After burn

By JACK OATMON

Let’s talk about afterhours night clubs. Why? For one, Stephan Bodzin’s playing at Circus next week, on Friday, Aug. 28. Perhaps more importantly, however, after a fire last July caused it to close, Stereo has just announced a Labour Day re-launch. The organizers are touting a new image, but with enough of the tried and true to keep past regulars excited, trying to swing back with an updated style for these days of fickle, eclectic and skeptical clubbers. A good idea on the surface.

But here’s the rub. A lot of people, particularly younger, new clubbers with no nostalgic attachment to the rave-era insomniac debauchery institutions, have understandable reservations about going to the kind of place that gets mysteriously torched. Not to mention all the assorted skullduggery you hear about, a staple part of the sketchy afterhours club mystique.

Nevertheless, here we have a titanic former player in the scene reinventing itself and, to be honest, one among the relatively few businesses around that really, truly know how to wire for sound. When people think Stereo, they think earth-shattering sound system. The redesigned club will include a stage in the new design for live shows, with seating. They’ve apparently fitted the place with sustainable waste infrastructure of some sort. And they’ll be teaming up with Neon and Tiga to produce events, with Tiga appearing once every six weeks. It all sounds pretty interesting, and I’m anxious to see if they manage to make it work in a fresh and fun way. Let me know what you think.

Also, a big thanks to McAuslan and Pop Montreal for throwing the party of the summer last weekend. The Disco Bike-In was absolutely bananas, and I don’t think I caught anything weird from the canal water...

AT THE BEACH BY THE TIME YOU READ THIS… jack.oatmon@gmail.com