puts us centered to Orange park and the beaches. We are going to have theme nights because I believe you need that to attract a variety of people. A goth night would be one.

Previous posts have debated on the theme or concept of such a place. I would rather suggest that a new late-night haunt be located at the top of a building downtown, with good views, with some space for al fresco dining/lounging (weather permitting, of course). That place I think will stand out and have no competition.