The Echo

Love this small and intimate venue. I have only been here a handful of times. The first was before the fire to see TV on the Radio back in 2004 or 2005. The last time I was here was to see Wildcat! Wildcat! It has a laid back vibe and a great rear patio to hang out on after a set to cool down. It can get pretty hot inside. The drinks are fairly inexpensive considering it is first off a venue and secondly it is located in Hipster Central.

  Can't wait to see the lineup for this summers residencies, I can't wait to return.

This review is for last night, inside at Funky Sole.

SELLING POINTS: Cheap cover, friendly vibe, no creepers, cool visuals, break dancers, plenty of room to dance, no line.

BACKGROUND: My friend has been raving about Funky Sole. So a bunch of us hit it up last night. I LOVE funk and I can dance to almost anything. We stayed inside most the night.

STRUGGLE: Perhaps it was an off night, because the music felt like the intro of every funk song looped several times then fed into the next song. It became a driving beat much like trance, with little variation and few places to really play within the structure.

My friends were struggling, too. As I looked around, I saw a lot of people dancing to the music, but no necessarily loving it. We'd get a fun beat once in a long while for a few bars and the place would light up, but then the DJ would move on and it was back to the driving monotony of their chosen funk samples.

THE JIST: I see plenty of enthusiastic reviews about Funky Sole. Clearly many people love it. I liked that there was plenty of room and people were positive. They've made a good thing. Still, I could feel the extra awesomeness potential just waiting to drop, but it never did.

They lost my driver's license and credit card, manager and employees never apologized nor offered to pay for it. Had to go to DMV to get replacement.

Also a place that treats you according to if they approve of you or not. I think I've been there three times, and two of the times, I was waiting at the bar (only person), then another hipper person comes up, and they help them first. No thank you!