Heading to @analogbar for their soft opening tonight with @robin_roth. Outta my zone, but should be fun.

As I tweeted this sentiment last Thurday, I realized the only bars I had been to in the last couple months were downtown, including Basic and Quality Social… except for that one quiet evening of karaoke at The Ruby Room where someone got punched in the head, but we won’t go there. As we approached Analog on the corner of 5th Street and F Street, the long line down the block became more apparent. We hopped in line thinking it wouldn’t be long or maybe someone who knew us would come to our rescue, whisking us inside. Instead, we spent the time discussing how we don’t stand in lines. Not because we’re anything special, it is just that we don’t go to places that have lines. I know I typically avoided places where large security guys shuffle in skimpily clad girls at the glance into their cleavage and I certainly would never attempt to prove that we were relevent, important people, because in this scene, we certainly were neither. An odd character of a guy, who appeared to not have any friends, continued to awkwardly interject comments into our conversation. Multiple times we considered making a break (like many others in front of us did) to go find a place without a line, but we held our ground.

Finally, after almost an hour in line (maybe 45 minutes) after our names had been checked off the extensive guest list, we made it inside to the ridiculously packed venue. Shag carpet everywhere, records on the walls, vinyl booths took you back about 30 years to the late 70’s/early 80’s. After grabbing a tall free drink with quite a bit of vodka in it from the bar, we waded through the masses to get the restaurant side where we hoped to find some food and run into a few friends.

Food was not happening, well it was if you were not ashamed to wait by the kitchen entrance to pounce on the waiter as they brought out trays of free appetizers.  Not for me, I was not beyond paying for food so trying Analog’s cuisine would have to wait for another time.

Entertainment seemed plentiful… karaoke was going off for the few people who participated and then there was a DJ, who I can say much about since we really didn’t stay long enough for a good listen. Being a bit of a nerd myself, I was excited to see that they had Street Fighter and Mortal Combat on the monitors, though not as excited as this guy nearly have an orgasm when he saw people playing Mortal Combat . Apparently the controllers were being circulated around the place so at any given time, you really had no idea who you were playing against.

I really would like to check Analog out on a weekday night with maybe some dinner and drinks. The vibe seemed pretty cool for downtown and people even dressed for the occasion, one guy I had to commend on his classic Nintendo controller t-shirt. Next time I will make sure to dress the part and even nab one of the controllers to get my game on.