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Sunday, August 06, 2006

Chp 85. A "new" discotheque called "Poison"

Déjà vu of good ol Bangalore.

It’s 3 in the morning here in Mumbai. Sunday morning. We just came back from a Disc. We were having an awesome time there, when the DJ suddenly stopped the music, announced on the mike that the cops were there, and with that, everything stopped.

Just like Bangalore!

Ah!

The only reason why I stopped clubbing while I was at Bangalore was because of the 11:30pm diktat declared by the cops (and cultural police). So we shifted to rave parties conducted on the outskirt of Bangalore city. But driving all the way back to the city early in the morning completely exhausted from the dance floor grinding and sleepy like hell could definitely make someone think twice about partying again.

So after moving to Mumbai, I expected a different scenario. After all, one of the most memorable parties I ever had was at Avalon, Bawa International, which went on till 5 in the morning.

Anyway, after being in Mumbai for nearly two months now, I’ve been to only drinking Pubs and dancing Pubs (As my friend P would elegantly put it, there’s a big difference between “drinking Pubs” and “dancing Pubs” . According to him, girls at “dancing Pubs” are genuinely hot, while girls at “drinking Pubs” become hot only after a couple of drinks. Lolz.)

Finally, last night, we went to a night club. The place was called “Poison”, owned by DJ Aqeel and Dilip Joshi, the same disc that Sanjay Dutt was rumoured to be interested in buying, which was closed down due to licensing problems. It recently reopened, just a couple of weeks ago. We called up the Management in advance to ask if collar-less tee-shirts were allowed. They said yes.

( Ps. Never make the mistake of going blindly to a particular night-club for the first time, wearing tees, even if it is a really expensive designer T-shirt, because many of these Clubs have a very strict dress code. Happened to me once in Cal. Went to CCFC, and “T” and I were wearing tee shirts. They didn’t let us in because of that. And because of the two of us, the rest of the gang, all 10 of us, had to forgo the party plan)

There were 7 of us last night. Three couples and a lone stag. Yes, that was me. The stag. Anyway, I didn’t mind being the stag. Nothing new in my department .

The place “Poison” was amazing. Situated at Bandra, waterfield road, it was 1000 bucks per stag and 1500 per couple, complete cover charge! We actually had to stand in a long queue to get in, just like those night clubs you see at “Sex and the city”. Lots of bouncers with headsets, and the women everywhere were dead on hot. (Ps. Guys! Don’t wear a black shirt - black pants combination to this place unless you want to me mistaken as a bouncer or a waiter).

The actual place was at the basement. As the management stamped a seal on our hands, an usher lead us down a long spiral neon lights decorated staircase. The dance floor was huge. Lots of fancy disco lights and smoke special effects. As I walked around the place, my masculine mind made a quick involuntary survey: Male to female ratio, 1:2. Cool!

As all of us moved from one place to the other, “warming up”, I was disappointed though. There were no UV lights . An awesome place like this, especially since it was an “underground” club, had no UV lights. To me, UV lights really give that underground effect and theme. Why am I making such a big fuss about UV lights? Because last night, I finally got to put on my “Brylcream UV Gel” I applied the gel on the tip of my spikey hair and wanted to know how it would look under UV lights. I even wore my white tee-shirt (for more UV effect) with a single word “MIZO” displayed at the back . But alas, no such UV…

But later, our group went to the more private section of the Club and never stepped out from there again throughout the rest of the night. The music playing on the main dance floor was mainly Bollywood and commercial, which definitely did not strike a chord with me.

At the private section, there was a different DJ. He played only Hiphop. The sound system in that enclosure was equally amazing. There I was “leaning back” to Terror Squad and “Shaking that” to Eminem and Nate Dogg. Some of the ladies made sure their “Hips don’t lie” to Shakira, and boy that was not a metaphor I just used. I “rompe rompe” to Daddy Yankee while clutching my fourth or fifth pint of beer.

And then at 1am, the DJ suddenly switched the music from Hiphop to House. So after that, I just sat down, quite tipsy from the drinks and still enjoying the night. I mean, I love dancing to Hiphop, but when it comes to Trance and House, I enjoy more just sitting down on the comfortable “vibrating” sofa and moving my body to the rhythm. Space Buddha and Royal Gigolos don’t exactly see an eye to eye with my dancing shoes .

