Buddha Lounge‘s jukebox is placed near the door, and on this particular night it
was misty and cold, the lights were dim, and being in Chinatown, I felt like I was in the
opening scene of Gremlins. It didn’t feel real. I kept thinking it was going to crumple up and take off to the skies, only to land itself in a different city where sleepy drunken people plop themselves on a stool for a last quiet drink before stumbling into bed.
The juke is a little less mystic than the bar itself with it’s 90’s alternative, disco, and classic rock, but certainly lends its hands in contributing to those “whatever can happen” nights. I had a rather heated conversation with my friend about ABBA, trying to convince him that they rule. I choose “Waterloo” but dontcha know it – the disc skipped! Lucky him.
Other choices my friend and I made were The Doobie Brothers (shut up), Neil Young, The Commodores, Barry White, Bob Dylan, The Clash, and the last song of the night, “Good Times, Bad Times” by Zeppelin, which accompanied a fitting story about party buses, drugs, and sunrises. My great night in which it was midnight but for some reason felt like dawn slapped me in the ass when a friend of my friend came in and asked us to play Radiohead. ERRR SCREECH.
If you’re a dude and you like Radiohead, there’s a 90% chance you’re not getting any ‘tang. Because when I heard it at Buddha Lounge, I severely dried up and felt like going home and making shrunken apple-core sculptures. So here’s a lesson to you all: just because you like a song does NOT mean it should be played at a bar. Radiohead should be played when you’re curled up in a ball in your roommate situation converted living room bedroom while you’re emo-ing it up that no cute girls, or only high-maintenance girls, like you. Maybe it’s because you are a fucking jerk who asked my friend to squat you a play so you can choose a pussy-drying song.
So my mystical night was sorta ruined. But I’m in need of a vacation, so I’ll be back.
What: Buddha Lounge (901 Grant Avenue)
Good: for getting away from your real life for a few hours and discussing stuff like what you really want to do with your life or reminiscing about fun all-nighters.
Bad: Radiohead fans.
Cost: $1 3 plays, $2 9 plays, $5 13 plays
