Axis changes name, shifts concept

What you wore on Walnut Street used to say a lot about where you were going.\nThose who moseyed down the sidewalk in hooded sweatshirts and jeans would most likely scale the steps of the Video Saloon or hover at the door of The Bluebird. The cavalries of black pants and flashy tops often marched their way to the nightclub formerly known as "Axis." \nBut the dress code of one Walnut Street venue is blurring. Since the new year, Axis Nightclub has not only changed its name to The Walnut Street Tap, but has also changed its concept to encompass both the dance club and neighborhood tavern feel.\nAside from the new name lettered on the marquee, the club looks no different on the outside. Inside, the only renovation is a room divider, but Dave Kubiak, owner of The Bluebird and Tap, said more ideas are in the works. \n"Walnut Street was kind of slow in 2005," Kubiak said. "We wanted to do something new that would kind of create a stir." \nKubiak explained the new concept as more "user-friendly," appealing to a larger scope of demographics. \nHe installed a partition to split the one-room venue into a front and back. The rear will remain a dance club with a DJ spinning popular music, while the entrance will play host to a social lounging area. \n"So you'll still feel welcome coming in, even if you aren't dressed in full club attire," he said. \nBut some say patrons have always understood the "split personality" of the club.\n"Everybody has always been chilling up front and dancing in back," said Saad Saigol, a junior. "They're going to have to come up with something better than that."\nSaigol said he used to go to the club frequently "before it got busted by police and was like dead every night," he said. \nOn March 4, 2005, police raided Axis for allowing underage patrons inside the club. The IU and Bloomington Police Departments issued a total of 68 citations that night, according to a March 7, 2005 Indiana Daily Student article. \n"As a freshman, I used to go there a lot -- pretty much every weekend," said senior Samantha Brooks. "I've kind of grown out of that scene now. I'd rather sit and talk with friends than get wasted and dance with people I don't know." \nBut Brooks said the change could be good for Kubiak's business, drawing in crowds that might otherwise go elsewhere. She, for one, would be curious to check it out, she said. \nKubiak has already begun to attract those crowds by booking acoustic musical performers for the front of the club. He plans to test market more changes to the menu and ambience as the year progresses. \nIn spite of the changes, Kubiak said The Bluebird and Tap will remain distinct. The Bluebird, a live performance venue, does not impose a specific music genre, but the Tap will consistently feature pop. \nKubiak is also experimenting with the idea of allowing the rear of the Tap to be rented for private parties. He said the Tap would cater these events. \n"We're just in the process now of feeling things out -- seeing what's going to work," he said. "And what's not"