I went to Neo last night

Ok, so a couple of blocks from my apartment in Lincoln Park is this bar/club called Neo. Neo is known for being Chicago's 'goth' place to be. It's been around since 1979, which as you might know was pretty much the peak for a lot of the goth/industrial stuff, especially in the UK. Goth style seemed to have a sort of resurgence in the mid-90s, too with NIN and Manson and all that nonsense.

Anyway, the clientele of Neo is reflective of these two peaks. You've got the new wave/hipster goths (see Ian Curtis, above, right) and then the industrial/metal type goths which are generally a lot scarier. Well, they try to be scarier at least. In actuality, the clientele for Neo is not very scary at all and really pretty friendly. While I'm not into that whole style, I did feel marginally more comfortable around the people who go to Neo than your average person at Hangge Uppe or, god forbid, some other near north bar. (Aside: Hangge Uppe is not utopia, but it is the least annoying and pretensious place in its area.)

As for the actual bar, I was pretty down with it. I would only really enjoy going on Thursdays, when they have 80s new wave (heavy on the proto-goth stuff like Cure, early New Order and less Elvis Costello and certainly no Toni Basil). The other nights are metal or industrial and that's simply not my scene. In addition to some pretty chill tunes, they played Return of the Jedi and Weird Science on the movie screen behind the bar. Big up. I also got a half liter of Spaten in a stylish German glass mug. Very gothic.

The downside is that the place is damn geeky but that's just the name of the game when you're talking goth kids. That tone is preferable to me over places on the other side of the spectrum like Japonais. Also, the fake smoke machine was on overdrive. Just not used to smoke here in Chicago. Neo definitely isn't the kind of place you'd take anyone without an open mind. That probably explains why I haven't been there until this week. I'd have liked to come here more often but honestly, I don't know too many people who could tolerate it. But I think it's fun.

I hope to continue my week of new experiences by going to Delilah's at some point soon. It's a punk bar that's kind of close to my apartment also. The worst thing that could happen, I think, is I'd find another really chill place that I'll regret not going to all summer long. But I still hope for a fun night. Oh, I forgot to mention that last Tuesday I somehow ended up at a nearly vacant karaoke place at Cermak and Wentworth singing Yellow Submarine as covered by some Chinese band. Getting goaded into awkward situations can be fun..