Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Ottawa Love : 317 Bank Street (Babylon)


The ID approved Sunday night hangout.

What is Babylon like on Sundays?

Babylon is basically the longest Sunday-night line-up of your life followed by entrance into an atmosphere so thick with human activity that the damp, sour air seems better chewed and eaten. You buy a beer (or not), catch up with familiar faces (or not) and then slowly make your way onto the crowded, frenzied dancefloor. Do not bother to say "excuse me"; there is no need for pleasantries in a dive like this.

You shove your way into the singular, writhing mass of soggy, besotted patrons and slosh back and forth to the beat of the music. Ballroom chops and salsa groove won't stand a chance in this mess. Within 5 minutes you are so covered in sweat that the beer being spilled by the alt-bro next to you will go completely unnoticed. You'll smell it on your clothes the next morning, possibly on your way to Monday studio. But none of this matters. You are with the company of your friends and you're there to either celebrate or completely erase all memory of the last critique.

It is fun most of the time. 7/10