A look inside Bliss, Fresno's newest nightclub
You read about Bliss, the remodeled, renamed and "redefined" version of On the Rocks, in my column last Friday. Now comes this peek inside the new Bliss, courtesy of The Beehive's Will Albritton and his video camera.
Below, I'll offer up more info on the club's opening and the much-discussed issue of cover charges ...
The club's grand opening date was up in the air as I was working on my column, but it's now set for June 19. See the following flier, if you don't believe me:
There's been some discussion of the cover charge on our blog and elsewhere. It was a very touchy subject for owner Albert Tashchian. He got perturbed last week when I asked him about listing the cover charge in my column. How dare I, right?
At first, he said it would be $20, but said it might be cheaper. Then he said there were rumors that it would be $30 and that he should just charge that, since people want to believe it.
So to answer the question: I have no idea what the cover will be by next week -- since he changed it three times in one conversation with me.
To futher keep up with Bliss, go to fresnobliss.com.
Comments:
Wow. Looks like a haven for people who would look down on my jeans and ironic screen-printed t-shirts.
Posted by: adam at June 10, 2008 12:27 PM
Well, Adam, since you mention it, here's the dress code:
The following apparel will not be tolerated:
1. Torn Attire
2. Sports Attire
3. Baseball Caps
4. Beanies
5. Bandana or Visors
6. Plain T-Shirts
7. T-Shirt or Shirt Below the Hip (All Shirts Must Be Tucked In)
8. Baggy Pants
9. Sweats
10. Shorts
11. Casual Shoes
12. Tennis Shoes
13. Sneakers
14. Shoes With Open Tongue
15. Sandals With Open Back
16. Flip Flops
[source: FresnoBliss.com]
Posted by: Mike Oz at June 10, 2008 12:29 PM
i love club dress codes because they're essentially a mix of:
church clothes
hooker wear
Posted by: ed at June 10, 2008 12:38 PM
""i love club dress codes because they're essentially a mix of:
church clothes
hooker wear""
LOL!! that was a good one.
i don't have any money to pay for a $10 cover charge. but thanks to clubflys, i'll have a front row seat to the action and it will feel like i was actually there....or not :(
Posted by: mdub420 at June 10, 2008 1:03 PM
Yep. Not goin' there. I've seen more than my fair share of men's square-toed dress shoes. Someone else can have a shot at it though.
Posted by: adam at June 10, 2008 1:36 PM
Gross.
Was that harsh?
Posted by: MsJoey at June 10, 2008 2:34 PM
'people say it might be $30, so I might as well charge that!'
Ass.
The video didn't impress me one bit...it looks exactly like what it is...a slightly upgraded 'On The Rocks.'
Which, in LA, would be a terciary club at best.
Tucked in shirts and no high-class sneakers? Sounds like the high-style brothers will have to find a different club to go to...folks like Sean P. Diddy Combs won't be welcome: http://www.javno.com/slike/slike_3/r1/g2007/m01/x4130275678317984.jpg
Church clothes and hooker-wear pretty much nails it.
And $20 bucks? Um...Albert? For what? So the big big men in black suits can get paid? So the same DJs spinning anywhere else can get theirs??
It doesn't sound new or appealing...
Posted by: Stephen at June 10, 2008 3:12 PM
...ahhhhh, my neighborhood.
Denny's,
a Starbucks (the subshop tanked,)
a Ross,
a (pretty excellent) Thai place
a street where you can buy all sorts of free-lance pharmaceuticals,
part of the Fashion Faire's parking lot,
Aetna, (whose employees like to buck the trend of buying dope on my street by (instead) using it as a test road for drag-racing... (camry's and SUV's oooh!)
-adolescents walking around on a Saturday morning with Pit-Bulls that chew cats...
-and now...
this place...
20 to 30 for a cover???
...sorry,
I'll just pedal past all sweaty and dodge the used cups and condoms in the outlying parking lots.
Posted by: wet towel at June 10, 2008 3:23 PM
Looks like wet towel and I are neighbors...
So I guess the DUI check point will also be moving in?....great...
Posted by: Natalie at June 10, 2008 3:43 PM
Great, another top 40 house and hip-hop club. Doesn't Fresno have enough of these already. I guess the 'if you build it, they will come' policy works well for people here in Fresno.
The only reason clubs like these enforce the dress codes they do is because of the crowd they attract with that music.
Posted by: Robert Schultz at June 10, 2008 4:20 PM
Oh and what is with this social network they're trying to integrate into their website. ClubFlys.com pretty much takes care of this already. Unnecessary.