After sometime, I thought, what the heck, it’s been such a long time since I partied like this. So I got up, went to the dance floor and moved my chinky white ass to the beat of Global Deejays and Avancada. At around 2am, the music suddenly stopped. DJ announced on the mike that the cops were there and that everything must close immediately. Just like that. Atleast in Bangalore we used to get a warning, and then the DJ played the last song. Here, everything just abruptly ended . Bummer…

There were indeed a lot of F words from the crowd. But the DJ just smiled, being used to this kind of reception from an angry frustrated inebriate crowd, and from then onwards, it was just lights everywhere. Bright white lights. Suddenly you could see each other’s faces clearly. They smiled. I smiled back. Made an Internationally recognized gesture with my hands and lips that meant “great dance, you” and then walked back to my table, making sure they could read the “MIZO” written at the back of my tee shirt .

Back at our table, all of us were trying to use up our remaining coupons. We didn’t care what drinks we got, we just wanted to finish the damn coupons. My friends told me the place usually close down around 4-5’ish, so I was earnestly trying my best to plan out the rate at which I was spending my coupons. But when they suddenly announced that they had to close at 2am, I still had a freaking 300 bucks worth of coupon left. S had 650, D had 700 and J had 500 (Remember these guys had 1.5G worth of coupon each while I had 1G). I went to the Bar with the total 2150 bucks worth of coupon and told the bar tender to give me anything for that amount. Lolz. Now that is something I won’t be saying again in a very very long time . Damn…

I don’t even remember what the drinks I bought back to our table were. All of them were “parceled” i.e. drinks served in paper cups so that we could carry them outside as it was closing time. The place outside the Club was swarming with party people. Black was clearly the main colour theme most of the Ladies were wearing. There were definitely more than 400 people that night. We formed a “human train” as we walked outside through the crowd as it was very easy to get lost in that sea. Finally we all hugged each other goodnight and went our respective ways.

Thinking back now, I really did have an amazing time at “Poison”. Too bad it had to close down early, but I think it was definitely worth the monetary value (and trouble of applying UV gel carefully on the tip of my spikes even though that did not pay off ).

Inspite of the occasional floods and other disasters/tragedies that are prone to the city, here’s to Mumbai’s high spirit of a great night life. Cheers.

- Mizo(hic!)an

Ps: For all the party goers out there who likes to search the Net first to read about the review of a particular place they are planning to go to, feel free to use my post as a review for “Poison”, but I must warn you that 70% of the time, I was inside the Hiphop/House enclosure and have nothing much to say about the main dance-floor section outside. My ratings to that particular Hiphop section: 4.5 4.0 / 5.0 (There weren’t that much of a disco light effect inside compared to outside, and the floor was not slippery at all, hence I couldn’t do my occasional moon-walks after suddenly getting carried away with the music ). And oh, the cost of a pint of beer: Rs.150/- which is ok I guess.

Cheers again.

31 comments:

Diddley said...

Mumbai!!!! was totally pissed off last year with "MUMBAI" ;p , came down for the Independence Rock concert (phew!!!) held at the gateway and yes, it was cancelled no doubt becoz of the SUper COnservative burocrates, becoz of one and more than one stupid reasons, and one of the reasons being becoz there existed rules like outdoor/noise sounds should`nt exceed 70 decibel, i guess the concept of ROCK and loud neva cross their mind, come to think of it, if 70 decibels is the maximum limit for any noise/outdoor sound... then i guess rainfall should be prohibited/banned in Mumbai hahaha!!

But well, apart from my disappointment, me and my frens landed up at "NOt just JAzz by the BAY" with VAYU and their JIm Morrison vocalist TrueBlue or 2Blue (top of all weird names) and yes, we had a good classic time with "Jim Morrison`s" classIC`s..

Anonymous said...

One of the biggest transformations that I had to make while I moved from Manipal to Hyderabad was trying to adjust to the Clubs here.

