Let’s Dance, Again: On Wednesdays, Tattoo Rides the ’80s Wave
WHEN TIMES GOT TOUGH in the 1970s, people took to ’50s nostalgia for comfort. These days, it’s the happy days of the 1980s people seem to want.
At least that’s what D.C. party promoters Kelly Ann Collins and James Augustus S.G. van Wynen found when they decided to establish an evening of retro music and video, “Polyester — Totally ’80s,” at Tattoo Bar on Wednesday nights.
Hump day happenings never attracted much of a crowd downtown, says van Wynen. But once he and Collins started going retro on people, they had an instant club hit. Kind of like the old Club Heaven ’80s nights in the mid-1990s.
“It seemed like on Wednesday night there was nothing really going on in D.C.,” explains van Wynen, who works by day as an architect. “There was no big party. There are big parties on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday but nothing on Wednesday.”
The duo got the idea to go back in time musically right around the time they realized that Tattoo’s resident DJ, Benny C, had a huge collection of vintage music videos. After bringing the idea to Tattoo, they decided to build each evening around an ’80s-related theme, so people could dress up accordingly. The “Like a Virgin” night saw people coming out looking like Madonna circa 1985. The “Risky Business” and “Sunglasses at Night” evenings brought out a lot of, well, sunglasses at night. (For updates on each week’s theme, check the Web site at www.dc80s.com.)
“I think there’s an opportunity for people to come out and dress up and have fun,” says Collins, who is best known as a D.C. blogger and now runs the Glittarazzi Web site. “We’ve had people come in with Wham! t-shirts, wearing headbands, and a lot of girls come in with their rosaries and lace like Madonna. We’ve also had some guys come in looking like they were out of the old ‘Miami Vice‘ TV show.”
The Wednesday parties have proven so popular that Collins says she and van Wynen decided to continue them indefinitely, so long as people are interested. They’ve also been asked to “recreate the experience” at private parties and charity events.
But why the name “Polyester?” It has nothing to do with the John Waters cult film, Collins says. The name was actually inspired by her remembering an old pair of white pants her mother used to wear that symbolized the gaudy styles of the Reagan era. But the flashiness of that era now holds nostalgic value for a lot of people, says van Wynen.
“It kind of brings everybody back to a more innocent time,” he explains. “I think that’s why, psychologically, people really like ’80s music.”
Van Wynen says the party is now bringing in more people than Tattoo “has ever had on a Wednesday.
“If I was gonna give you a number, I’d probably say there’s a solid 120 people in there, but that’s at all times. I would say probably 200 come through altogether. It’s going really well.”
Besides letting people see classic videos by the likes of Soft Cell, the Eurythmics and the Human League, the event also offers vintage prices on drinks. There’s an open bar for women from 10-11 p.m. Collins also says tables can be reserved at Tattoo on Wednesdays for $150, a far lower rate than on the weekend, when they go for $300-$500.
The duo’s approach to having a cover charge is casual, to say the least. Van Wynen says all people have to do to get in for free is mention his name or Collins’ name to the doormen.
“If you mention James or Kelly they’ll let you in,” he explains. “We’re not really sticklers for a cover on Wednesdays — that’s not how we make our money. We don’t want you to pay ten bucks if you want to come in, have a few drinks, then leave.”
» Tattoo Bar, 1413 K St NW, Wed., 9 p.m.-2 a.m., 202-408-9444 (www.dc80s.com).
Written by Express contributor Tony Sclafani
Photos courtesy Sanjeev Sharma Photography
Posted By Express at 7:19 AM on June 8, 2009