Posted by: Robert Schultz at June 10, 2008 4:22 PM
Actually, as it says in my column, they're trying to stay away from the top 40 and hip-hop. They're going for more of, as Stephen called it, "eurotrash."
Posted by: Mike Oz at June 10, 2008 4:22 PM
(with all due respects...)
-Does Fresno even have 'EuroTrash?'
(I mean, we get a few (obvious) europeans wandering through over at the stores sometimes, but they're quite nice (and look good too...)
--and what sort of music shalt they be playing?
Rammstein? Goldfrappe? various renditions of that great 80's hit '...don't-you-want me baybay...?'
This place was always buzzing with a strong (well dressed) asian/latin crowd before, (with at least two police cruisers parked in the parking lot till, like, half-passed stupid in the morning...)
(Now ist de time on (shprockets/Fresno) where we dahnce...)
Posted by: wet towel at June 10, 2008 4:33 PM
Actually, the French guy who is the GM at the club is really nice and helpful.
OK, nix the Eurotrash music thing -- although I love that faux genre (I'd consider stuff like Does It Offend You, Yeah and Justice in that current category).
The owner says they're trying to move away from hip-hop and top 40 (although he could just be saying that to make the cops happy) and plays more "big city dance club music."
Posted by: Mike Oz at June 10, 2008 4:39 PM
The best thing about the whole video is the shot of the nice clean toilet. I would like to see a before and after the opening........what a minute no I wouldn't.
If they want to be European where is the bidet?
Posted by: Sir Lancelot Higgins at June 10, 2008 8:01 PM
F A I L?
All that money spent...
Slap some paint on it and change the name every two years. Will it pull that kind of cover charge and was it worth the costs. (Spend as you earn I say) Fresno is a city that is quite affordable, which makes it fun. What is a person getting for that $30, or even $20 cover charge?
The changes make it look even bigger/empty. I'm not sure why the "toilet" was edited into the video, or even shot in the first place, other than to convey a message. Seriously...who shoots a video of a place and the toilet? Hilarious! Only Fresno, Only Bliss!
The dating college crowd isn't spending $60 for two, just to dance when it can be done elsewhere for less. Seems to me the focus market is in their mid 30's and up. Unfortunately, money doesn't equal class, so fools will be abound.
Anyways, the rather high cover charge instantly solved the parking problem.
Good luck Bliss. I do wish you a miracle in these difficult economic times.
Posted by: Billy Barty at June 17, 2008 11:01 PM
to stephen and billy barty ...
i dont usually discuss my videos, but since you brought it up ...
STEPHEN: not impressed with the video? whatever. i spent a whole 28 minutes of my life editing that together. (but yeah, it's basically taking on the rocks out of what i would have imagines an 80s club to have been.)
BILLY: i dont work for bliss. i work for the bee. and we love toilets. no ... im kidding. when i was there, the promoter suggested i check out the bathrooms. i figured they were impressed with the job they did with them, so i felt compelled to share with viewers what the whole experience would be like.
and to Sir Lancelot Higgins: thanks :)
Posted by: will at July 1, 2008 2:36 PM
Dear Will's Ego:
I wasn't dissing the video. I was dissing the club that appears on the video.
Please tell Will that I love him and really appreciate his shooting of these videos and posting them here. It's a great connection to Fresno and the different 'scenes' going on.
Now go stroke yourself*
*wonder if that'll make it past the censors?
Posted by: Stephen at July 1, 2008 4:00 PM
$20 for the same ol tired DJ's we've been listening to for God knows how long.
Srsly, where are the damn no dress code, no hassle, SPACIOUS dance clubs that play good electronic dance music - house, techno, etc? THAT is what a good club is about and THAT is the reason why larger cities have clubs that last throughout the ages. I mean how many ppl can fit on that dance floor, 5?
Why can't Fresno have this? Is it because we don't deserve it? Is this place just too ghetto to have something nice where all the high society faces, scene girls, b-boys and b-girls, and other ppl that just want to have a good time (and where whatever they want) can come together?
Why is it ppl are pouring more money into another club that isn't any different than the ones popping up around Fresno currently? Why can't we have something different? Why can't we bring in name DJ's?
Posted by: C at July 31, 2008 7:41 PM
After looking at the video and seeing the Remodeling I am impressed with that, yet to charge people $20 to $30 cover charge isn't something that People in Fresno are used to, granted if you go to L.A., S.F. or Vegas it's normal but with the small town mentality that Fresno posses I don't see it resonating as well.
Like all other clubs in Fresno I really don't see much of an improvement as it's just higher price.
Posted by: 00Mario at August 14, 2008 9:24 AM
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