Bottle service bars/clubs ruining nightlife

"Bottle service has been running nightlife in New York for a long time." "It's ruined the community."

Blogger JoeMyGod posted this copy of the Lotus (NY) bottle menu showing how ridiculous the whole thing is a why middle-class citizens are being pushed out the door in Manhattan bars when these bars can get away with these absurd bottle prices.

Come the fuck on... $620 for a $40 bottle (retail) on Grey Goose Vodka?? And that does not include mandatory 20% gratuity.

Fortunately is seems to be a move away from the current trend of high-end, snob clubs in NYC, according to this article in the Village Voice:

"Nightclubs are always opening (and closing) in New York, but this mini-surge of fresh venues is built on music and art, not the bling of bottle service, signaling the beginning of a hopeful new era in New York nightlife, one where the artists, musicians, and DJs—tired of the bottle service boom bullying clubs into a world of materialism and monotony—take back the night."

The problem with the bottle-service bars, is the aesthetics of the room, the art and the music are now transient and no longer the focus, thus suffering. It wouldn't matter if the DJ could beat mix, or that the music was one cookie-cutter radio track segue-wayed into an entirely different genre. Jay-Z mixed right into a Michael Jackson classic, then to some Britney or Justin tune. No "new" music is being introduced in these clubs. Only "the hits."

"It's ADD for the ears"

At these clubs, bottle-service tables are getting moved right on the dancefloor, with some have NO dancefloor space at all.

"Bottle service clubs are like the Wal-Marts of the music world."

Source [VillageVoice] via [JoeMyGod]