For one the crowd consists of everyone and anyone. From old uncles in beards and pot bellies to small kids who are barely unable to grow a mustache! While in Manipal everyone there is between 18-24, pretty much most of us know each other. The question of less weirdos are somehow lesser compared to a city club.

The music is the second, I HATE it when the clubs here play weird "unknown " trance and bollywood music. They just wouldnt play hip hop!!!:( The other day at 10 Downing, We wanted to dance to hip hop, we pleaded DJ but he obviously refused. But the DJs in Manipal know what keeps us on our toes, trust me,the last time some DJ tried some bollywood shit, he got booed so badly by the crowd, he never made a comeback.
Dressing codes are the third. You really need to "dress up" here!!!In manipal you could wear your shorts and still be fabulous!The guys could just come there in their floaters and basketball jersys and still party.Ofcourse we did our bit of dressing but it really didnt matter, cause it was a blast irrespective of what we wore. We ran the show there and sadly its not the case here.

Then its the booze!!FUCK!!!I went to liquids the other night I paid 350 bucks for a single bacardi and coke!!!:( Thats way too expensive. I rememeber tequila shots in manipal used to be 100 bucks each :),and when we were really broke , we used to get drunk in this downtown bar where u could get drunk in 50 bucks in you want to.:P
But here you could try martinis and cocktails whose names you probably have never heard of, while at manipal everyone stuck to the usual stuff.

Sadly,Maybe the city life is the city life. Its fabulous, rich and has all the extravaganza.However ,I love the fact that there are more new people to meet and partying really does feel like something of the "sex and the city" fabulous moment.:)
And hey I am not complaining for in the end, its all good and after all just another drunken experience:D

Mizohican said...

@ diddley: "The concept of noise" as you have put is actually a very good point. There are many senior citizens around, and at populated areas there are certain noise limits. That is why in Bangalore, Rock shows are usually held at Palace Ground which is a secluded area. Read my old post about the concert IIMB threw at Campus. Cops came and gave us a warning. The show must either stop after 11pm or there is a noise limitation where they can carry on playing but with the volume cut down.

Luckily I was incharge of the security during the Moksha-Parikrama showdown, so I was right there infront of the stage. The concert rocked for me, but not for my friends standing at the back who couldn't hear anything because of the volume reduction :-)

They saw everybody headbanging, so they too just simply headbanged. Lolz.

"Not just Jazz by the Bay" lolz! My fren Aldrin (ThugAngel) was there last night and it seemed he got a little bit cozy with a DJ. Hahaha. But then, the DJ was a guy so Aldrin will kill me for ever saying this out in public. Hahahaha.

Mizohican said...

@ Sowmya: The main crowd at Manipal are College students. You can't compare that to a more metro place like Hyderabad or B'lore where there are people of all walks of life ready to chill out at any Club.

Even I find a big difference between the demography of the average party goer here in mumbai and back in B'lore. Here, there are more older folks partying compared to B'lore for obvious reasons and that does not change anything.

But yeah, I can understand what you mean with the music. :-) It really sux when u feel like dancing n there's a song u havent heard of playing n ur still not that drunk to dance to that unknown song. Been there, done that :-)

But AFAIK, the theme of 10D is usually rock and not HipHop. During my days at H'bad, we used to go to 10D if we felt like headbanging to solid rock or singing, while we simply go upstairs to Sparx if we to dance to Hiphop.

About the cost, well, Liquids is one of the more posh places at H'bad so naturally, the place is expensive :-) During my days there, there used to be a place called "Secret Lake" at Durgam Cherur which is closed down now. We used to party there every Sat nite. And here is the best part. Couples entry before 10pm is completely free! Amazed? Then hold on to ur seat coz I aint done yet. Not just the entry was free but even the booze and food were free before 10pm!!!!!!

Are you still there Sowmya? Hello? Hello? :-) Come back to reality now. The place is not open anymore so don't let your thoughts wander :-) But yes, if that is what you mean by having a blast without spending much cash, Secret Lake was the place to be.


Anyway I would advice you not to criticize H'bad that much because there are a couple of commenters on my blog, including diddley above, who are very patriotic about Hyderabad :-)

Anonymous said...

oh my gawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwd!!!!
My jaw nearly dropped ten feet below!!FOOD AND BOOZE FREE?????????
god!!!!fuzzy pickles!!!

