210 North Opens October 26th
As several Discontents have noticed, the facade of 210 North has begun to go up and, at least right now, its a deep red that has spawned much debate. What people should be more concerned about is the general structure of the facade that appears to exemplify the worst in modernist architecture–it reminds me of Cain Hall–that abomination of modernism on the UNR campus–except its less mushroomy and full of right angles. Of course its not finished yet, so let’s withhold our judgement for a few more weeks.
Even more concerning is the effort to imitate “hip” L.A. and San Francisco clubs as evidenced by the atmospheric name they’ve chosen for the bar–Divinity–both noun and adjective. Barf, uh , I mean that’s hot. (The RGJ story was confusing because there are either two bars called Divine and Divinity, or one bar they reported as having two names.) The fact is that no matter how hard they try (and maybe the harder they try), 210 North is bound to be more like Reno trying to be L.A. or San Francisco than L.A. or San Francisco, but I guess that’s still infinitely better than what was there before, and what Reno has to offer at the moment. I wonder if the white marble bars came before or after the celestially inspired name?
I have hope. First, I’m excited about the beds, just don’t expect me to share–not even with my husbands and Bjorn the houseboy. In fact, their job will be to bring me grapes as I recline for hours drinking mojitos. The glass chandelier created by Eva Menz looks very impressive, and the “down-tempo eclectic mix of music” that will include a variety of styles from “Brazilian to Flamenco to funk and soul” sounds very encouraging–just right for lounging around on my bed away from home. In fact, from their website graphics, the Divinity Lounge looks very urban chic–colorful and comfortable–a winning combination. And no matter how much I snark about it, 210 North has to be a vast improvement over Fast Eddies and Reno Live (I hear Coolio in my head everytime someone mentions it), the former occupants of the building. Remember the motley crowd that used to line up outside that place to get in? Trashy doesn’t even begin to describe it–a sea of young women’s flesh hanging out of too-tight clothes, fishnet stockings and cheap stilettos. If there hadn’t have been a dress code, it would’ve been full of guys wearing wife beaters (I’m talking tank tops here) , sideways baseball caps and chewing gum–think K-Fed. Pure class.
Who will come to 210 North? I have no idea, because I don’t see how anyone can automatically assume it will end up being much different than anywhere else in Reno. The young, hip, upscale crowd 210 North is banking on may not even exist in Reno. I hope it does, but I’m not convinced. If they do, where do they go now? Satellite had promise, but the bands it brings in guarantees a younger crowd than I imagine 210 North is looking for. Tonic is great, but a little rough around the edges. The Silver Peak? Too many jeans and sweaters. And you definitely can’t find desireable clientele at Liquid Lounge or West Second Street–the antidotes to class in downtown Reno. Se7en Tea House and The Chocolate Bar probably draw the closest thing to a young, hip, urban crowd but they are small in scale compared to 210 North which must fill 1,700 square feet. I guess that’s my point. Reno doesn’t have a young upscale crowd, at least one big enough to support a place as large as 210 North, so the clientele will have to come from a mix of all these places. Drunk college kids, the jeans and sweater types, the over-thirty affluent, but not exactly hipsters, tourists, and a few 25-29 year olds dressed in their best Paris Hilton and Justin Timberlake outfits. All that I ask is that it doesn’t turn into Vino.
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Someone is quite the pessimist this morning. I think Reno has reached a point where we are ready for a club like 210 North. I personally know of a few attractive and well-dressed 20-somethings that regularly drive to Sac or S.F. for the weekend just to go to a “real” club. With that in mind, if the music is good and the decor looks impressive as it does from the pics/renderings, they shouldn’t have too much trouble attracting a good crowd.
Also, I think you meant “Eddie’s Fabulous 50’s”, not “Fast Eddies”. Unless that was some sort of play on words that I’m too dense to “pick up” on. (Pun intended)
Whoah Minx you woke up on the wrong side of grump land this morning! I think there is a crowd out there for this club, as long as this club markets to the crowd properly. There ISN’T a crowd in Reno who is willing to pay $10 per drink and a $20 cover charge to get in, but I have seen the hip people this club is trying market to out there.
First, there are the gay people, and the straight people who frequent gay clubs. Did you know on average 30% of the crowd at Reno’s two most popular gay bars are actually straight? That stat comes from the bar owners themselves.
