New Venue Report and News About String Cheese

FIRST the super duper good news. Weight Watchers string cheese is cheaper than Kroger brand string cheese. It also tastes better and is only 50 calories and since I just can't seem to give up cheese this has changed my entire life, so I thought I should share with the rest of the cheese lovers.

Second of all I boned up and went down to see Newmatic at a new club called The National Underground. It is affiliated with The National Underground in New York that is owned by Gavin and Joey Degraw. I was expecting a large restaurant type venue similar to a BB King's, but as I walked up I could see a small patio full of people attached to what looked like a neighborhood bar, but it was across the street from Hard Rock Cafe. There was no sign and looked like they were still working on a lot of things, but it was pretty packed. Inside was super small and it was very loud. I loved it. The doors were open since it was a cool night and you could stand out there and still see and hear the bands. Did I mention it was loud? Bar prices are pretty typical for downtown, so it was expensive. If you're downtown though and don't expect to pay an extra dollar for drinks though then you need to get out more.

At first we had a little trouble getting service and the bartenders were completely confused about the prices and such, but apparently there are a few transplants from the New York bar that are used to their prices. By the end of the night service was great and the confusion had dwindled down. The manager was a bit like me. He was kind of easy to take wrong at first, but then ended up being super cool. Yup, I just called myself super cool. Take that Greenon High School Class of 1995. Shots and beers were bought for me and my friends, I partook in buying some shots and beers for me and my friends, and there was a vegetarian waitress (gods love her) carrying around a sample tray of their hot dogs. The meat was very tasty in my mouth.

Bands will complain about the stage size and the sound, but I have a feeling some of those things might work themselves out once it actually opens and is up and running for a while. The lights are deceptively decent. I wasn't even going to try to take pics at first, but was surprised when the first few shots I took were very clear and colorful. There are, I think, 3 LED cans which make taking pics pretty simple if you can get near the stage. This is Nashville though, so I almost always can (you guys and your crazy half circles 5 feet back from the stage). I will post a few pics here after I work on them for approval of said comments.

All in all my review is very favorable. This was a soft opening, so I don't know what the schedule is, but this is a place I could see myself frequenting just for shits and giggles. There is nothing else like it in Nashville and it's at a superb location for walk-in traffic. I'm a big fan and am looking forward to eating, drinking, booking (in the works), watching and listening inside of it. Let us pray to whatever gods, friends, food, nature that you worship that it sticks around for a while!