So last night was the Loose Lips party @ Bar None, and with the Restless crew involved I knew it was going to be off the chain. I convinced my SO to come along and even got up with Elektrokitten and CobraTom who followed us up there. None of us had been to Bar None before and didn’t know what to expect. We were kinda worried when we pulled up to a small brick building in the middle of a dark street in what looked like a bad part of town, the only reassurance being the lights of the skyscrapers from Town Center a mile away. We may have just been uptight cause everything was totally cool once we got inside.

Elektrokitten, moi, and CobraTom

Bar None has a bit of a dive feel in some respects, and it is seems like what I imagine CBGB’s must have been like: Small, claustrophobic bathrooms covered in sharpie and stickers, inadequate parking, scores of people waiting outside to get in, people bumping and jostling as they try to get by each other between the dancefloor, the bathroom and the bar; that’s also what gives it charm. Posters everywhere for local art and music shows, bands and places I’d never heard of. And the people. What a great place to people-watch. What a whole different scene from what we have in Newport News and Hampton. I had almost forgotten the years and Norfolk and just the diversity of people that I’d been accustomed to being around. People who don’t care what people think about them and are being who they want to be completely and without apology. Rebels. Artists.

Once you walked in the small area to the right was setup with displays from different artwork from RESTLESS BODIES, and to the left the bar, which only left a narrow space along the front wall that would prove to be a chokepoint for everyone trying to move between the door and the dancefloor. We parked our assess at the far side of the bar closest to the djs, ordered some beer and listened to some music.

Oh!Boy

LRDMRCY, DJ Ronnie, and Oh!Boy(l-r)

It was quite a treat to see 3 djs at once that weren’t named Dara/AK1200/DieselBoy. I over heard someone say they were having a Kraftwerk moment. I really wish I had gotten more. I had just setup the camera along a railing where I could see it from across the room and not have to baby it. I looked away for a second and looked back and the camera was gone. I walked over to where it had been and noticed the bass had rattled it off of the railing and onto the floor. Turns out the battery was dead, which is strange as it has been plugged in the whole day. Again, apologies that I failed you, dear Reader, as the music was awesome. We also failed in that the only pic we thought to take last night was the one above! Let it just be said that it was wicked. Another pair of guys were running a laptop that controlled the lights, fog machines and impressive lazer display that dazzled the dancefloor all night.

If it’s any consolation, you can listen to Ordinary Boy’s It’s Almost Summer mix, copies of which they were giving away along with some small buttons with Loose Lips on them. Nice touch guys. They had printed some large posters up for the event which they had plastered up all over the inside of the dance floor, which stayed pretty empty for most of the first hour. I’m not all up on the subgenres of techno these days, (you’ll have to ask elektrokitten for that discussion!) so I’ll just tell you what I heard, which was 4 to floor all night long, electro and house back and forth. There was a Kanye West remix by DJ Benzi, and a Rapture remix that I really liked. It was a good mixture of rocking electro beats, and people were really having a good time as we left.

We had to leave in order to be up early this morning, and so we dipped out just after 11 as things were really heating up. The place was filled to capacity and it was wall to wall through the chokepoint to get back out. It was definatley a success. You know a party aint a party until the cops show up.

I don’t know how things usually are at Bar None, but last night was totally worth it. If last night is any indication, the line outside the door is going to be even longer for the next event, whenever that may be. I don’t know how much longer they’ll be able to keep it at Bar None as pretty soon the party will start spilling out into the street!

And lastly, let me just say that I’ve come to the opinion that there is no real person named Charlie Restless, the alleged personality behind RESTLESS BODIES. I believe that name to be a construct like Keyser Söze, made up as a front for an art and party collective who’s ultimate objective is to rock the fuck out. I asked several people if they new Charlie and if they could point him out to me, only to be told that he had ‘stepped out’ and would ‘be right back’ and was ‘taking the longest shower ever’. The Restless Twitter account is likely manned by various RESTLESS BODIES staff members, who are led by the real leader of the group, who would reveal himself to me only by the name Chance.

We’ll be looking for the next party soon, we’ll let you know as soon as we hear.