September 30, 2000 - No longer relevant - review of old Ivy
Ivy is another stop on many a nightclub tour, and that has been the nature of my encounters there. It can be one of the better destinations, with a good array of entertainment, and plenty of people on a good night. The crowd is very mixed in nature, with all ages, types, and dressers, often depending on the number of nightclub tours that stop there at various times. To give you a better picture, it is split across four levels, and works like four different clubs. There is a slightly older feel to the place, with a dominance of 23 to 26 year olds, but on some levels it is much younger.
On my most recent visit, only downstairs was open, but it was the second stop for the nightclub tour, so it was pretty early. The DJ was far less than impressive, but I suspect they were not anticipating our arrival, so threw on a part timer. It was just busy enough downstairs. The rest of this review is based on a visit in March 2000.
Of the clubs we went to the first night, it was easily the best dressed venue, and the crowd was pretty polite and fun. Yet I would not describe the place as classy, although it almost comes close at times. A tighter door policy could lead it that way, if they desired, but the variation in people is a reflection of the variation in entertainment. One of the upsides of this mix, is that the crowd was large, based on the something for everyone nature of the place. When we arrived at about midnight, it was fullish, and three of the four levels were busy.
You enter at the ground floor, which is a huge Karaoke bar. If you hate B52’s “Love Shack”, avoid this room. Level 1 was a band room, but we did not see who the band was (it was probably House Arrest). The crowd was a little older, but the music mix was a fine ‘80s & ‘90s mix, with an R&B edge. I danced plenty of time away here. Upstairs is the VIP bar, which is an interesting name because anyone could go in there, but it was quiet. It looked sensational, and there was seating and I think I saw pool tables. The basement is the clubbiest room in the venue. Loads of lighting, sound, and pumping house music. It seemed a pretty good mix, and the floor was packed. Throughout the club there was adequate seating, plenty of bar space, smallish dancefloors, and good DJ access. It is a pretty fair sort of place.
Even the drink prices were reasonable. I recall standard drinks being about normal prices for a club, but have no idea what entry cost, seeing as I was on a tour. But, I reckon that was probably pretty fair too, seeing as that seemed to be the pattern.
The Ivy is a fair venue. It is just so diverse, that it has something for everyone.
