Went to Hoop’s Bar with a group of friends last night about 8:30, and for the second night in a row it felt like home. With the crowd that was in there, it actually felt about as close as a bar can get to the resurrection of Sleep Out’s.
The one thing they have to address, though, is the opening time. Up until now “whenever we feel like it” has been a pretty accurate description of that. They were polling us last night about what time the place should open. I told them either 6 or 7. If they open later than 7 then they’re going to lose a lot of the gang on weeknights, as many of the people don’t like to stay out later than 9 so they can get a full night’s rest for work the next day. If they open at 7 we can hang out at the Saucer for happy hour, then head over to Hoop’s. If they open at 6 that might spell the end of the Saucer as our #1 hangout.
Some people are concerned that there is the door to EP’s, and that the nightclub crowd will come over to Hoop’s and spoil the mood. I don’t think that’s an issue at all and in fact think it’s a good thing. The last 6 months Sleep Out’s was open, I got really bored with the place because it was the same people every day. That’s why I demoted it to #2 and started spending the majority of the time at the Saucer. But with that door there between Hoop’s and EP’s, new people will circulate in and out and the crowd will never get stale. Some people will discover that they really get into the vibe at Hoop’s and we’ll have new regulars/friends. Others will discover that the elevated status they enjoy in a nightclub atmosphere doesn’t carry over to a locals’ bar like Hoop’s, and they’ll get bored and head back through the door to all that glitters. People will sort themselves out and that’s a good thing.
It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out… the gang is ready for a new home and the Monkey isn’t open yet. I can just hear the managers’ meeting at the Saucer in a couple of months: “Paul only comes in here on Sunday afternoons and Tuesdays for trivia now. I guess we better hire some Romanians so he’ll come back.”
I accidentally hit Delete rather than Save when entering a number into my phone last night… I know the person the number belongs to reads this blog, and if they want to e-mail me their number so I have it again, that’d be cool.
Plans for the day (these are tentative and may be changed if more interesting stuff to do comes along):
Early afternoon: Trip to East Memphis to do some shopping
Late afternoon: Watch football somewhere
7:00-10:00: The Lantana Projects art show at 574 S. Main
10:00-12:00: E&H. I hope Nate has his bar open.
After that: Go home and change into my Disco Paul persona, then it’s on to Raiford’s.
Got two more posts on deck, one concerning reincarnation and the other about happenings at the Majestic Grille.