I cant wait to hang out with old people and hipsters.

Since there's plenty of hipsters on this site, I'll provide the old people opinion....meh

I imagine a couple going there, and the woman telling her boyfriend he's not allowed to got to the bathroom.

I do have a question. So the naked place upstairs has a cover. So does the dance club have the same cover? Because if you go in the Orpheum doors and then have to pee you could theoretically stay and enjoy the naked women for free or a lesser cover.

MUCH lesser cover. (insert Guffaw here)

Until the entire space (including the mezzanine) has fully returned to it's glory, I curse all the patrons who attend.

i went last night. there were about 20 people in the main room. some drunk girl was dancing with robin and fell down several times. they were the only ones dancing. the lights and sound system were good. the room is too big. not enough people in this town for a dance club like that. on the upside, monroe & i peed with methed out strippers.

I tried to do this last night, but the $5 cover knocked some sense back into me. Not before I took a long look inside. Whoa.

I'd call Marc Star (not his real name) the new JP, but he makes JP look like a Ray Kroc/Warren Buffet mash-up.

DJs: The Last Refuge of A Scoundrel.

But, I wish him the best of luck. And here's hoping he punches Sean in the face too.

Getting punched by a DJ is like being kissed by a butterfly.
Playing other people's records doesn't make you a musician, but it does make your punches gentle and ticklish.

right before bar close i did a shot of tequila and danced with some guy. who were you, guy? i don't think i fell down though. alas.

So they charged a $5 cover? Why? When I read the article the place reminded me of a downtown Grandma's Sportsgarden type of place.. But $5 to get in? For what? When you compare venues around town and could go to almost any bar and not pay a cover charge why would a place that basically has a guy programming a jukebox of modern hits be worth paying a covercharge?

I think as someone mentioned earlier, they probably have to charge a cover to keep people from using it as a "free" entrance to the strip club.

Either that, or charging a $5 cover is what they mean by "big-city nightlife."

Ringsred's pet dump by any other name is still a dump. The Norshor STILL deserves better. And the bathrooms have been in the works for how long now? Give us a break--my five bucks will be spent at more worthwhile establishments.

Come on now. People in Duluth are so cheap. Is a $5 cover really that extravagant? Some of that money will probably go towards making improvements like bathrooms.

uh yeah, sure... the place as it is run currently is a terrible mismatch for that part of Duluth, seriously, grandma redux. Yes 5 bucks is too much, and the lack of bathrooms, the lack of ongoing ADA compliance just further relegates the place to complete disinterest. Yet another failed enterprise at the norshore.

yeah, five bucks is too much, when I can sit at the bar @ the Union (or any other bar in town, for that matter) all night sipping pints...for free, free from having some methed out stripper hounding me for lap dances...OR in the case of the Orpheum...Gawd, I can't imagine what it sounds like in there. From everything I've read, it's like having the Stargate's playlist at your grandma's house. Crappy remixes and out of control bass make for horrible atmosphere.

Five bucks for the privilege of adding to the linings of Ringsred's pockets?

meh.

sounds like another ripoff to me.

Remember when they'd put porta-potties in the entrance at the Norshor? That was always seemed really icky to me.

how do you have an accidental dance party?

so, i turned on my stereo and all of a sudden all these people showed up.

oops.

My Take of the Orpheum Nightclub's Opening Night

Me and two friends went on Friday night. Being huge fans of electronic dance music, we were pretty excited and hoped for the best.

When I got in around 9:30(?), there was some decent house music slammin' -- but that was the first surprise. It's only 9 PM and we're already slammin'? What happened to the buildup over the night? It even sounded like the system was already redlining. If it doesn't get louder than this -- we've got a problem.

The lighting. First off: There are some NICE-ASS PIECES for lighting along the main line. 2 ultra high quality lasers, 3 really sweet I-don't-even-know-what-they're-calleds, fog, etc.
But wtf is that other stuff? On the stage there were two light pieces that looked like they came straight out of Spencers. A small box-strobe constantly at medium clicks in a not-dark room, and some spinning light fan that makes flower shapes. Quite honestly, it really distracted from the awesome (and expensive) light pieces and felt hoakey. I truly hope they reconsider using that stuff in the future.

I ran outside to meet my friend at her car and walk her in (she was terrified of walking in by herself) and while I was out the DJs had switched. Suddenly there is a man screaming into a microphone with heavy delay and playing dancehall/raggae/dub. After 30 minutes I was ready to die. This guy was playing half a song, killing the volume completely, yelling some random junk, then bringing the volume back up (No mixing. Just straight song cuts with yelling+delay between, often times not even in time) and slapping some horse neigh and dog bark samples on a sampler... The three of us could only say "wtf happened?"

This was when we went to the bathroom (it had to be done. Me and my female friend needed to peeeeee.)

The Men's bathroom didn't require you to traverse across the strip area. I walked in and it *literally* smelled like ass in there. Like... That smell when your uncle goes in and comes out smiling while you're waiting to use it in a cabin-- and you hear him belly laugh as you go in and run out throwing up... There are two college age guys talking obsessively about boobs, and some totally trashed old guy saying things such as "Well here we go! Now thish here plashe is pretty unique! Why yesh it ish indeed, two unique plashes!" He sounded like a lepprachaun.

My friend had to climb over some strippers giving lap dances however to get into her bathroom-- she was pretty grossed out as well.

All we wanted was some good ole 4 to the floor club music as stated would be played in the Wave. I thought we weren't going to have your experimental and performance DJs playing here?

