Nights On Mars

I hate Mars Bar, yet I love it. Its the cheesiest club in Richmond but its such a fun night out that I cant refuse when the idea comes up to go.

When I go to a club I prefer to hear real dance music: house, breakbeat etc. Not 80s cheese. Mars Bar is best known for its 80s night, featuring the greatest hits of history's most garish decade. On this night you are most likely to hear some tunes from the likes of Duran Duran, Flock Of Seagulls, Madonna. The club is always packed for 80s night, which amazes me. Mars Bar seems to be an ideal place to hit on people, if what Andrew has told me is any indication,as well as shake your booty to some Rick Springfield.

Andrew loves going. He goes most every weekend. His friend from the club, who is also there quite a lot- what is his name? Trevor, Travis? - always buys me drinks. They cant wait to get on the dance floor and shake their stuff to a bit of Deee-Lite. Groove Is In The Heart is a staple of a Mars Bar night, in fact, Andrew and his friend are likely to revolt if they dont hear it. The playing of this song is the highlight of their night.

Being the complete DJ nerd that I am, I get into deep conversations with their resident Noah about crowd reading andset construction. I learn a ton in the span of about a 30 minute conversation. He plays the same genre I play when he's not spinning at Mars, and he once asked me to make him a list of some good house artists. Surprisingly he doesnt throw me out of his booth, and seems to enjoy my company. He once told me it gets lonely in the booth. Once Andrew came to the booth to say to me, "Youre STILL up here?"

The crowd at Mars is a very nice one. They are very enthusiastic and the dance floor is going nuts pretty much all night. I've met some great people there,

The best part of going to Mars Bar isnt the fun and nicepeople who hang out there, or observing Noah and soaking up DJ knowledge, or getting free drinks from Trevor/Travis. Its watching Andrew and Trevor/Travis go nuts to Groove Is In The Heart.

I cant wait to go again.