I think these people would flock right to 210 North, along with the sophistigays that are tired of hip hop music at the Kietzke bars. Much like how Se7en has managed to attract a very mixed crowd that all seem to get along.
Next, I think this club will attract the 30-40 year olds who have money in this town, who have been waiting for a non-dive bar to come to town. A lot of my clients are planning to go to the grand opening.
So I have to disagree with you Minx, I think the crwod is out there, and I think right now they are just dispersed in different factions or ‘cliqs’.
The other crowd it could attract if it plays the right music is the ravers-that-have-grown-up crowd. There are a huge number of 30-35 year-olds who used to party hard in this town going to warehouse raves in Sparks back in the 1990’s. That scene has long since fizzled and been passed to 15-year old kids sucking on binkies and wearing as many glow lights as possible…however the ‘retired’ rave crowd like myself still love a good dance beat…nearly impossible to find in this town unless you go to a gay bar.
Case in point, back when Metropolis was open, they had some big-name djs come out and spin, like Paul Oakenfold, Christopher Lawrence, Dj Dan, etc. Every single one of those shows was sold out, with tickets at $25 a pop. I went to them, they were great.
So you add all these groups up, and there’s a big crowd in Reno who are just waiting for a cool club to open.
Now what WILL sealthe club’s fate is bad management, so I hope they avoid that, so they won’t immediately die like Metropolis did.
Metropolis in my eyes was the closest thing we had to a big city club so far, and it was cool. It had a dress code, you had to wait outside in a line for sometimes an hour to to get in, they had fire-spinning trapeze artists swinging over the dance floor, and big-name djs. It was hot! Bad management closed it down.
Plus blending it with a soon-to-be restaurant will help bring in the sophistigays and sophististraights even more.
By the way check out my construction pics on downtownmakeover.com, Jill was nice enough to give me a little tour.
I am just glad they are putting something on that 210 block– and they got rid of the 1974 faux-brass frontage! Architecture? Who will really notice?
Does Reno have a “young, hip” crowd? Sure but seems like most of them dont have much money and will go to the hangouts they’ve gone to for a long time, (W.Second St. bar after 9 PM )
Satellite? It’s ok but they’ve got to turn down the vfolume a little when bands play! 1,200 square feet venues don’t need the volume turned to “11″.
The nightclub business is tough, I am sure the 210 owners know that.
I appreciate the subliminal slip for Nevada UpNorth in the first sentance. You may want to correct that unless it was intentional.
I think the minx is being very realistic and not grumpy. 210 will be busy on weekend nights, no doubt about it … keeping the doors open other nights might prove to be a little trickier. It is my hope that some of the visitors who think they’re stranded in a town without a real nightclub will actually go for a walk and notice the place and go inside. There’s room to grow the tourist business in Reno and this place can only help the cause.
I’m not going to this crap hatch and I’m cooler than all of you put together. Where’d the money come from for this experiment? This city isn’t ready. No demographics. What we need is a bar for 16-year-old pregnant girls looking for substitute baby-daddys. You know, something with a day care.
Of course, in the spirit of disclosure, The Ginger Man don’t dance, he just pull up his pants, and do the Rockaway. Now lean back…lean back…lean back…
A city with an overall population in the Reno/Sparks area of 380,000+ and Reno isnt ready for a club like this? Gimmy a break. Sure it’s ready. Do you guys go out much at all or venture out into society?
I go to quite a few parties, get-togethers and social events, and I hear over and over ‘I wish there were better clubs and bars to go to’. And they don’t mean Liquid Lounge or Tonic. Maybe it’s just my crowd that longs for a new club, but there are a lot more Californians transplanted to Reno in the past few years that are longing for good entertainment and fun. MOst clubs fail because of bad management, like Metropolis, Reno Live, and the old Limelite. It was even the death of famed Studio 54 in NYC back in the day. Metropolis, every time I went, had lines out the door to get in.
Maybe the neggies in here are just looking at the club and not the development as a whole? Sure the club will be slow on the weekdays but most large-city clubs I have frequented are like that. The high-end restaurant going in downstairs will offset the slow hours. The lounge/restaurant combo works well, Bella Sera is proof of that. People thought two expensive Italian Restaurants would be one too many and Bella Sera and La Famiglia are doing just fine.
