The Paradise Club
Liesbeth Tryzelaar M'08
There's been a lot of press lately about The Paradise Club (969 Commonwealth Avenue, Allston). The club is apparently enjoying a renaissance in its 25th year, and it has become once again one of a hand full of clubs in the city that can be relied upon for booking great DJs and live music. I've heard a lot of good things in particular about Blackout Night (every Wednesday in the Lounge) so this week I put down biochemistry and went to check it out for my fellow TUSM students. For those of you unfamiliar with Boston, a trek to Allston from downtown Boston can require quite an investment of time. From in town, it takes anywhere from 20-45 minutes to get out to Harvard Avenue, the main strip of Allston. The neighborhood is well worth a visit, however. It is full of students and people in their twenties, and all of the bars, restaurants and shops are tailor-made for people like us-being mostly unpretentious, original and inexpensive. The Paradise can be found right at the Pleasant Street stop on the B-Line (one or two stops before the Harvard Avenue stop). The Lounge is on the north side of the club, and it is virtually empty at 10:00pm. The cover is a delightfully modest $3 and you can get a bottle of Corona for $3.75 and a can of beer for $2.50, and you can order food until 1:00am. It is set up like the restaurant it is, with lots of tables and chairs, but it has a small stage along one wall. When I arrive, the bar is staffed by a pretty woman with a gorgeous tattoo sleeve on her left arm and South Park is playing (with subtitles) on two TV's over the bar. The walls are a dark, scarred green, and there's an exhibit of photographs of haiku-like business signs inspired by 9/11 (I think my favorite was "God Bless America/Pancakes/Eggs Benedict/Closed Tuesday"). The music is good, the light is low, and the room has a nice informal, comfortable feel to it. Around 11, the Lounge starts to fill up, and by 11:30 it's pretty full. The band (the Sirens) had already set up on the tiny stage and escaped to places unknown. The music shifts from the Libertines to somewhat heavier stuff, including the Ramones and 80's metal (including, I'm sorry to say, what I think was a Def Leopard song) and many other things I've never heard before. Blackout Night begins. The crowd definitely seems like locals. There are many with the tattooed, dyed hair, and cool glasses of artists and artist-wannabes, but there are also lots of college students in T shirts and relatively conservatively dressed young professionals in khakis and button-down shirts. It's basically a very Allston crowd, and it's delightfully un-downtown. The Sirens come on stage just as I leave to catch one of the last T's back into the city. I didn't see enough of the Sirens to make any sort of comment on them, but their first few songs sound great-very classic punk-and I'm sorry to go. All in all, the new Paradise Lounge has definite potential. If I lived in Allston, I think I'd go there all the time. As I don't…well, I'd like to go there again, but I'd rather find a place just like it in my neighborhood. I should mention too that the later, harder turn of the music as the night wore on (before the Sirens played) was not really my thing. Then again, for me, one eighties hair metal song can easily spoil a whole set. Basically I can say that the Lounge is a great space, and the crowd a nice breather from the downtown scene. If you have never been to Allston before, or are wondering what to do after at St. Elizabeth's, definitely check this place out. Next Month: The Middle East.