Rites of Spring

For one week each spring, this city slumbers. The restaurants and shops may have customers, the streets may have pedestrians, and the venues may have boys and bunnies, but the city navigates the week sans the electricity that pulsates the entire summer or fall… Then, our students return… Their one-week menagerie of alcohol-induced insanity concludes and they ignite this city, which was starved for their attention…

If one thought Alexa was exquisite in Lodge Bar’s black, form fitting attire, one would have to revaluate their entire opinion after witnessing the purple and black ensemble she wore last evening… The intoxicating tart appeared absolutely scrumptious as she pranced and twisted… There may have been other bunnies dancing around her, but none that compared… Alexa owned Sugar’s stage…

As for Sugar’s dance floor, the energy was evident from my arrival… For the first twenty minutes, the crowd was somewhat random and scattered, thanks largely to the fact that the bunnies had remained in Park Street Patio to adore Kirk Herbstreit (more on that in a subsequent column)… Eventually, enough migrated over, mixed with the crowd, which had not attended the Celebrity Bartender Competition (why not?) and they exploded the scene…

Sugar Bar, on it’s best nights, is defined through an impassable dance floor… This evening reaffirmed that formula… There were bunnies on the walls, bunnies in the middles, bunnies in collections and cuddling their boyfriend… The array of color, glam, and sex was incredible… The array of people making out on the dance floor was another discussion… Seriously, how many occasions have I said this… If you want to make out, exit the premises…

Which is exactly what I did (and no, not to make out with someone)… While I could have remained at Sugar Bar until close, I walked the reenergized corridor to Lodge Bar, which equaled Sugar Bar in bunnies and intensity… The bars were crowded and the dance floor was crushed… And while Sugar Bar’s DJ deserves an honorable mention (especially for his “Wonderwall” remix), DJ Legend rapidly eliminated any comparison with another stellar evening…

As I enjoyed the view from inside Legend’s laboratory (the DJ booth for those of you with no imagination)… I marveled at the brilliance and precision with which he worked… Obviously, I knew Jay had skills… But, I had no concept of his organized chaos approach… Play this song, mix that song, select the next song, consume a shot, and take a request from the random bunny that wants to hear “Like A Prayer”… I was simply amazed…

After spending twenty minutes watching Legend mix, I walked from stage to floor, encountering three employees and conversations I hadn’t enjoyed in multiple weeks (and I didn’t even enjoy Spring Break)… Between the person who routinely plays Bucky, Trevor, a superstar among management in this city, and Rick, who I know I have must have labeled this city’s smartest bartender… I was reminded of the brilliance of this venue…

Amidst last call lights and one random frantically searching a coat she had lost (seriously a coat? Did she know what the temperature was?), I exited the evening… The air possessed that electricity… The ritual of early April has been realized…