Monsterland in Mesa Planning Nightclub

Categories: Opening/Closing
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Benjamin Leatherman
You might be dancing with these devils sometime in April at Monsterland.
​Looks like downtown Mesa might soon be getting a new nightlife haunt...literally. 

As reported by our sister blog Jackalope Ranch last week, the people behind Monsterland (the two-story haunted house and slasher movie museum located on Main Street that opened last October) are currently planning on transforming part of its property into a nightspot and dance emporium. 

Monsterland co-owner Kevin Wynn says right now he and the other proprietors tentatively plan to remove walls and portions of the attraction's cemetery to make room for a dance floor, bar, seating areas, and space for up to 300 clubgoers. Currently, he says, they're hoping to open in April and will possibly feature three nights of DJs and music on weekends. (Our Jackalope Ranch colleagues dish on even juicier details about the club here.)
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Yellow Canary Dance Hall to Close at Month's End

Categories: Opening/Closing

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​Stephen Steinbrink is a pretty busy guy, but it looks like there will be one less thing on his plate at the end of the month: his venue/art-space Yellow Canary Dance Hall will be shutting its doors.

We profiled the space as an example of how Kickstarter has helped fund projects like it here in Phoenix.

Since taking over the warehouse spot (formerly known as Sound Kontrol) in the early summer of 2011, the venue has hosted shows by Danish punks Iceage and Philly scuzz-rockers Lantern.

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Closed for Business: Club Silver...Again

Categories: Opening/Closing
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Benjamin Leatherman
Club Silver in downtown Phoenix
The nightclubs and bars of Washington Street were alive with music and packed with people this past weekend, save for one spot.

Club Silver, the one-story dance joint that specializes in hip-hop and Latin nights, was darker than a moonless night as it recently has been closed down.

According to a notice taped to its front door last week by the Maricopa County Environmental Services Department, the nightspot (also occasionally known as Silver Martini and Wine Bar) is unable to open for the foreseeable future due to unspecified issues. Reportedly, the venue hosted a party on New Year's Eve night a few days before the notice (which is dated January 3rd) was posted.

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Cream Stereo Lounge Closes for Renovation

Categories: Opening/Closing
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Courtesy of Cream Stereo Lounge
Stereo HD Fridays isn't happening tonight at Cream Stereo Lounge in Scottsdale, nor is Ultimate Saturdays, Blush Thursdays, or any of the club's other theme nights. In fact, absolutely nothing's been happening at the club recently, as Cream is currently undergoing a complete makeover and renovation.

According to a few Scottsdale club promoters we spoke with, the Drinkwater Boulevard danceteria went dark in December for "a complete change of the décor." That includes ditching the all-white furnishings (and even its iconic bathtub in its VIP area) that Cream has sported since opening in late 2008.

Cream's Facebook page offers little in the way of details, save for a few posts mentioning its closure and that it "will be going through plastic surgery." Rumor has it that the club will become more of a high-end establishment boasting an even ritzier look than before.

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Crescent Ballroom, Roxy Lounge, Rogue West, and Other Openings and Closings in 2011

Categories: Opening/Closing
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Benjamin Leatherman
The Crescent Ballroom
Where was your favorite place to catch a concert this past year? We're willing to bet all the cash we got in our Christmas stockings it was at the much-ballyhooed Crescent Ballroom. Or maybe at the Tempe Tavern or Scottsdale's Roxy Lounge. All three of these pimp live music palaces made a major splash after making their debut during the past 12 months.

Elsewhere in Scottsdale, this year also saw the birth of a wide variety of nightlife concepts in Old Town, allowing nightcrawlers to drink and dance either by the pool (Spanish Fly), inside a pseudo bank vault (The Mint), or in the secretive embrace of a clandestine club (Wild Knight).

We also bid a fond farewell to more than a dozen different bars, clubs, and venues. Some went way before their time (Venue 104) and a couple closed their doors only to return within months (College Dropouts) or closed with plans of being reborn in 2012 (The Foundry).

Read on for a list of which places came or went this past year.

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Closed for Business: The White House in Scottsdale

Categories: Opening/Closing
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Benjamin Leatherman
The White House in Scottsdale (2009-2011)
There are plenty of signs that The White House in Scottsdale is no longer in operation: The doors are locked tight, the lights are switched off, the liquor's all gone, and the sound system is silent.

