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| - We come to Lava Lounge for their 80s Night on Fridays occasionally. I'm a recovering Upstage-r, so any DJ who is even moderately comparable to EZ Lou is, in my book, a great find. I'm happy to say that the DJ at Lava Lounge is just as good, and for that, we will definitely keep coming back to dance.
To drink? Well, that's a different issue. I understand that this is the South Side, but the bartenders use teeny tiny measuring cups for your mixed drinks, meaning that you end up with less than a full shot of booze in each $4.50 drink. Personality-wise, the bartenders are usually great: friendly, and good at handling the crowd that will all turn up at one time for the next round during an 'off' song. I haven't been on any other night besides 80s Night, so who knows if this is just something they do when they're super crowded. Thankfully, I will dance to 80s music without a single drop of booze, so I manage pretty well :)
My only other issue with the Lava Lounge is that they could definitely use more space in the back dance area. It gets SO crowded by the end of the night (which, good for them, we want a rockin' 80s Night to stick around!), and I wish there was some way they could expand a bit. I realize this isn't possible, so just take it as a heads-up that you will be sweaty and dancing with people you've never met before because of space constraints before the end of the night.
Other than that, and the fact that you *do* have to deal with a few annoying typical South Side-rs (although there are quite a few former Upstage kids who come here now), this is a great 80s Night. The DJ plays a ton of new wave and 80s pop. He throws in a Bon Jovi or Journey song here and there, but the majority of the setlist is made up of The Cure, Depeche Mode, Prince, Madonna, New Order, and similar bands. I appreciate a place that can make me feel like it's 1986 in 2004 all over again.
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