Finally his set is done as we are on our way out. We are coaxed to stay by the sound of a 4/4 bass drum smacking at us and the idea that we really want to see the night out. Thank goodness.

He plays melodic trance for a while of which I am not a fan of any more, but I'll gladly take it over the random sampler splashing horse neighs and Hey(hey hey hey) It's the Music ya!(music ya! music ya! music ya!) Haha!(ha! ha! ha!).
In all, he was a good DJ and I was highly appreciative of the sound change.

By this time it seems that there were starting to be a few people showing up. That's pretty cool because I would love a place like this to succeed in our town (Sadly, it will be hard.)

Next DJ up is playing electro house- HOOWAH! That's the stuff I'm digging nowaday. New. Edgy. Ripping bass sounds to tear you up.
Why aren't they turning this system UP?!
Finally, the first song of the night that seduces me into dancing starts hitting hard and I can't resist. It's FINALLY up time! Halfway through, either a speaker went, or someone running the sound spilled a drink and slapped the fader down or something. The volume didn't get much louder.
Sad panda.

It's now a little after midnight and the ENTIRE flow of music stops dead and we go from club music, to rap and pop-hop. What a buzzkill. If I wanted that I'd go to Stargate or Grandmas or someplace.
Suddenly -- *WHAFFF* I get overwhelmed by the smell of weed.

This was it.
This was what killed it for the three of us.
You want to do drugs? Fine. But don't do them in the club. What a smart way to get a place ruined for yourself, and everyone else. Go smoke pot in the shit-smelling bathroom. Or outside on the street. Or in your car or your house. But don't fu**ing light up in a public place that already has a shotty chance of staying open.
This isn't a rave in the fields. This is trying to be a club in a city that desperately could use more variety in nightlife music.

I really want that place to succeed.
If they want to be taken seriously:
* Ditch the Spencer's lights. They distract from the amazing lights you guys have on the ceiling that you spent a TON of money on.
* Move the volume from Social to "11" as the night progresses. It's important.
* Make sure your sound system can actually handle "11"
* CLEAN BATHROOMS WITHOUT STRIPPERS.
* Better security. No one was patted down for weapons/drugs. If someone came in drunk and started a fight, who knows how long it would take to break it up.
* Zero Drug Tollerance. What a good way to get your business shut down by simply by making it a hideout warehouse to do drugs.
* MAKE THE WEBSITE MORE ATTRACTIVE. This one KILLS me. The place expects to be a tourist destination for the summer crowd. I'll tell you what: Any time I go to a club in Minneapolis, I check their website to get an idea of what to expect.
http://www.mythnightclub.com
http://www.spinmn.com
http://www.foundationmpls.com
All of those clubs have websites that make me think "Now that's a place I'VE GOTTA BE!"

Their website:
http://www.orpheumnightclub.com
doesn't compare at all and is a joke in comparisson.
UPDATE IT so people WANT to be there. Until it is, make sure you bring sunglasses and a time machine. Sunglasses to protect your retina from the violent bright green, and a time machine to get you back from 1997.

If someone who runs this club sees this post -- please take this stuff into consideration. I want that place to be succesful so much... :\

I plan on going again in a few months with hopes that their current Beta Testing phase helps it out.

actually, when prince paul was dj'ing it was pretty good.

I hope the place stays open long enough for me to come up and check it out. And for god sake - hire a web designer. :: raises hand ::

I wish Rob Link would burn that shithole to the ground and build a parking ramp in its place

to be fair, zra--there ain't no money lining Ringsred's pockets here. it's going to take more than people are willing to pay for a cover just to heat the place. (I've got a whole skeleton of bones to pick with R, but let's keep 'em real. the reason the place hasn't been fixed up isn't because anybody's taking vacations to Tahiti on the rent checks.)

my only hope is that the people who are doing this have protected themselves financially. i understand the guy who runs the strip club is going to end up losing everything if it doesn't fly (and it isn't, obviously).

The Whore sucks dry those who love her. wear a prophylactic. or garlic. or something.

That place sucked. It was stupid and depressing. Ringsred..... How can he possibly think he is doing something good for this town and that historic building? What a joke.

i think he's beyond caring what this town thinks of anything he does. his bitterness is poisoning the walls of that place more than anything else. let's hope the building outlasts his capacity for spite.

As well meaning, but alas dreaming entrapeniours put money into the place, it maintains and treads enough not to crumble. Look on the bright side, the main room now has a sprinkler system. The strip club folks have updated the electrical. after a couple of more doomed attempts are made, the place will be finally ready for the big final renovation. Hopefully if the timeing is right, Ringsred will loosen his grip and allow a group or individual complete the work that Rick and all the folks that worked or hung out there started to achieve.

hey guys, please to check my blog in Wave (couple entries down, now) for account of strip club history. . . and do please leave comments. Like to know what you think . . . direct link is http://www.areavoices.com/makers
ak

o that's online edition of Wave, that is, you can link to blog from online edition of Wave. Like that. geez. it's late.
ak

For sure, awesome lights at the orpheum friday. I'd say the best lighting in the area for a club. As far as i can tell it's the same setup wrekt records uses. Sound System was adequate, decent setup but could have used a little more low end. Loved the EDM, didn't like the ragga or hip hop. I dunno, I had a fun & not sure what some of you folk are complaining about. Personally I hope they can make it work. *Website needs work. my 2 cents.

Jake