What’s strange is when this project was first announced, both on my site and this forum, people’s comments were very positive about this project. Now everyone hates it and predicts dismal failure. What happened between now and a couple months ago when it was announced?
One) I think Studio 54 suffered from different problems, although, I wasn’t around for that Era.
Two)What’s a neggie? Is that hate speech?
Three)I’m sick and tired of every jackass in the world calling everything “Bella Sera.” The wine, the “master-planned Community,” my ass hairs.
Four) You say “most large-city clubs I have frequented are like that.” Since when is 300k a large city? I think people are ulitmately very cautious that it’s a little too much too soon. The last thing Reno needs is a giant Failure and more of a reputation for being the Bunghole of Nevada. That will scare potential suitors off quicker than a tube of STD-Be-Gone on your coffee table. Your attitude is collegial and mehopes, infectious.
I for one am very much looking forward to the opening of the 210. I’ve known Jill as the operator at Bubinga and I’m confident she’ll make this a world class club that will be busy 7 nights a week. I think it’s great that investors are pouring the cash into downtown Reno, that says a lot about where this city is going. For those naysayers, if we wait until reno becomes your definition of a cool enough, nothing will ever happen.
When I have clients come to town and want a refreshing, non casino environment to loosen their ties and “tie one on” I’ll be at the 210.
Mike,
I agree with much of what you have said. Although, I suspect that some of the negative comments were actually made in jest. At least I’m hoping Ginger Man wasn’t serious.
Either way, I think the reason why many clubs have failed in Reno can be attributed to 2 very simple reasons:
-The aforementioned “poor management” (this covers everything from dismal music selection to ridiculous cover charges, etc.)
-Poor venue. Most clubs in Reno are housed in buildings which were originally something other than a club or a mildy rehabed version of an older, dated and now closed club. When all you do is change the paint and switch up the music, it isn’t bound to impress very many people. The same negative connotations that people had about the old club sometimes have a way of carrying over to the new club. This is true for restaurants as well.
The owners of 210 North appear to have put much thought (and money) into this club. I think the least we all could do is hold off on predicting their failure at least until they open!
Ginger Man,
FWIW, I don’t think Mike was stating that Reno is a large city. Rather, he was stating that many clubs, even those in large cities, suffer from low attendance M-F. This was in response to Ken who stated that 210 North will have difficulty keeping their doors open during the week.
Justin,
Of course 99% of what I say is ironic, at best. I’m in that demographic and I grew up in SoHo so I can’t help it. As long as the owners come up with interesting nights M-F, attendance dosn’t HAVE to be bad, is my point. Nobody is rooting for a potential Mecca of Culture and Fun to go Down The Tubes, just being cautious, that’s all. But I appreciate the way you raised your points instead of point blank assasination. That’s why I post exclusively to this board. Thank you for your comments. I will consider them.
BTW, has ANYBODY read J.P Donleavy? MTM can’t have the only literate alias in this town.
Myrna I would like thank you for taking the time to blog about 210 North. I agree parts of the RGJ piece were confusing in regards to Divine and Divinity. Even so we are very appreciative for Siobhan writing about 210 North and Eva.
In closing thank you (and the readers)for reserving judgement on 210 North. If you would like to see inside please call me at the club.
You guys are cool
Both Jutin and Ginger Man bring up good points. I didnt want to get on a pedestal and preach about this club, wasnt my intention at all. I just want downtown overall to continue in its success of bringing retail downtown.
After touring the 210 it seemed like they were putting a LOT of money into this. I’ve never seen a club with imported hardwood flooring from Africa, it seems like they are putting more money into this than any previous club owner there, so I just hope they succeed. It could be very premature who knows.
We’ll find out when it opens! An exclusive report from the Minx. I can’t wait. Her writing is the main reason I hang out in this forum.
What kind of wod do they make in Africa? No, just a question?
haha that’s a good question! According to google there’s PangaPanga, also called Patridge Wood or Mpande, there is Muhuhu (Brachylaenahutchinsii)which is a bright yellow wood, and Mkarati (Erythrophloeumsuaveolens) and Paurosa, also known as Msekeseke. A little less exotic is African Pearwood.
