Walnut Room Friday July 8

I'm pleased to present another report from Christina Larkins, with another take on Walnut Room. -Adam


Walnut Room, Friday July 8, 2011 at 10pm


Located above Alfa restaurant, the door would have been easy to miss, if there wasn’t a gathering of well dressed, very attractive people lingering out front. Walking up to the door, you get the idea that you’re about to enter a very selective, hidden, “speakeasy” type of place.

The cover was $5 (before 11), and the girls were friendly. A few people caught some slack for inappropriate footwear (no flip flops, which, by the way, you should never wear to a club in the first place.) My advice for anyone going out in this city, if you’re unsure of a clubs dress code, its always better to be overdressed, then under. Leave the beach wear at the Jersey Shore.

Once you walk up the stairs, the place is bigger than you would guess. There are two bars, and plenty of seating. I’d suggest ordering drinks from the back bar. It’s a little quieter back there, and not nearly as crowded. I used it as a little “escape” room from the madness of the main bar area. They even have leather seating, and dimmer lighting. I suppose this is used when you find a hot girl/guy and you want to “get away and talk for a little bit…”

The music was the real treat of the night. The DJ was brought in from Boston, BREK.ONE and he was playing a great combo of classic R&B and Hip Hop dance hits from the 90’s and today. And equal mix of Beyonce to get the ladies dancing, and Notorious BIG to get the fellas to join in. Perfect mix for the crowd. He effortlessly went from one song to the next, each one getting more and more people out their seats and on the floor. This is definitely a place to go and dance.

The crowd was very mixed. A great representation of different styles (men in three piece suits, mixed with girls with Mohawk’s and cut off jean shorts.) The common thread was that everyone there seemed to be around mid-20’s-early 30’s.

As I’m a bathroom snob, this one was ehhh. Although I did enjoy the full length mirror that made me look a little bit thinner lol.

The drinks were decently priced. Jameson and Gingerale was the expect $9 a pop. No special “deals” or anything like that. And definitely NOT a bar to go to if you’re a beer snob. Not many choices there. But the bartenders were extremely courteous, fast and the drinks were delicious.

The later it got, the bigger the crowd got. I left around 1ish. Would definitely suggest getting there early. I can imagine that place reaches capacity pretty quickly. It’s big but not THAT big.

All in all it was a great party. Highly recommend this venue for future events.

--

Christina Larkins

Electric Butter at the Walnut Room

A fresh new report from Bryant Nnadi, reporting on a night at the stylish Walnut Room. -Adam

Electric Butter at the Walnut Room, Thursday June 30

Report by: Bryant Nnadi

Last night I went to a party called Electric Butter created by Philadelphia's resident DJ, DJ PHSH (pronounced "fish") at the Walnut Room. The event featured an artist/MC named Buddy Leezle and guest performer Charlie (former drummer for the Philly Hip Hop Group Subliminal Orphans).

The music was a combination of Electro and Dub Step with a twist of live drum & bass. Charlie played off of an electronic drum set, and he would overlap the drums to various tracks that DJ PHSH spun. The performance was amazing, because you got to watch a live remixing of popular songs like SBTRKT ft. Little Dragon - Wildfire (RMX ft. Drake).

During the intermission, Buddy Leezle performed some of his material but it wasn't that good. In fact, it killed the party a little bit. His constant use of the word "bitch" turned the majority of the female crowd away from the stage. After a quick switch up though by DJ PHSH the party was rejuvenated with life and the festivities continued.

As for the crowd is was predominately women. Attractive Women!

I was fortunate enough to snag a dancing session with a rather energetic hipster Asian chic who, for the purposes of confidentiality we'll call "Sasha".

Sasha was the secret star of the party. Of all the many dancers and breakers that fluttered about, Sasha had the attentions of practically everyone in the club-including myself. What brought her to the forefront of everyone’s attention was when she dropped to the floor and performed a dance called the "Body Roll". I never heard of this dance until I saw it in action last night, but when Sasha dropped, time stopped.

If your wondering what the Body Roll looks like, let me draw a mental picture for you.

Imagine someone falling to the ground and landing on his or her knees almost in prayer position. Then imagine the dancer leaning to the floor as if they were going for the title of lowest limbo. Now the next part of this dance is when the dogs come out. After the dancer's back is parallel to the floor, he or she starts to gyrate their hips in a slow winding circular motion. Or, if you can’t imagine this, here's youtube, where there's tons of examples. But keep in mind none of those videos will ever match the real thing in person. I wasn’t as skilled on the dance floor as Sasha was, but I had a good time talking and doing the same old two-step. It’s a good thing that not all dances go out of style.

I never thought I'd walk into a party and I would be a part of an endangered populous.

Although there were a few other men at the party, I could literally count them on my fingers and foot.

Otherwise the demographic was multicultural and stylish. After talking to a few folks, I got a feel for what everyone at the party was into. A lot of people were into Hip Hop and House music, while the rest preferred a varied selection of songs. It was honestly a great time, and I'm not surprised that it was at the Walnut Room.

Electric Butter is held every last Thursday of the month, from 10pm - 2am. So if you're into an upbeat party with great looking people and music Electric Butter is the spot to be.

Bryant Nnadi