The standard, unassuming font used for the sign display at one of downtown’s trendiest outings greets every visitor who chooses to grace its doorstep (and dance floor). Nestled between clubs PHX and Skylounge, Bar Smith brings its own eclectic touch to the downtown Washington Street strip. Having chosen this past Friday’s Sticky Fingers show featuring DJ Comic Strips as the headliner (along with resident DJs/local favorites William Fucking Reed and Prince $$) to make my inaugural visit to the hipster’s paradise, the night went along rather swimmingly.
The first thing I noticed upon entry was how nice the staff was. The girl at the door gave us a discounted cover (we were there so close around the price change cutoff time), and the bartender was super smooth about getting us our Miller Lites at the first-floor bar. Hell, even the bouncer who checked my ID was a sweetheart. For such a trendy place I expected the staff to act accordingly (ahem - you know, pretentious, looking at me as a second class citizen trespassing into their domain), but none of that was found with any of its staff, much to my uttermost delight. That alone would make me return!
Bar Smith has a truly wicked set-up. The bi-level club has a terrific rooftop dance floor and bar, complete with this fantastic, mural-size chalkboard and a view of the downtown skyline. Not to mention the awesome projector screens surrounding the dance floor to enhance the visual demographic of any DJ playing. As we ascended the stairs to enter this rooftop menagerie of lights and sound, the sight of a woman hula-hooping on the dance floor beheld our vision. Using regular and LED-lighted hoops, she really put on a show for the early-comers, which was good because apparently the people that get there early have an aversion to dancing. Many just stood around the dance floor in an attempt to either look cool (or perhaps fight indigestion, if the grumpy looks on their faces were any indication). The first DJ seemed to be getting into a groove with a mixture of dubstep and electro house, the upbeat thumping trying to encourage some form of body movement. All the DJs seemed to be enjoying themselves, which is always a good indication of where the mood of the dance floor is heading. The later arrivals seem to understand this and attempted to engage in booty shaking, of both the drunken and sober variety.
All in all, Bar Smith afforded a nice departure from the usual Mill begotten establishments. Though I expected a bit more debauchery from the crowd, and perhaps more of the downstairs music style on the roof, the first experience was a positive one. Bar Smith has all the right elements for a good time, or at least a change of pace from the norm.
Bar Smith is located on Washington Street, in between 1st and 2nd streets, in downtown Phoenix.
