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| - The Artifice is a unique new dive bar located in an area of town with some serious industrial vibes. Formerly a warehouse, it's located on 1st street in the heart of downtown Las Vegas's Arts District. It has become an artistic haven for the young, urban, creative class of the 702 and a platform for local musicians taking part in Vegas's burgeoning independent music scene.
That being said, I was hoping I wouldn't like the Artifice at all.
Let me explain myself here. I once contemplated a move to Vegas...for a guy (yes, I know, stupid of me). I thought deeply about this departure from the eternal sunshine and magnificent palm trees of California. In the end, I couldn't do it. I needed to live somewhere that would foster creativity and engage the interest of music and art enthusiasts such as myself. Unfortunately, at the time I contemplated this decision, places like the Artifice did not exist. Eventually, I fell out of love with the guy, and sadly, I also fell out of love with Vegas.
Then I met the Artifice.
At 3400 square feet and with three separate rooms, the low-key, intimate space is finely decorated while retaining some of its industrial aesthetic appeal. Cinderblock walls, exposed pipes, hand-painted stacked blocks, and canary yellow window-panes complement comic-book style art hanging on the dark, vintage-inspired damask print walls.
Upon first entering what would soon be my new favorite spot downtown, I grabbed a fairly priced beer (there are six varieties on tap) and was easily able to land a spot on one of the Artifice's plush-leather couches. At some point during the night, the crowd flocked to the performance area, which is a lovely minimalist space painted black and scrawled with etchings of faux window panes and doors. A band was playing that night (which I suppose, justified the $10 cover). In my comfy seat, drink-in-hand, I was able to observe the attractive, hip, retro-framed young patrons gyrate nonchalantly to an electro-rock band sampling the Geto Boys' 1991 classic, "My Mind's Playing Tricks On Me."
And yeah, maybe I got down a little too.
Overall, my experience at the Artifice was a great one. With its full drink menu, easy (and free!) parking, and effortlessly cool clientele, you would wonder how this bar even got its name; it completely contradicts the artifice and deception encountered by unsuspecting tourists on the Las Vegas strip on a daily basis. Slot machines are the real artifice! Or maybe I just suck at gambling..
Its genuine ground-up cool-ness also contradicts the trickery and deception I have encountered with my former Vegas guy (just had to throw that one in there).
Needless to say, now that the Artifice is in existence, I think I would've loved living in the good old 702 (heartbroken or not) and I can certainly see why the locals would love living there more and more everyday.Will I ever contemplate another relocation? Will I ever fall back in love with that guy? Probably not. But, I am confident that I'll fall back in love with Vegas eventually. And it just might be through places like the Artifice.
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