So I went to Pawn Shop Lounge this weekend, and it was as desolate as my abuela's vagina. This place has died, mutated, and become one huge dust collector. Although I arrived at 2:30 a.m., it was so dead inside you could basically do the electric slide all night long and would not have to worry about touching anyone. So I think its safe to say this place needs to re-invent itself, and I have taken it upon myself to make some suggestions. Here we go:
More suggestions continued...
What are your thoughts?
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It's just Pawnshop and A that are dead. I think people are getting bored of big empty rooms.
- t
Let's not even start with the weekly parties there, which have become second rate compared to Space, Nocturnal, Twilo etc. I remember not too long ago they had a huge event with Camel sponsoring and live bands that people were raving about (anyone refresh my memory?). I'm not saying they need huge events weekly but something that will make them standout like they used to years ago in their infancy. PS has become stagnant, un-inventive, un-progrssive. Everything it wasn't in it's heydays.
Studio A and Pawn Shop just have a difficult time getting their crowd excited. When was the last the collective masses of Studio A and PS were "abuzz" about a particular weekly party? And don't just respond you had a great time last week cause all your friends were there etc etc (cause that doesn't make no money, we all know how wallet deficient hipsters are), I said the collective mass.
Give me a break.
This reminds me of an incident two weeks ago. It was Cameo, about 3:45 in the morning. BAC and I were chatting with a girl from Boca. It was time to leave, so I said, "hey, we're leaving; we're going to Pawnshop." She looked at me with this sad, disgusted look, like you would get when someone says they live in Hialeah. At that moment I realized how far Pawn has fallen.
a) Too large
b) Insufficient dividers to get the space sizing right no matter what size of crowd (Y does this well, so does Nocturnal; Bricks is ok except for the main room; A, Cameo, Space get this wrong)
c) Clear line of sight from entry way to far wall of building. This creates an instant, disappointing feeling once you fight your way past the door, as you can see at a glance how many people are (or arent) there. Studio A does this better, Bricks does an excellent job as well. The line of sight MUST be broken up so your mind is drawn into exploring the space and you can't instantly count how many people are (aren't) there.
d) Offensive lighting. NO ONE LIKES PURPLE AND BRIGHT BLUE LIGHTS YOU STUPID ASSHOLES. I've been saying this since day one. Almost everyone else, including Boutique, gets this right.
e) Parking monarch in effect. Parking prices should be consistant and not randomly "$35 for the front row!"
Pawnshop has a lot going for it, but it used to feel like a poppin family hangout and now it's just a regular ole room. All the good old boys (and girls) are gone and so are the customers. The private bathrooms are great. Security is ok. Great bartenders.
When they hire me to clean the joint up, here's what I would do:
0. Shut down for two weeks. Change the name. Fire all the DJs, who from day one haven't been on the level (except Juan Mejia's all-too-brief stint). Fire all management except for the people who started on day one and understood the vision.
1. Cut the bus in half or remove 25% of size and move into old position (so there is a wider opening). The bus is far too large and I have NEVER seen every table taken inside of it. It's got awkward feng shui on its own but we won't talk about that (how they have to rip the roof off of it, basically). By moving it you add a necessary visual divider that doesn't take up much room and has a better return on investment than a blank wall or other feature.
2. Put the DJ booth where it used to be against the north wall, where they occasionally serve drinks, but keep it in the truck cab. This way, when the customer enters, they will immediately see the DJ and the people dancing (tend to be in front of the booth).
3. Close link between Boutique and Pawnshop. Build bathrooms inside of Boutique, to the left of where the entrance to Boutique from Pawn is. No one ever goes into this darkened area because it's so depressing, so why keep it?
4. Get a decent face host program back in effect and target the people you should be targeting, instead of anyone who will talk to you.
5. Work with promoters to match their marketing money based on performance.
6. If a promoter isn't making money, fire that person, and close the club that night. Other clubs do it; Space has slamming Saturdays because they don't have a tired, shitty Friday.
maybe what they need to do is bring is like a sabado gigante night on saturdays with sluty dresses latinas telling me colgate makes my teeth whiter.
The perpetual Studio A Fridays, Pawn Shop/Poplife Saturdays needs to end. Don't people get bored repeating the same routine WEEK IN WEEK OUT for the past year? I don't understand how people can fall into monotony and not realize they are being boring, predictable and single minded! Change is a good thing, don't be afraid to explore other venues and people. Indie kids are the epitome of emo. They are afraid to venture into the wilderness and would rather become shells of themselves to "hang" with friends who they have the same tired conversations with week in and week out.
Rant much?
I do however have a certain standard of where you will find me at that I won't compromise. I'm pretty sure you would never have caught Lackner dead (no pun intended) at Metropolis when it was still open. Sue me for being a bitch, but I rather stay home than anyone find out I was at Space or Nocturnal for anything but Afterhours.
And when was the last time you were at Poplife? And please tell me, what's else is there to do that isn't a hassle to get in on a Saturday night. Yea Cameo/Vice good, but not that great that I want to go every Saturday. Karu&Y, yea nice whatever. But what else? Everything else going on is probably playing some variation of Top 40/hip-hop and that's SUPER interesting right?