And here's the biggest sign of all: A large "For Lease" placard hangs on its front door, advertising its availability to anyone looking to rent the Craftsman Court property.

The White House, which opened in 2009 and featured a façade mimicking Washington D.C.'s most famous residence, quietly closed down in recent weeks, adding another vacant spot to a street that once teemed with nightspots aplenty. At one time (read: five years ago), Craftsman Court was home to a half-dozen establishments -- like ACME, Upper Deck Sports Grill, and NEXT -- that drew in drinkers by the thousands. Now there are only a handful of establishments left.

While Craftsman Court is still a popular place to visit after sundown -- as Dos Gringos, BS West, and the newly opened Rockbar bring in countless clubgoers every weekend -- there's now  one less place to get your drink on.

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The Ghost of Eastside Records Opens Friday

Categories: Opening/Closing
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Benjamin Leatherman
The vinyl frontier awaits at The Ghost of Eastside Records in Tempe.
Attention vinyl collectors, music geeks, and audiophiles of the Valley: One of your favorite record stores will finally be reborn on Friday.

The Ghost of Eastside Records, the pop-up reincarnation of the now-defunct vinyl shop that was located at University Drive and Ash Avenue for more than 20 years, is opening to the public.

Owner Michael Pawlicki, who was one of the cats behind the original Eastside that closed last December, has been busy over the past two weeks unpacking hundreds upon hundreds of records inside a windowless bunker-like room a few doors down from Yucca Tap Room at Dannelle Plaza in Tempe. (Be on the lookout for a pair of colorful and large sandwich-board sign heralding its location).

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Foundry on First AZ Relaunching as Foundry Live

Categories: Opening/Closing

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Maria Vassett
Opening night at the Foundry on First
​When downtown Phoenix venue Foundry on First shut its doors in mid-November, most music fans assumed the worst. Rumors spread that the music venue was done for, in the wake of canceled shows, reported employee drama, and a strange media silence.

Not so, says part-owner Tim Thomas.

"We're looking to reopen in January or February," he says, explaining that the newly re-branded venue will be called Foundry Live, feature a seven-day-a-week restaurant, new investors, a nightclub component, and a PR company brought in to handle new media.

The building closed in mid-November to finish construction, with Thomas acknowledging that the venue initially opened sooner than it should have. "This was created by local developers that had a good handle on local music and bars but really didn't have a good handle on [operating] a national, large, destination-type of venue that could carry the likes of a Jay Z, [the kind of appearance] that could really put us on the map."

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Venue 104 Set to Close in December, Four Months After Opening

Categories: Opening/Closing

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​Just four months after it opened, Tempe's Venue 104 is closing its doors.

The combination coffee house, art gallery, music venue and theater will finish out its final play, Tape by Stephen Belber, on December 17. A final musical blowout is currently in the works with locals Executives, Hometown Letdown and more.

There were many factors that led owner Michael Peck to decide close up shop. Initially, the contractor ran over budget, giving Peck a very small opening balance to work with. The almost simultaneous opening of Crescent Ballroom certainly hurt business, Peck says, both in terms of customers and being able to book national acts, but the main problem runs deeper than that.

"I would be lying to you if it wasn't just as simple as the support for the local art scene and local music scene are just not what they should be," Peck says.

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Now Open: Scottsdale's Rockbar Inc.

Categories: Opening/Closing
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There won't be any pulsating electronica beats or brutal dubstep drops coming from Rockbar Inc. in Scottsdale. Instead, Craftsman Court's newest nightspot (which opened during Thanksgiving weekend) will be the home of killer guitar riffs, sweet licks, and epic drum solos. 

According to co-owners Brian Mrochinski and Alex Mundy, the musical menu at their establishment will be "all rock, all the time," including local band gigs and DJs spinning rock 'n' roll over the sound system.

"Like the name on the building indicates, we're pushing for a rock club feel," Mrochinski says. "Don't expect us to fade into playing hip-hop or Top 40."

In other words, if you're hoping to shake a tailfeather to LMFAO's "Sexy And I Know It" during Rockbar's official grand opening this weekend, you'd better skedaddle to another Scottsdale dance joint. DJ Scotty Boy from Las Vegas and Old Town regular 51Fifty will be dropping rock mash-ups and remixes on Friday and Saturday, respectively. 

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