I just woke up from my New Years slumber and even though it’s 4 o clock in the afternoon I did go to bed 6:30/7 ish this morning so to be fair I didn’t sleep THAT long. Last night I didn’t really know what I wanted to do and honestly I was questioning even going out. I don’t really do that shit anymore. Partying all night long was fun in high school but I try to avoid the all night parties mainly because it basically ruins the next day.
So I was on the phone at 5 and ended up talking until 7. Pretty much expecting to stay in town if I did go out and not head to Omaha as previously planned. When I got off the phone I called up my friend and asked him if he was still up for going to Omaha taking into consideration that we wouldn’t get there until 9:30 or so. So we went to the gas station and filled up, bought some beer for the road and headed out.
My main concern with going to Omaha was two things: Spending a couple hundred bucks and driving back on the highway with every other drunk asshat and cop on the road. My logic is that the cops are going to be pulling people over randomly between midnight and three. After that point though you have a lot of people on the road who are getting up and going to work so that’s the crowd I want to blend in with.
Nothing much of anything happened on the way down. My friend’s background is in German history and political discussions are usually what we get into. Honestly I would have been fine with us just having conversation the entire night in a quiet little bar. Who wants to talk politics on New Years? I know everyone goes crazy on New Years but I’m not that guy.
We had decided to drink in Dundee. That neighborhood admittedly has the most hipsters. It’s a few blocks away from the college and Saddle Creek bands have been known to make appearances there. I was kind of hoping that Conor Oberst would show up so I could beat his ass. Last time we were in Omaha we were downtown in the Old Market, bar hopping around there. This chick said the next time we’re in Dundee to go to The 49′r.
This place is right on Dodge but you would never know its there if you weren’t looking for it. An old sign that doesn’t light up and two neon beer advertisements that hang in black painted windows are all the makings of “this place to be.” I don’t mean to pass judgment some of the coolest places I’ve stumbled into were low key, low advertised underground type spots. We were joking about getting knifed as we walked up to the entrance behind the building when the door slammed open and this guy was just ravaging this girl. I’m not talking like “oh ha ha they’re kissing isn’t that cute?” no they about tackled each other into the snow they were making out so hard. I could hear MGMT – Kids blaring from inside as the door hung open and I thought to myself “Tonight, is going to be a good night.”
A hole in the wall with good people and good music. What more could you want? My friend knows when I go out that I don’t really pursue women. Not that they don’t motivate me I just could care less and on the way down I was talking to him about a woman I had recently met so he knew that tonight, even though it was New Years, that I wasn’t going to be making decisions on that. I feel sorry for any females who make gestures to try and get me to notice them.
I sat down at the bar, ordered a beer and had a look around. The two guys who were playing the music looked like a couple members of The Village People. One had a huge mustache and the other one would be the ultimate definition of “flaming gay” … the hair, the outfit, his speaking voice. I don’t care if you’re gay, straight, or you like donkeys… MESH is never appropriate on a guy. The music they were playing was superb and that’s coming from me. I’m a control freak and a music snob. I don’t think other people know anything about music and don’t want to hear Nickleback bullshit on the jukebox. MGMT, Madonna, Michael Jackson, New Order… they knew what they were doing. The first guy I had talked to said almost the same thing, “I don’t usually like this upbeat happy music but it goes great with it being New Years.” EXACTLY! You see, the reason why I think most people don’t know anything about music is because they think that just because some dumbass country song that reminds you of your man is something everyone else wants to listen to. I know this because I watch people when music is played. I watch how people move, how their voices change. The next time you’re at the bar play “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson. Just do it. Even the most bad ass looking dude in that place is going to start moving his body because the music feels good.
Music rant over. Jeeze, sorry about that. So my friend comes back over by me and says “Hey do you know who that is?” I look at the table behind me and say “Nope.” That guy ended up being this elusive guy I’ve been trying to find for eight years. I’ve never met him, never seen him but everyone I know has told me that I need to meet this guy because he’s just like me. It’s not just people I knew, I was at a record shop once in downtown Omaha and this guy I started talking to knew where I was from because the guy I was trying to find was his room mate. Okay, when I talked to that guy I knew I had to find this man. I’ve heard too much about him, it’s too coincidental and after eight years I finally had forgot about it. So eventually he came over to order a drink but I couldn’t even talk to him. It’s New Years, he was clearly drunk and all I could really say to him is that I’ve been trying to find him for eight years and it’s going to have to go on longer.
Now that’s weird but even more so in that aside from the guy I was trying to find there were 9 people from my home town in this bar tonight. Even more weird, none of them knew each other.
I was texting that girl I had mentioned on the way down how awesome the music was and how I want her there etc. but sadly my phone died. This place was cool and I was beyond drunk. I just shivered thinking about drinking the champagne that I had at midnight. I was out of my mind by last call. Now we had met tons of people and this guy that looked like one of the nihilists from the Big Lebowski was telling us to go to this party. We gave him a ride and headed towards downtown.
Okay so I don’t really do the after party thing because it’s always shit. Some crappy house with people playing beer pong and playing guitar hero. That’s been most of my after party experiences up til this point. If you’re mocking me, fine, but keep mind I live in the middle of nowhere.
We were going downtown so I at least knew it wasn’t going to be in a crappy house. We parked nearby and walked around the corner. There was this huge looming fence surrounding some sort of yard behind this art studio or something. We paid the guardian at the gate and this place was surreal.
It’s kind of laughable to even try and describe it. It’s one of those things where you just had to be there. You know when you go to a party and you’re thinking “I wonder if there’s other cool parties going on?” This was the place that everyone in Omaha was wishing they were at. I’m not like fucking cool in the Omaha scene or something. I don’t even live there. It’s a matter of chance that we got into this place. Had we not left the 49′r when we did and met that dude our night would have been completely different. I just can’t describe it.. the women that were just making out with you randomly.. the live bands.. it’s something to just be experienced I guess.
Around 5 or 6 we met back up with each other and headed out.
It took me two hours to write this because I had to go throw up the chicken noodle soup that I tried to put down when I woke up. Last night was the best New Years Eve and best after party I’ve ever been to.
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