X-Cel Nightclub

Eh.

I don't like giving meh reviews, but this place could have been better. Inside, this is a nice club. The bar is fine, the floor's nice, there are cool little rooms... Like a previous reviewer said, it has a lot of potential.

I went with the gf and some friends to celebrate a friend's 21st b-day. One thing I like about this place - 21 and up is free til 11 (10? don't remember), at least on Saturdays. Things didn't start picking up for an hour or so though, which is not surprising.

We went on gogo night, in which scantily-clad people dance about trying to attract sexual attention. I suppose the difference was that there was a good deal more scantily-cladness. Okay, nothing wrong with that. Meh.

My biggest gripe about this place was the music. It was nothing short of exquisitely boring for about 5/8s of the time we were there, which was a few hours. I understand this partly a matter of taste, but a lot of it was just boring and repetitive, coming from someone who loves electronic music, hip-hop, clubbing etc. I will say that any club is better than no club, but as far as clubs in MI go, Necto in Ann Arbor is still our go-to.

X-Cel has so much potential... but they're moving in a bad direction. The club is pretty large inside, and the dance floor is really well thought out, with steps and rails and places to really get your groove on. There is a huge section to chill as well if dancing isn't your thing. The bathrooms kind of suck... big black curtains are not the way to protect your privacy, especially when every one is drunk. There is no way to tell if someone is using the toilet without opening the curtains to look. Kind of awkward.

So, the facility is there... but that's where all the happy ends. The only tunes X-Cel plays anymore are gangster rap. Not even mainstream rap or hiphop... these are songs that you don't hear on the radio, and they all sound the same. I would say 95% of the people who come here are very thuggish and always seem to be packing drama. There is little to no class around and you're likely to be harrassed several times thoughout the night by unwanted grabby male attention. The trash of Lansing seem to flock to X-Cel now, and any time I go, the scene gets gross fast. It's something that can't really be put into words, you just have to witness it.

I think if X-Cel changes a DJ or two, things may turn around. Otherwise, I have no desire to go to X-Cel and would not subject any of my friends to this POS club.

Typical dance club. You know dance music, girls dancing, guys trying to dance, and lots of semi-synergistic grinding. The bartenders (all male) are nice and remember what you ordered if you tip well.