Well i am growning to like my city!:) and there are no issues about that.

But where are all the goodlookin men gone?????????

Mizohican said...

I, for one, have shifted to Mumbai (Bwaaa ha ha ha ha ha ha) *chinky grin*

MockingBird said...

11.30 pm? Out here in good ol’ Gangtok, it’s 11.00 on Fridays and Sundays. And on Saturdays, they are open till midnight – that is if the cops don’t decide to grace us with their unwanted presence. I simply don’t understand what kind of frustrated souls can get a sadistic kick out of breaking up a party! :(

MockingBird said...

Oh, and if you don’t know this already, Sikkim is the proverbial land of milk and honey when it comes to booze :D Can’t say you can get tequila for 100 bucks here but no one will charge you 350 bucks for for a single bacardi and coke either! Barring cocktails, mocktails and some fancy drinks that don’t get you anyway near drunk, Gangtok is the place to be if you want to kiss your liver goodbye without spending much ;)

Anonymous said...

Yeah kima,You are the only one lacking in our city!Our loss and mumbai's gain!
sigh!!:(

Anonymous said...

diddley, i invite you to come again for this year I-Rock. here's the list of band to perform and the date and venue.
* INDEPENDENCE ROCK - MUMBAI - 25,26/08/06

Date: 25th & 26th August 2006
Time: 6 PM
Venue: Chitrakut Grounds, Near Fun Republic, Andheri, Mumbai

Day 1: Contest
1. Brute Force (Pune)
2. Split (Mumbai)
3. Evergreen (Cochin)
4. Faith (Guwahati)
5. IIIrd Sovereign (Delhi)
6. Nemesis (Pune)
Headlining Band - Pentagram

Day 2:
1. Demonic Resurrection
2. Sceptre
3. Them Clones
4. Dinosaurs Of Rock Feat. Gary Lawyer, Shazneen, Suraj, Farhad and Pervez.

i'll be the guest guitarist with demonic resurrection. watch out for me, i'll be wearing hmar thangsuopuon.
Vayu vocalist trueblue is from tripura and man he got a good voice. they'll be performing this weekend @ not just jazz by the way @ pune and next week in mumbai.
and come to razz rhino, juhu hotel coz thats the only place place rock band perform every nite. pin drop violence are shooting their video for H.A.T.E @ razz rhino this weekend if the rain stop here in mumbai:P
kima, if u want to shake your ass to hiphop music til 4am Enigma @ j.w marriott hotel, juhu is the place for you. my sister host hip hop hustle every wednesday nite.

Anonymous said...

2blue(sometime's trueblue weird guy) put up vayo gig footage @ youtube.com. here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2iCdU0Z7ow

P said...

Hey I am from Hyd ( well sorta).. and its NOT thaat bad!! ;-)
Cheers!

Diddley said...

Hey anonymous, thanks for the list. Yeah would love to come down and bang heads again :)

My Bf brother is playing lead for Themclones, his name is joseph, do check him out. We actually interviewed Vayu vocalist trueblue WITH his lead guitarist at linkin road subways, yeah, he`s such a fun person. We also interviewed gary lawyer, Helga`s FUnk Castle, P.D.V, Prestorika, jOINT FAMILY, Zero....etc, etc...were suppose to interview Sahail
too...the vocalist from ya band but somethin came up, but he`s a really kewl person, helped us and introduced us to many bands during our documentary shoot.

YEah, did recieve a mail from farhad wadia after the gateway concert flopped big time.

watch out for IIIrd Sovereign, they my hometown boys... :)

As for hyd, theres not much of a rawk scene, although bands like SLedge and wreckage are doing pretty well!!!

Mizohican said...

Hahaha Diddley, why do you have to go on the defensive? One nice dude had just asked you to come and watch his rock show and the first thing you did was mention you have a boyfriend? hahaha. Guilt attack? (See, you're not the only one who knows something about human psychology altho I never sis a course on it... lolzzz)

Yay, me shouting me lungs out for IIIrd Sovereign.