And who the hell said I like chongas? Do you see the girls I date? And do you know why I haven't gone to Poplife more than twice.....Cause it wreaks of SAMENESS. Tom and I were having a GREAT time at Vice, best Saturday I have had in a very long time. Hey you should break your lease on the new place and set up a squatter camp across the street of Studio A with the other Friday pawns. We shall name it "Banality Village".
p.s- every place named in the above posts^^^(cross refernce loooong posts on top)
SUCK.SUCK.SUCK.SUCK.SUCK.SUCK.SUCK
PAWNSHOP SUCKS..AND STUDIO A (REALLY SUCKS) AND NOCTURNAL (SUPER SOAKER SUCKS)AND SPACE WELL I GUESS IT DOESNT SUCK IF YOU WANNA ROLL BALLS
W.E POINT BEING IF YOUR HAVING FUN WITH WHOEVER YOUR WITH THEN IT REALLY DOEST MATTER(sentimental family music) LETS HUG IT OUT SUCKY SHITTY CLUBS I LOVE YOU AND YOUR EMPTY ROOMS
Secondly, if you don't like obnoxious color lighting ("blue and purple") then why would you like that over-done french whore-house looking Karu & Y? It looks like Versace threw up in that joint?? the food sux and the people are worse than the shitty owners who think they brought something to Overtown.
The coloring of the lights is only one of the myriad elements of Pawnshop that needs to change.
But more to the point, I don't hate Pawnshop. I LOVE PAWNSHOP. I've gone there every weekend for more than two years, often twice a weekend. I love Pawnshop and I want it to continue to exist. I don't want to watch it waste away like Ez-E right before he died of gangsta-AIDS.
And, furthermore, if you don't think Karu+Y is unique and a really interesting element in Overtown, then you're just a douche.
i have to chime in, uninvited or not.
i've been complaining about pawn since i first went about a bit over year ago. like an underground frat party in a dirty basement (did you ever notice the floor, especially in the boutique). the potential is there. it simply isn't optimized.
its too big, dark, dingy, and yes, tired.
pawn is like an enlarged buck 15 but buck knows its place...its niche if you will...small, "cozy" "quaint" in a college keg stand kinda way. it works there. it doesn't work at pawn now and why would it. pawn need a face lift and a makeover.
even the booty boys (don't be talking shit on our boys joe and tomas, they have preserved house on the beach through years of dreaded hiphop and rap) couldn't "save it". the whole sat crowd, small as it might be on non-headliner nights (sans miguel migs, l'il louie, special event weekends) , is in the back room. that just doesn't work for initial engagement. and if a-booty wasn't there, pawn would even be LESS than empty.
but all that doesn't mean i'd go to space and i'm a dancing fool. "slammin" (hah, pu-lease) saturday or not. even afterhours. its hialeah heaven (hell) the purgatory simply moves upstairs latenight. at least local celebrity (nocturnal friday afterhours) gets a less rift raft rolly polly shrimpy reggeaton (i don't know how the f@#$ to spell that stupid shit) crowd.
EWW.
i have to chime in, uninvited or not.
i've been complaining about pawn since i first went about a bit over year ago. like an underground frat party in a dirty basement (did you ever notice the floor, especially in the boutique). the potential is there. it simply isn't optimized.
its too big, dark, dingy, and yes, tired.
pawn is like an enlarged buck 15 but buck knows its place...its niche if you will...small, "cozy" "quaint" in a college keg stand kinda way. it works there. it doesn't work at pawn now and why would it. pawn need a face lift and a makeover.
even the booty boys (don't be talking shit on our boys joe and tomas, they have preserved house on the beach through years of dreaded hiphop and rap) couldn't "save it". the whole sat crowd, small as it might be on non-headliner nights (sans miguel migs, l'il louie, special event weekends) , is in the back room. that just doesn't work for initial engagement. and if a-booty wasn't there, pawn would even be LESS than empty.
but all that doesn't mean i'd go to space and i'm a dancing fool. "slammin" (hah, pu-lease) saturday or not. even afterhours. its hialeah heaven (hell) the purgatory simply moves upstairs latenight. at least local celebrity (nocturnal friday afterhours) gets a less rift raft rolly polly shrimpy reggeaton (i don't know how the f@#$ to spell that stupid shit) crowd.
EWW. and double EWW.
Conclusion.
1. I went by on thursday, drove by and there was a line of like 50 people at around 130 waiting to get in.
2. The place was fckin packed when I got in.
3. I was surprised to see that they had both rooms open, I was under the impression it was just open for the aquabooty guys, the room was packed.
4. The music in the main room was right on.
5. The place didnt close till after 5.
Now I'm confused. What the shit was everyone talkin about?
It's mostly the Friday and Saturday party that disappoint. Moneyshot and Black Lipstick seem to be a potent and successful combination for the Thursday slot. And good for them!
Surely bad taste has denied us many things in life... that's why they call it taste.
Reread the thread. We're bashing what Pawn has become, not what it was or could be. If you went there twice on the opening weekend like I did you would see how far it's fallen. The crowds were ten times the current size. You could not walk!
In any case if you have fun keep going, they need the customers and I need to have something to muffle the echo of my voice.
YOUR ALL PROBABLY LIL EMOS WITH UR RAZOR CUT HAIR DOO'S DANCIN THE NIGHT AWAY IN SOME TIGHT JEANS AND BECAUSE THEY PLAY THE KILLERS AND SOMETHING ELSE THAT IS STUPID DOESNT MAKE THE MUSIC "RAD"...
AND P.S THERE ARE LIKE A MILLION NEW CLUBS OUT THERE.. ITS HAPPENS CLUBS DIE PAWN SHOP IS NO WHERE NEAR WHAT IT ONCE WAS BITCHES....
"OPEN-BAR". Drinking and entrance is free. There is nothing wrong with that. Especially when you are on a budget. Also, you constantly see the same people (ie. Blazer-Boy and Blondie). If other clubs would offer the same thing, I'll be the first one there.