THE BOOT

After the first 10 minutes, the screaming began to get to me.

All around me, college girls at The Boot’s “50 Cent Night”  let out primal screams Tuesday night in greeting, hugged tightly, then took a photo together – rituals that don’t seem ridiculous when you’re drunk.

But my friends and I had warily agreed to a social experiment where we would stay sober while we hung out at notoriously drunken bars to see if we could still have a good time. Having a good time at The Boot is difficult for most people over 17 even when they’re intoxicated, so we didn’t expect to be impressed.

Without alcohol to distract us, we realized that it was really entertaining to just observe. Our favorite person was a blonde girl, stumbling so much her friend would sometimes have to catch her by her enormous chest.

They were a pretty self-conscious bunch, especially the girls. The amount of time people put into their appearance before going to the Broadway Street bar seemed ridiculous considering the little that occurred once they got there. Most of the dancing happened during thefirst five seconds of the song before people got bored, and guys and girls seemed weirdly segregated most of the time.

We watched people take so many pictures. It was part of a dance — move a little, pose, grind a little, smile. These kids had traveled miles away from their hometowns to come to this city, and they were determined to capture the experience.
Tired of feeling like the anthropologists in the room, we migrated outside to get crepes and mock the people standing in line. Nothing is more entertaining to a Loyola student than making fun of Tulane students.

 We escaped to Bruno’s to talk about our lame experience over popcorn. We started pointing out all the hot guys in the room, which we would’ve done if we were drunk, too, but ended up having a meaningful conversation about relationships that wouldn’t have happened after four Jack and Cokes.

Did we really have fun? Not really. I wanted a beer the whole time, and my friends and I couldn’t get into the right “bar mood” without alcohol. But it wasn’t a bad experience. It proved how good my friends are. They agreed to come to The Boot and then stood by me the whole time, sober and bored.

Katie Urbaszewski can be reached at
[email protected].

THE DRAGON’S DEN

Though drinks are mostly under $5, a sober night at the Dragon’s Den on Esplanade is a great night for a broke college student. As I walked into the establishment, the murals on the walls reminded me of the untamed nights spent behind its doors, but on a Tuesday night, I expected something different. I then went to the bar and asked the owner what was happening that night; he filled me in with plans for a relaxing night of great live music.

I walked further into the club, the art on the walls blended nicely with the dim, red lighting. On the stage downstairs, a folk band was setting up to play for the bars open-mic night. I continued to stroll to the back where the scent of french fries and quesadillas filled the air.

In the back, the late-night kitchen cooked snack foods and meals, while smokers sat in the courtyard, kept in by ivy-covered walls on three sides. As I entered through a painted, yet beat up door, jazz hit me with a classic bop sound. The quartet was led by Loyola guitar teacher Brian Prunka on guitar and featured Simon Lott on drums. Prunkas playing was adventurous while Lott laid down killed beats and intricate solos. The quartet also included a sax with a strong, commanding skill and tone and a confused, clumsy sounding bass.

The crowd consisted mostly of Loyola music students.

I went down to see the singer/songwriters performing that night and walked in to hear a surprising sound. The Chicago born folk band, called Firebug, played classic roots folk that had a modern energy and hard strums. The singer sang with a sultry, country voice, but the lyrics were lively and threatening.

The Dragons Den is a great venue to hear fresh acts but when my companions and I filed out of the bar, with the rest of the Loyola crowd, we did so in light of more good music down the street. I didn’t have a beer in my hand the whole night and I never thought twice about it.

Garrett Cleland can be reached at [email protected].