Cool place, boring music
Monday, May 22, 2006
The pros of Smart Bar are highlighted by the fact that there is seating available - the kind that you can actually sit on, not just watch others on as you stand around! The place is not big, but just big enough, and it doesn't get so crowded that you're like sardines. Just enough people crowd the dance floor so as to not make you feel self conscious with too much space around you, but you're not bumping into people either. No one here seems to mingle and hit on each other the way most wrigleyville bars/clubs are. This could be good or bad depending on your motivations for going out, but overall it seems like a good thing if you're sick of getting molested when you're just trying to dance.
However, at least on the night that I was there (Saturday) the music was just not happening the way I'd have liked. It was straight techno, which is fine, but the baseline or beat never changed - hours later it sounded exactly as it did when I first got there, and a little variety would have been appreciated. I felt that without a change in the music, my dance moves (already severely and embarrassingly lacking) wouldn't change and that alone made me self-conscious. But maybe I'd feel that anyway, who knows...as it is, Smart Bar attracts some very good dancers - expect a danceoff or two with some fierce (yet friendly) competition. It's nice to watch, even if you don't have the skills to join in!