And don’t forget bubinga.
Ha! What’s funny is that I was even more neagative in my first draft of this post. The minx is hardly every grumpy–just a bit of a skeptic. However, I REALLY want to see 210 North work, I really do. Just wanted to toss about some of the issues I see the club and the city facing.
Mike H–sorry I missed the Metro. Sounds like it was pretty cool although Okenfold was always so…masculine.
I gotta say though, the minx doesn’t wait in line for anything longer than 30 minutes and if the dress code is too stringent, she probably won’t be allowed in!
G-man, ashamed to say, I have not read your namesake although it makes me think of the Pogues which is always good. Ginger lady = whiskey, what does Ginger man = (besides the name of a great book?)
I think the best thing I’ve read about the book is “a grasping, brawling testament to what the author once cited as a chief artistic principle: ‘To make your mother and father drop dead with shame.’”
where to start?. Hmmm well lets see.I have spent a larger portion of my years(around 18 out of the past 23)growing up in this piss poor excuse of a town. Yet something about just pulls you back in. Personaly i thinks it’s the fact that it’s one of few 24 hour towns within traveling distance of california(otherwise i would STILL BE THERE!.and the availability of almost anything your body could desire. You can take that however you’d like. And in all these years i have seen reno change dramaticly mostly for the worst. Reno is more like a giant truck stop that wishes despratley to be a 24 nightlife kind of city. You know just like those hopless geeks in high school that tried as hard as they could to be cool only making themselfs look worse
Still i guess they deserve an E for effort. To be totaly honest i’d love to see reno develope into a true party town. See i’m those after hours kinda guy’s you know electronic music till 11:00 o’clock in the morning kinda thing(or as most retards refer to it as ecstasy music) Give me a break.thats this towns real problem they build the right club yet play the wrong music. Cslifornis is recognized across the united states as an icon of culture, being hip,artsy,edgey. Everybody wants to be like them and they copy the look but not the essence. the top 40’s hip hop crap everybody in this town holds on to so dearly has left the damn building in california. exept in the hip hop circle and lets face it people thats not what reno is realy about i thought that trying to be a different culture than you are stayed in high school? Guess not huh? grow up you poor bastards open your minds and perhapsreno can flourish and bacome a desirable place to live for people other than the those that are actualy from california get rich on real estate. 210 north has explosive potential but the people will ultamitley be it’s demise.
If any of you think that a $20 cover is to much to pay for the first several months that $3 million dollar club is open then i give up there appearently is no intelligent life in the reno area.
For your own educationl purposes people if you consider yourself to be a night person at all please take the 3 hour trip to san francisco and vist their hottest clubs like ruby sky or ends up and just take it in. GOING TO A CLUB SHOULD NOT BE A POPULARITY CONTEST JUST STOP THAT CRAP!!!!!!!. next time try going to listen to good music and enjoy youself. instead of looking around to see if you look better than the rest of people there.210 is busy but so damn boring until it loosens up you can bet that i nor any of the people that i associate with in that club.
P.S. just incase your reading this asking yourself “who the hell does this guy think he is to say things like that”. I have worked in several of the coming and going so called night clubs in reno managed 1 even and worked at clubs in cali as well. not to mention i try to hit them every weekend ever since i could pass for 21 about 11 years strong now and still going
BUT HEY WHAT DO I KNOW?!>
OH YEAH AND JILL YOU SHOULD NHAVE LEARNED YOUR LESSON WITH BUBINGA YOU SPENT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON A TYPE OF IN WOOD, A DARK CLUB, IN RENO, DO YOU HONESTLY THINK ANY ONE IN THIS TOWN HAAS THE DESIRE OR THE ABILITY TO STAY SOBER LONG ENOUGH TO APPRICIATE WHAT KIND OF SPECIAL SUPER DUPER WOOD YOU USED?
I HAVE AKED ALOT OF PEOPLE IF THEY EVER STOPPED TO LOOK 3 OTU PROBABLY 150 WOULD SAY YES AND IM WILLING TO BET 2 OF THEM JUST SAID YES TO LOOK WOOD WISE!
I GOT ONE WORD FOR YOU GUYS
PERGO!!!!!