An Experiment

It takes stamina to write about Philadelphia's nightlife. First it has to be experienced. Then one must write about it. Then the complaints about the injustice of such a poor description must be endured, and then the complaints about the inadequacies of one's descriptive talent must be painfully ignored. Still, if the Muse is kind, true knowledge may be pulled mewling from the reports, and if I am more fortunate still, a coin may drop into my pocket.

You know Yelp reviews? I think Yelp is wonderful, and it's often my first stop when I'm trying to find someplace to visit. The problem is that Yelp, particularly for nightlife, is of necessity impressionistic. The reviewers are trying to describe the place in general, but that means that they cannot delve too deeply into specifics. The only time that Yelp reviewers truly get into the details I want to know is when they are so mad that they dish tick-tock style.

You might think that this territory is well covered, but in fact it is not. For instance, I am well supplied with advance notice of live music, bar specials, and club nights. But after-the-fact reviews are terribly rare. If Johnny Goodtimes puts together a great night of Quizzo, the report of the event is lost forever if neither he nor the other patrons write about it.

So, I am considering putting my money where my interests are, and seeking to purchase reports from writers willing to record their experiences at various venues. I don't want to spend money on 100 words about how "Place X is too expensive and pretentious." Rather, I want a personal essay grounded in the details of one session. When did you arrive, was the place crowded or not, was it loud or could you hear yourself talking, was the temperature good, was the music good. If Place X has flashing lights and costs $20 for a cocktail, write that. If the patrons look phony, tell me why. Also, why does their phony-ness make you feel unhappy?

For instance, many years ago I got to listen to the DJ Isaac Jordan. He's good. Really, really good. And if I was a better writer, I might have some chance of expressing why he's good, instead of just asserting it. Sure, you could go to his website right now, pull up some of his mixes, and listen. But that's not the same as being in the room, when it's midnight, and you know you've got two hours before the lights turn-up and it's either go to the after-hours place or get breakfast at a diner or is this the kind of night that's going to wind up as a morning in AC?

So I'm going to look into it. Maybe I'll try going to a few places, write up my reports, post them here and see what happens. Or maybe I'll find writers who're interested in trying to convey what's going on after all the decent people have gone to bed and try to throw some compensation their way. Or, maybe I'll sober up and let drop this into the "too-hard" box and hope some more enterprising person figures out a solution.