Club Reports: Lefty's On The "O", Loose Goose, Panache, The Bank, One Thirty Eight, 29 Park, LEV3L, Carnivale (Windsor)

This is Windsor, Ontario, Canada.  This is where I spent my Friday night doing some club hopping with DJ KenE (CDN) doing the hosting!

And looking back across the river, this is Detroit, Michigan, USA.  And even though the two cities are just a mile or so apart physically, they're a thousand miles apart musically.  Detroit is one of the original homes of House and Techno but Motown went Hip Hop beginning in the late 90's while Canadian cities stayed much more centered on EDM. 

OK, let's get started!  First stop of the night was Lefty's On The "O", the "O" standing for Ouellette Avenue, one of Windsor's main downtown streets.

DJ Fathertooth was in the booth playing Top 40 and Chill during my visit. His Greek last name apparently translates to his English DJ name!
 

No one dancing yet at 10pm but I'm told it gets packed for Top 40 & EDM.  When KenE DJ'd here he reports throwing in some Baby Ann and DJ Icey breakbeats and putting the crowd into a frenzy.  He says that Breaks are pretty much unknown up here.

Proudly made in Canada:  Bartenders Krista & Natalie

Canada and geese somehow go together so it was only appropriate for the next stop of the night to be the Loose Goose!

No DJ's here; they offer live entertainment but really no dancing.

Owner Angus and his beautiful assistant did stop by for a quick drink shot and quick snap shot.

Located along one of the side streets, Panache Ultra Lounge already had a pretty good crowd on hand around 11pm.

DJ Sam-E was in the booth at the rear playing 70's, 80's & 90's!

And the dance floor had a lot of people on it!

Located in an old bank building, the appropriately named The Bank Nightclub was next.

This is home to Canada's largest shiny disco ball!  You can spot the DJ up above it!

The music was Top 40 and Hip Hop so we only stuck around for one drink.

Next stop was the very cool One Thirty Eight Bar.

Found local club veteran DJ Ni-Ko in the booth here spinning Dance/House.

They have a pretty large dance floor up here in this second-story venue.

This bachelorette party took up a good part of it.

Keep it moving!  Another club made up of a "number", 29 or more formally 29 Park was next!  That C$5.00 cover charge is only US$4.65 so Americans can save big by club hopping north of the border! (Actually, little known fact, but Windsor is the only place where Canada is south of the United States so we were actually south of the border!)

The DJ was playing mostly EDM during our visit!

A really large room compared to what we had visited so far, it wasn't particularly crowded.

A not-expected set of Reggaeton did get a large number onto the floor.  KenE says Reggaeton is surprisingly popular up here!

Moving next across the street to LEV3L Nightclub.

That's my host DJ KenE visiting in the booth with resident DJ Evolution!

Of all the stops made, this was probably the nicest "room" in town and so far the largest crowd.  But it was a Hip Hop night so drinks were quickly downed and we would be movin' on!

Last stop of the night was brand new club Carnivale.

I didn't get this opening DJ's name but he knew his Trance!

Club and dance floor were packed!

As the sign says, this will be an all-EDM club with different genres on different nights!

Plenty of nice scenery on the dance floor!

The evening's Trance theme continued with DJ duo Kings of Addiction (CDN) coming on next!

Spotted: DJ EZ visiting with my tour guide DJ KenE!

Dance floor was packed!

Really the best night of Trance I've experienced since I saw Above & Beyond in Toronto last month!

Raver gurl!

So if you're ever in the Detroit area on a weekend, highly recommend that you cross the bridge or tunnel and go partying on the Canadian side!

Because if you do, a good time will be had by all! Big thanks to DJ KenE of Windsor for showing me his city!

Club Reports: LEV3L, Mynt, The Bank (Windsor)

Had the opportunity last Saturday afternoon to visit Canada.....for an hour! We always want Blog readers to have club information for anywhere you go!  That's hard to accomplish in an hour so instead we'll show you some other scenes from my visit and give you some Canada trivia.  And some club reports!  That's the Ambassador Bridge above which crosses from Detroit, Michigan to Windsor, Ontario.  Canada is similar to the United States but there are distinct differences too.

For instance, I think you can only buy beer at government-run stores.  Trivia: The drinking age in Ontario is 19.

Petro Canada is one popular brand of Canadian-owned gasoline stations and are found from BC to Newfoundland. Trivia: American gasoline brand Exxon is able to use their Standard Oil name in Canada, thus doing business as Esso. (S.O.)

Canadians love their donuts and the country's largest chain is Tim Horton's!  It's a must-do stop for any visiting American!  The company has crept into the northern United States and we'd love to see them put in a branch beside the Canadian pavilion at EPCOT!  Trivia: An expanding partnership with Cold Stone Creamery could bring them to O-Town! 

Canadian department store chains fell on hard times a decade ago and the only large survivors are Sears Canada and The Bay.  The latter, more formally known as the Hudson's Bay Company, has been in business since the year 1670!  Trivia: They're changing their name back this year to Hudson's Bay.

You thankfully won't find a Walgreen's on every corner.  Instead you'll find a Shopper's Drug Mart on every corner!  Trivia: Aspirin is still a trademark of the Bayer Company in Canada so Aspirin is a brand name.  Everyone else has to call their product acetylsalicylic acid.

Branches of "Bee Mo" can be found throughout Canada.  Trivia: They can be found in Orlando too along with Canadian competitor Toronto Dominion Bank.  Remember TD Waterhouse Arena?

Roots is a retail store selling rugged outdoor clothing of high quality, emphasizing Canadianism.  Trivia: The company was made famous dressing Canada's Olympic team members.

OK, here are some Windsor club reports compliments of DJ Ken-E (CDN).  LEV3L features EDM including Saturdays from DJ Chris James.

While EDM nearly died out in the United States last decade, Canada was more aligned with Europe and did not fall for Hip Hop to the same extent as here.  Not that Detroit radio stations aren't listened to.  But EDM is bigger than ever there now.  Mynt Night Club with Owner/DJ Ni-ko has "I Love House Music" on Thursdays and more EDM on other weekend nights.

A third downtown Windsor club is newly opened The Bank Nightklub, open Fridays and Saturdays only for Electronic Dance Music.  It's also home to the largest Disco ball in Canada so you know it's gotta be a great place!

Heading over the Detroit River and back into the good old USA.  No time to visit clubs this trip but I'll be back to check them out!  That's Detroit on the left, Windsor on the right.  Trivia: Because the river runs generally east-west in this stretch, this is the only place along the entire American-Canadian border where Canada lies south of the United States!