deep outre lounge

[metro]

Saw an ad in today's Gazette, deep outre lounge coming in Feb. 2009. The ad looked pretty cheesy. That's all it really said too, no contact info.

[warreng88]

No location?

[jbrown84]

Deep what?

[warreng88]

Deep what?

Must be French...

[metro]

No location?

The ad didn't have one. I imagine it is will either go to where Lit was or next to it, I believe it was Halo? I could be wrong since I'm not a club type.

[onthestrip]

Speaking of the old Lit, that place is too good of a location and has too great of a rooftop to go unused.

[nik4411]

Did Lit shut down? Wow, that sucks if it did. Only been there a few times but it was a great little bar. And like onthestrip said, their rooftop was great during the summer.

[jbrown84]

Yes, LiT quietly closed a few months ago.

[bretthexum]

That Halo location has been a revolving door. Hope they can stay there for awhile.

[edcrunk]

LIT was cool, but the owners were med students that had no business running a club.

[Urbanized]

Really? My impression was that LIT was at its best when they were involved in the day-to-day management. It was when they developed real lives and had to outsource management that the club started to suffer.

And frankly, although they originally intended it to have the long-lasting lifespan of a "neighborhood bar," I think LIT was ahead of the resident curve in downtown and just became a victim of the fickleness of the nightclub now-you're-hot-now-you're-not crowd. By that measure, they lasted a very long time.

[OKCMallen]

LIT was cool, but the owners were med students that had no business running a club.

They were doing great. I think new owners came and they tried to turn it into a music venue and ripped out all the cool booths. There was and still is a place for LIT in Bricktown...just not as a dirty music venue.

[Urbanized]

It wasn't new owners. It was the same owners, albeit with a new management team. The live music venue was really just a lunge at recapturing the early magic of LIT; a way to change things up since the old model wasn't working any more.

Like I said in the post before, I think they were mostly a victim of the fickle club crowd, which doesn't want to stay in the same place too long. It's exceedingly rare for places perceived as "clubs," even successful ones, to survive anywhere for a long time without a re-branding (think the intitially very successful Bricktown 54). I think "bars" tend to have a better shot at longevity than do "clubs," and LIT attracted a "club" crowd from the beginning, despite the intentions of the owners.

The other thing that often happens to clubs as they become entrenched is that their employees are notorious for getting comfortable and figuring out ways to redirect money from the company till to their own pockets. I'm not saying that happened at LIT, and have no indication that it did, but it wouldn't be surprising. This is especially so when you consider the owners had to rely more and more on hired management and less on their own direct supervision, as their adult lives started to get in the way of being club owners.

[edcrunk]

i was a tad harsh... they had a decent run, it's just that they didn't have any knowledge how to ride out the storms or be open to suggestions from credible and qualified sources interested in their success.

[edcrunk]

btw, bricktown's club scene is dying... people are leaving in droves for western and memorial.

[Urbanized]

If that's true, it's not necessarily a bad thing. As Bricktown matures as a district, its future probably lies much more with developments other than strictly nightclubs. Certainly unchecked, willy-nilly club development can actually be a hinderance to thoughtful development in Bricktown. There always will and always should be clubs in Bricktown (it's an entertainment district, after all), but I think you will see a more careful approach to them in the future, especially after the forthcoming Bricktown land use study is finalized and made public.

[Urbanized]

By the way, certain districts getting "hot" for nightclub development, perhaps at the expense of others, is just a larger example of the aforementioned fickle club crowd's changing tastes. The club crowd just wants to be at the new hot place, always chasing something better or more exciting. There's no mystery there. It's probably a metaphor for why they are at the club to begin with.

Due to its proximity to the ballpark, the Ford Center, the Cox Center and downtown proper, Bricktown will always remain strongly in the mix for nightlife, though. Assuming everyone in Bricktown keeps their eye on the ball.

[Steve]

I think a good related question is what does it mean for Memorial Road that buildings that were previously restaurants (one that was pretty upscale) are turning into nightclubs? Does this indicate a downgrade in use along Memorial, or an exhaustion of restaurant development?

[Urbanized]

So you are suggesting that what we are seeing might end up being an upgrade for Bricktown and simultaneously a downgrade for the suburbs? Interesting...

[Steve]

Question: which was a better use of the first floor of the Kingman Building (let's put aside the ultimate failure of both): Banana Joe's nightclub or Daddy Hinkles? Which business contributed more to Bricktown as an entertainment district?

[Steve]

Likewise, which business contributes more to Memorial Road's image: Rok Bar or North Fork?

[onthestrip]

btw, bricktown's club scene is dying... people are leaving in droves for western and memorial.

Im not sure that is the case. Bricktown is about to open Coyote Ugly, a dueling piano bar, this Deep Outre thats been advertised recently, and then something else in the Centennial. So with 4 new clubs opening, I wouldnt say that they are leaving in droves. Western hasnt had anything new open recently other than Speakeasy, which Im not a fan of. So there arent a whole lot of new options there. And as far as Rok Bar on Memorial, I just have a feeling that it wont last all that long, maybe Im way off though.

[onthestrip]

And to answer Steves question. I would think NorthFork would be better for Memorial's image, Rok Bar just looks cheap. But it doesnt matter since NorthFork couldnt make it. I would have to say that whatever can provide some stability would be the best bet.

[jbrown84]

I don't see a long life for RokBar North or Buddha Tao for that matter. I could be wrong, though, as I haven't seen their crowds.

I think Bricktown has lost some of the club scene, but certainly not all.

[metro]

Im not sure that is the case. Bricktown is about to open Coyote Ugly, a dueling piano bar, this Deep Outre thats been advertised recently, and then something else in the Centennial. So with 4 new clubs opening, I wouldnt say that they are leaving in droves. Western hasnt had anything new open recently other than Speakeasy, which Im not a fan of. So there arent a whole lot of new options there. And as far as Rok Bar on Memorial, I just have a feeling that it wont last all that long, maybe Im way off though.

I'm not a bar hopper/clubber, but I'd listen to Ed, if anyone has a good feel for the scene, it's him. He's a popular DJ here in OKC and other major metros so he has a good feel for the scene. Just because Coyote Ugly is coming to town, doesn't mean much about Bricktown's club scene. They are primarily coming because of the national press of the Thunder and the Ford Center's proximity to Bricktown/ Coyote Ugly, this deep outre lounge seems cheezy from what I've seen thus far. Even as a non clubber, I know clubs come and go all the time. I guess time will tell. I know when I've driven by Memorial Rd. at night, I've seen Bakers Street and Rok Bar packed out.