BEST 2012: Dance Your Ass Off
As you must know by now, voting in our Best 2012 Poll is officially open. The noms are locked in, the ballot is closed, and now it's crunch time. Voting for this year's poll closes March 10 (and we've got a shit ton of categories for you to get through) so we suggest starting now. Yeah, it takes a little effort on your part, but think about what we go through every day, sifting through all the crap out there to try and give you all the best of Boston. This is the one time of the year we all get to sit back for a minute, take a breather, and let our valued readers do work. And we know you're up to the task. Right? For your consideration, we present this year's nominees for Best Dance Night a/k/a/ Best Place to Grind Up on Someone Sexy While Grooving to Some Solid Tunes. Have at it.
DJ Craig MacNeil's Videodrome Discothèque has had many incarnations. The bi-weekly dance night found its newest home at Radio in Somerville, where all the hipster kids can dance semi-ironically to MacNeil's signature mash-up of classic cuts from GaGa to Bowie spliced with visuals including retro movie clips, old TV spots, and more. It's some full-on multi-sensory shit. Videodrome grabbed mad votes and won this category last year, can they do it again? That's your call, Boston.
We're not above tooting our own horn --loudly-- and though we retired Great Scott's Friday night brit-pop-heavy dance party (co-spun by DJ Michael V a/k/a Phoenix Music Editor Michael Marotta) from the poll last year, we decided we're going to go ahead and Jay-Z this shit. Out of retirement, The Pill is officially back in the running. And hey, one half of The Pill DJs-- DJ Ken--is not on the Phoenix payroll. So, it's still fair, and stuff.
Resident DJs Alan Manzi (also up for Best DJ this year), Baltimoroder, and Die Young make it new every damn Thursday night in Cambridge, for their weekly dance night, inviting special guests join them on the turntables and packing out Middlesex's dance floor with writhing, sweaty bodies every Thursday.
Also up for Best DJ this year, DJ Chris Ewen is at it every Friday night, spinning 80s new wave, retro cuts, and the like at TT's. Consistently on the ballot for best dance night, Heroes packs a double wallop: don't forget that resident bartender and local personality Terri Niedzwiecki is up for Best Bartender.
On the hip-hop tip, Good Life's monthly dance night has been welcoming up-and-coming hitmakers to their Saturday night get-down since the beginning. (Did you know that smooth-operating Mayer Hawthorne was a Produce guest?) Resident DJ Tommee and DJ Knife (also up for Best DJ, sheeeet this category is stacked) spin the freshest hip-hop and reggae beats the last Saturday of every month, with a revolving door of special guests.
We're loving that this category is so well-rounded this year. Irish pub-cum-spot to ogle scantily clad college chicks shivering outside on line in the cold most weekend nights turns into a haven for the goth set on Monday nights, pumping industrial and goth deep cuts. Not always easy to dance to, but those who know make it work. Commence the dark ceremonies. All right, here's your homework. Go out every night next week and check out these dance nights. You can sleep when you're dead. Then, cast your vote for BEST DANCE NIGHT in this year's Best Poll. Caught the Best Bug? Vote for all your favorite Boston things on our complete 2012 ballot.