Dance the Night Away at Revolution Rock Bar!

I've been wanting to check out Revolution Rock Bar for over a year now, but every time I go, I'm greeted with a monstrous line and an ugly cover charge. This weekend, however, we concocted a fool-proof plan. Since it was a friend's birthday, they were willing to drop the $10 cover down to $5 (which is more in my comfort zone, especially for a place I've never been). Actually $10 isn't a bad cover for a Saturday night in that area, but what can I say, I like to save my money for the drinks!

RRB as Im going to call it from here on out...is located on on High Street (right by newly opened Howl at the Moon - which btw STILL has a huge line outside at 9pm that you couldn't pay me to stand in). We decided to venture over early, and lucky for us, we beat the line! I know 9:30 is a little early to put your party shoes on, but by 10pm, the line was long and we were inside, coats checked ($3), drink in hand. Worth it!

The scene is very trendy - rocker stars and some faces reminiscent of pop art lined the room and the ceiling was covered in quotes. My favorite feature is the cow-print cubes that replace chairs around the room - though don't expect to sit down unless you've made a reservation for a group. All the seating areas on the main floor were reserved so wear some comfy shoes - you'll be doing a lot of standing!

By 10:30 the place was packed and the DJ was spinning up some tunes. A compliment to his skills, we actually debated whether we were listening to a pre-recorded mash-up for a while. Good songs, good mixing, generally good atmosphere. Although, at one point early on a fight broke out and there were no bouncers to be seen? Fortunately, the gentlemen involved were hammered and it didn't take much work to shove them out the door where they could continue their battle away from the crowd.

We checked out the lower level later in the evening (which had previously been completely empty) and found that the dance party was roaring there as well. Not sure if there was a second DJ, or if he just migrated with us...either way, the music was great.

My drink of choice was a rum and diet. They were good-sized and at $8, were a pretty good value as the bartenders didn't skimp on the rum. My first one was pretty much rum on the rocks, with a splash of coke. Eek! Better to have that problem though, than paying 8 bucks for a cup of soda with a thimble of alcohol in it, right?

All in all, I'd say a great place to go out as long as you're willing to get there early. Seems like they do a lot for groups, so if you're heading there for a bday celebration - call ahead and see if you can get a spot reserved and get a discount for your friends!

Rock on :)
Little B

Howl at the Moon with the best, and the worst of us...

If you live in Boston and you’ve yet to hear about Howl at the Moon (the new dueling piano bar in the financial district), you’ve been living under a rock. For the past couple weeks I’ve been blasted with emails, texts, free admission passes, BuyWithMe coupons, etc…all in the name of promoting this place. So this weekend I checked it out.

I was prepared for a long line and my expectations were right on par – it was around the corner. I went with a small group of girls and one of them asked the bouncer what the best way in was. He said if we went in downstairs, there would be no line and we would be able to go upstairs once inside. Great! 30 seconds later with stars stamped on our hands, we were in.

The scene downstairs was very trendy. Colored lights backlit each section of the bar and the walls were lined with booths offering bottle service. Drinks were reasonably priced – rum and coke for $6, or a filthy, dirty martini (with grey goose) for $9. We later discovered you could order what looked like a scorpion bowl in a bucket for about $26. Seemed like a strange offering for a place with bottle service, but I’ll take it.

We headed upstairs to check out the live music and found ourselves elbow to elbow with entirely too many Bostonians, eager to take part in the hyped up Howl at the Moon experience. The music was great – musicians were on key and on target with their song choices. I found myself singing along to everything they played. However, as much as I wanted to enjoy with piano duality – there were really just too many people to be comfortable in that space for long, so we headed back downstairs.

The lower level picked up with some interesting dance beats (I still have "shots, shots, shot" stuck in my head) – all in all, a lot of fun. The trouble with this place is that everyone in the city wants to be there right now. It didn’t take long for someone to lose their marbles in the bathroom…and near the bar…not so classy, but not surprising either with buckets of booze being offered. We tried to go back upstairs to see if it had cleared out at all, but were told that because we had come in through the downstairs entrance, we couldn’t go back up (turns out, those who stood in line got a "cooler" stamp). I have to say, I was not impressed that we were told we’d be able to get upstairs, and then forced to stay down.

Overall, this place has the potential to be a really great addition to the night life in this city, but not until the hype has died down. I’ll definitely head back for the great tunes and good prices…but not for a few more months.

-Little B