If you’re over 21 and either live in Eugene Oregon or are just visiting consider this your informal guide to the local dance club scene. For having a population of just under 140,000 (on the 2000 US census) the culture and night time party allure is quit substantial. But in order to really get your groove on, you need to know where to go and what the expect. The Eugene night club atmosphere is diverse and crowds range from college students, to the alternative Goths, to the hipsters, to country folks and everything in-between.
The dance scene is a varied one with music covering hip-hop/techno, retro eighties, and country music genres. The major dace clubs for Eugene are Tsunamis, the Jungle, Diablos, Neighbors, John Henrys, the Keg, Rockin Rodeo and sometimes the Indigo District, Taylors, and Joe’s Bar & Grill. At the end of this article the locations of each place are listed, but for now, just think about where you want to go, or visit them all. Just be sure not to drink a drive. Downtown Eugene is highly patrolled.
For the Friday and Saturday dance scene, the Jungle is by far the most popular and has cages, a dance stage, and LOUD music. It also boasts the most security, which includes being patted down on the way in. Despite that, there still seems to be a fight every other weekend there. Tsunamis has a much nicer, but much smaller dance floor and recently has had a little more laid back atmosphere. It’s also connected to a GREAT Chinese restaurant (Kowloons). Diablos is a basement decorated with a hellish theme and has more of an alt and gothic audience, mixed in with all the “normal” looking folks. The Keg is a blue collar bar that plays a mix between hip-hop and country music. It’s always full and has a very loud, friendly atmosphere. Rockin Rodeo (if it stays open) is country all the way. It has a VERY large wooden dance floor. The Indigo district is a mix between hipsters and college students. It alternates between live rock bands and DJs playing dance type music. It doesn’t have a dance floor per say, but that doesn’t stop people. Taylors has been open since the late 1800’s and is college all the way. Hip-hop music with other stuff mixed in, the small dance area is always full. John Henrys also has dance music when it doesn’t have a live rock band, but it’s never full and the crowd is mixed, has more of a bar atmosphere on these days. Neighbors is a gay bar, but it always consists of a large straight clientèle. It’s high energy with an extremely friendly feeling to it.
For the weekdays, the dancing lights up in different venues. Wednesday is “Raggae vs Hip-hop” at John Henry’s and it’s usually completely full with a college student / urban yuppie / multicultural vibe. At Joe’s Bar and Grill there is also dancing on Wednesday, but the music changes so be sure to check before going. Thursday is eighties night at John Henry’s and it’s definitely a hot spot. It becomes walking room only quickly and the atmosphere is extremely high energy with a mix of different types of people of which some are in full costume. Thursday is also ladies night at Diablos so all ladies get in free, but don’t expect too many people there, because they’re all at John Henry’s. Taylors has something going on EVERY night of the week so be sure to check it out if you like the college scene.
Each dance club in Eugene has a distinct look and feel. Be sure to try a few before picking you’re favorite spot. Definitely check out John Henry’s on Thursday night If you can stand eighties music. As in most small to medium cities, the dance clubs in Eugene don’t get hoppin until about 11:30, so don’t go too early, unless you’re ok with it being half empty. Most of these clubs stop serving at 2:00 AM and actually close at 2:30, so that gives you about three hours of premium dance time. In addition to this, when it’s warm outside patrons tend to linger outside and socialize for another 30 minutes. So have fun and don’t expect to go to bed too early.
If you would like information on Nightlife , check out our AC Nightlife Advice section.
Reference:
- Indigo District 1290 Oak St, Eugene John Henry’s 77 W Broadway Joe’s Bar & Grill 21 W 6th Ave Jungle 23 west 6th Avenue Keg 4711 W 11th Ave Neighbors 1417 Villard St Rock’ N Rodeo 44 E 7th Ave Taylor’s Bar & Grille 894 E 13th Tsunamis 2222 Centennial Blvd
