Boomerangs

So last nights pick was Boomerangs weekly Wednesday event - Jello Wrestling and Boxing!  This venue is a medium size (101-400 people), and had about 75 people on average there during my visit.  They had a DJ who was playing a good mix of music, a pool table in the main area and one in the back that folks were playing on, and two stripper poles on the higher level dance floor.

As the crowd came in "DJ Ken" kept the level of the music appropriate for the size, lowering and raising as needed.  They had an excellent sound system that focused on the dance floor allowing the beat to vibrate off the floor, pumping your body up.  The speakers were angled and anchored from the ceiling to give the solid pulse throughout the floor.

The first person to great me was the hostess who was checking ID's.  There wasn't very much to note on the reception at the front door, but I found it was a private club that you are required to have membership with.  I am not sure if the admission was $5.00 or the membership was $5.00 as it was not explained, but it cost $5.00 for me to get in with getting a membership.  I did ask her about the fee, but she did not answer (pretty sure she heard me).  They also had a cool computer system that scanned in your drivers license and all the info, and your required to sign a waiver.  They also did a pat down before I could enter the club.  So they were very detailed on who comes into their club.

I did not get the bartender's name, however, she was much more informative and inviting concerning the club, membership, and general questions.  Again, no flair in the bartending, and the drinks were a little strong, but I think that is due to the smaller size of the cups that didn't allow much mixing.  Generally a very nice person to chat with and very polite. 

The crowd was quite interesting there.  I seen quite of few people come in solo or as a couple, but very few groups.  There was a group playing pool, some dancing, and others just having a good time.  I had a few of the folks come and talk to me, not knowing me at all, and the two referee's were conversing with everyone.  I loved the fact that the refs' were dressed for the part, and they were both very personable.  They seemed to be the ones keeping the crowd going even with working with the sign ups.

The event itself is worth coming out to see.  They did not have any sign ups for the jello wrestling (sigh), however, there were about 8 matches to include 1 female boxing match.  The ref was great detailing the match, they also picked 2 people from the crowd to act as judges on the matches.  I was expecting to see alot of "street" fighting, but these contestants were really talented!  I am not personally into sports myself, but these matches are definately an event to see.  People were coming in specifically to box, there was no trying to talk folks into it, they had a full agenda just from walk ins.

Mixed drinks ranged around 6-7 each and I didn't quite get the designated driver cost, it seemed to be that if you ordered something with a soda, the soda was free, but otherwise they were about 2 each.  The drinks came in a 10 oz tumbler, so it was a bit pricey, but the drinks were also made a bit stiff.  They had some food available to order which was priced pretty well (about what you would spend on fast food), and it was AWESOME!  Their selection on liquer was good as was the beer.

The seating in the main area was a bit sparse, but it looks like because the ring was set up on the dance floor, the table area was cleared out to serve as the secondary dance floor.  There is about a 2 inch dip coming from the bar to the dancefloor that if you don't watch out for, your gonna nose dive (it is not marked).  The layout was really unique as well, they had an enclosed DJ booth, with a raised dance floor on either side with a stripper pole and mirrors on each side.  Then they had stairs that led down to the dance floor, which was about 2 inches lower than the main floor.  Across from the DJ booth on the other side of the main room was another raised area about 2 steps up which overlooked the entire area with seating.  It was not mentioned to me (but I nosed around on my own), and found that there was a back room past the restrooms that had a small bar, comfortable seating, a pool table, and although the music could be heard from the main room, it was relaxing and much quieter back in this area.  If you have ever been in a dance club in a large city (dark painted interior, lots of mirrors, seperate chill area), this is a very similar design although they had much more overhead lighting vice side lighting.

Now I do need to note a few major flaws that could easily be corrected as I know that these can be biggies for female clubbers and you should be prepared.  The mirrors and poles really needed to be cleaned (to the point that I specifically watched one girl dancing and she was putting her hands up to the mirrors but kept a 6 inch distance from actually touching them).  Also, in both bathrooms (yes I sent someone in to check the other bathroom .. I'm not a perv) just about every bathroom stall would not lock (or stay shut), and there were no paper towels, hand soap, and all of the toilet paper despensers were empty except for one small roll that was put in one of the stalls on the back of the toilet.  The stalls also looked like they had not been wiped down in a while (stuff on them that I was not willing to touch or guess what it was).  If the place had been checked / cleaned up either prior to opening or after closing the night before, I could have rated them much higher, but they are pretty easy fixes as it is just some attention to detail.

They do have a dress code here, no white T's, collared shirt, no bagging pants, etc (although the fighters of course had their boxing clothes on), so make sure that you dress a step up from street clothes (jeans and collard shirt for men).  The tempature was adjusted throughout the night, and it was always very comfortable.  The staff all adheared to the dress code from what I seen as well.

The was a mixture of half and half male to female ratio there, and a pretty even racial mix as well.  Ages ranged from 19 to about the early 50's.  You definately will not feel out of place here no matter what your demographic.

My overall opinion for this event on a Wednesday night was very high.  Although the place was not packed, I think if more people knew about or seen this event, they would definately make the trip.  I am hoping the next time that I see a change in the cleaning and functionality of some of the area's since it has such great potential to be a really hot nightclub.  About 11:30 seemed to be when the event kicked off and it hit its high point.  I would love to come back to see some of the jello wrestling as well (maybe its a bit too cold still), but I will definately come back for this event and I would suggest that anyone looking for something to do on a Wednesday night come check it out .. it was really well done!

1.  Atmosphere - 9
2.  First Impression - 4 (didn't answer a question, just kind of ignored it and could have been a bit more welcoming and introduced the club better knowing I was not a member)
3.  Service - 8
4.  Sound System - 8
5.  Cleanliness - 3 (mirrors and poles needed cleaning - handprints everywhere, bathroom stalls needed to be wiped down, seemed to be a sweep and mop on the floor and wet cloth wipedown on counters and bars)
6.  Physical Comfort - 8
7.  Drink Quality/Bartender Skills - 7 (drinks were a bit stiff although not ordered that way)
8.  Safety - 7 (unmarked area going to dance floor about a 2 inch step down that will catch ya)
9.  Originality - 8
10.  Staff Appearance - 8

Overall Rating (not that this is on a Wednesday and does not reflect a weekend):  7.0