Thanx a lot for the tip, anonymous. I'll definitely check the pace "Enigma" out. Also, thanx for the info about the Independence Rock concert. You know, you can sign your name here, you don't have to remain anonymous :-) I'll try making it for your performance too (or was that just diddley you invited? :-))

Mizohican said...

@ Mocking Bird: Yeam, my senior from IIMB who was like an elder bro to me, Sonam Bhutia, is from Sikkim. He used to tell me a ot about ur place. His pic is even there on the side of my blog. Maybe you can send me some of your "milk n honey" through courier :-)

@ Pers: I wonder what you used to do in Hyderabad? Your guy friends back there must have been pretty scared of you huh? *GRIN*

@ sowmya: You can come here anytime you want. My offer is still open. :-)

tribalsuperstar said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mizohican said...

Hey John!!!!!!!!! That was a very interesting comment and one of your best here so far! Why did you delete it????????????

Post it again dude. Hope you know that even though you deleted your comment, I have a copy of the comment mailed to my inbox everytime someone leave a comment :-) I love the gay and DISCO part *grin* Comon bro, post it again!

Anonymous said...

sonam:u get all the "milk" and "honey" in sikkim, brother...after dark!!

good post..and when u coming down to pay m a visit?

Mizohican said...

Cheers to you bro. And I will visit you if you pay for my tickets :-) Am dead broke right now.... Aaaargh

Anonymous said...

diddley, demonic resurrection is not my band. just that they invite me to rock with them. and i wont be rocking with them anymore coz of that stupid vocalist/frontman(what's his name:P) who just change his mind every second. anyways cant wait for I-Rock. me shouting for Faith from guwahati.
joseph from themclones bro is ur b/f. hmmm i think i know:-)hehhe.
hyderabad have some good bands too and there's a rock show coming up call Inferno. here's the list of band playing and the date and venue.
Afterdeath, Kamoflagodz, Devoid
Date: 13th August 2006
Time: 7:30 PM
Venue: One Flight Down, Quality Inn, Nampally, Hyderabad
Entry: Rs. 150

this is El from electrya btw

Anonymous said...

oh kima u r welcome man. am hurt coz diddley just shot me in the heart. u know my BF is dis and dat.:P lmfao.
i come to know of ur blog thru rin. Isaac was a nice guy:(
el

Mizohican said...

@ el: Thanx for visiting. Yeah Isaac was a nice dude even though I never knew him personally. May his soul rest in peace.

For once, it was nice to see diddley not having any comebacks. hehehe.

benjamin rualthanzauva said...

Unless you want me to kill the entire afternoon, please brief this post in 12 lines.

Mizohican said...

12 lines huh? Ok.

1. Mumbai discotheque "Poison"
2. Great place.
3. 1000 bucks/stag, 15000/couple
4. No Uv lights. Bummer dude.
5. Amazing dance floor.
6. Lots of lights.
7. and smoke.
8. Hiphop section also amazing.
9. Hiphop to House at 1am.
10. Cops close down at 2am.
11. Party poopers. Bummer.
12. Beer cost 150 a pint.

Happy? :-P

electrya said...

kima, maybe diddley is too busy with her BF, so lets leave her alone.hehhe
i know isaac too well that i dont want to comment or write or talk about him even tho i read a lota things after his martyr but ur's is different point being u dont know him but u like him coz of his article and stuff. ahh cant write anymore. he introduce me 2 rock u know...........
i sign up btw

Mizohican said...

I totally understand, el. Deepest respect for that. I know how it is to lose someone close to you.

Diddley said...

Pink once sang a song called 'MIZUNDERSTOOD' hahaha, wat are ya two gays jabbering bout meh :p, nah joseph is my boyfrenz brother...a really nice kid. well, since i cant make it... hoping to get a review of the I-Rock, cheer big daddy farhad for meh, without him I-rawk would be dead!!

Mizohican said...

bleh. :-P

Diddley said...

hahahaa

harshitha said...

hi i am harshitha.i am from bangalore i just wanted to know the address of u r disc in mangalore r manipal

Mizohican said...

Hi Harshitha. Sorry I don't know any places in Mangalore or Manipal. I have friends who do though :)