Saturday night at Jake's

At 10:30 p.m. Saturday, while most people are at home getting ready to go out for the night, Adam Gelman and Ross Meisel are putting together glow sticks at Jake’s Nightclub and Bar.

Hours before the party begins, lights stream from the stage down at Adam and Ross, the two seniors responsible for running the party every Saturday. From promotion to marketing and hiring all talent, they have been in charge of the one night a week that focuses on house music since 2009.   

In February 2009, Adam started working with student Justin Cohen, who is now the chief operating officer of the event planning company Summit Series. Ross, who was working for them behind the scenes, became a partner in August.

They take out confetti paper, glow sticks and air horns. Attempting to use the air horn, Ross says, “These things never work.”

“Don’t break them,” Adam says back.

It’s the little things behind the scenes that all add up to the memorable Saturday nights at Jake’s Nightclub.

Tonight, the theme is “Rave ’N’ Roll.”

Numerous text messages and Blackberry Messenger conversations have been sent for Saturday night, phone calls have been made, and flyers on Facebook were distributed to more than 2,000 people.

“It’s not drums and guitars anymore, it’s turn tables and mixers. This is our generation’s rock star,” Ross says.

Outside of school, they work anywhere from 10 to 15 hours a week. From meetings with the manager to booking talent and promoting events, they’re constantly finding ways to improve the party.

They walk upstairs, past empty kegs and cardboard boxes, up a narrow stairwell and hallway to meet the manager, Erik Duvall. They sit in front of his desk as they talk about their plans for upcoming Saturday nights.

Adam and Ross are constantly looking back on previous weekends so that when planning for the future they know what works, what failed and what they can do better.

Jake’s on a Saturday night once had about 200 to 300 people. Immediately after Adam and Ross started promoting, it reached more than 500. In the past, it’s reached as high as 812 people. Their pay is a percentage of the door cover profits.

“It’s hard to keep people excited after the momentum has died down,” Erik says.
What amazes Erik the most is that they still continue to bring in high numbers even though it’s been two years.

No one has ever done this at Jake’s before. They’re not just promoters. Promoters come and go. Ross and Adam aren’t going anywhere until they graduate and head back to the East Coast.

Adam and Ross know the trends. They know what’s in and what’s out. They know what was once cool is now old news. They like to spice things up. People want to know what they’re going to experience Saturday at Jake’s, but they also don’t want it to be too repetitive. They want the best music, the best drinks, the best lighting.

The crowd once wanted top-40 music. Now they want house.

***

Adam and Ross walk around the empty bar like it’s their own because on Saturdays, they’re the on-site directors. They work with Erik, but at the end of the day, he trusts them to decide what type of party they should have.

They discuss with Erik about where tables should be put, ask questions about the lighting and talk about how tonight they have to make sure no one is allowed behind the DJ booth.

Ross points with the glow sticks to where the security guards will be on stage. They put a rope in front of the booth, trying to block people from crossing the line.
It’s a waiting game. They never know what the turnout is going to be.

DJ Matt Goldman enters the room for the sound check. Adam and Ross make sure it sounds the way it should. They talk about how they all got into DJing, how some have been in the business since they were 16. In the past Adam and Ross have consulted for nightclubs in New York and Miami.

Small talk is tossed back and forth.

“Where are you from?“

“New York?”

“Me too.”

“What school did you graduate from? What year?”

They are East Coasters who are just trying to bring a little taste of New York City to Bloomington.

Senior Jared Berkey, a friend of Adam and Ross, goes by DJ Bizerkey. Tonight he is DJing along side DJ Matt Goldman, but hours before the show starts he sits at the edge of the stage, dangling his feet, letting them sway in the air.

People in the background fill cleaning supplies and others wipe bar stools.

Adam tells DJ Goldman he will know he did a good job if by the end of the night when the music shuts off, people start chanting the introduction base line of the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army.”

***

It’s 12:50 a.m., and the numbers are not where Adam and Ross want them to be.

They save their words and pull out their phones, where last minute text messages are sent.

“If you are tired of standing at a bar like you do every other night and want to actually have fun, we have a DJ in from Pacha just opened for Max Vangelli last week, come see what the hype is about,” Ross texts to friends.

They never know who will show up even if they say they’re going to. Adam and Ross constantly look at their phones as the minutes tick by, pacing by the front door to see if the crowd is coming in.

Their phones vibrate. People’s locations are confirmed.

Adam and Ross join DJ Bizerkey behind the DJ Booth, testing out the music. Adam puts the headphones over his ears, and Ross holds onto the microphone.

DJ Bizerkey spins the music, clicks songs on his white Apple laptop that has a “BIZERKEY” sticker in black letters. He fiddles with buttons that produce the sounds that will have people swaying and jumping and closing their eyes all night.  

All three look out onto the empty space.

In less than an hour you won’t be able to see the floor.

***

Adam and Ross’s concerns about not filling up vanishes as not only the front room, but the back room starts to crowd with bodies. What was an empty bar now doesn’t have one available stool. People sit for a second, get up, take a shot and sit back down. Up again and back down. It’s now time to dance. Adam and Ross decided earlier to move the tables to the side. They could see people wanting to dance before they even arrived.

Jake’s has a VIP section that is sectioned off, filled with wooden tables. Adam and Ross want to make their customers feel special. They give people in the VIP section a complimentary bottle of Patron Tequila and Ketel One Vodka, which would typically cost $200.

Adam and Ross want to emphasize the nightclub atmosphere. They want it to feel like New York or Miami. They want a big city feel in the college town of Bloomington.

The bottles in the VIP area never quite make it to the plastic container on the table that is supposed to keep it cold. It’s passed around, poured into glasses and mouths and swung in the air like a first-place trophy.

Women stand on tables, holding onto men below, teasing them with words that they can’t hear.

Their arms and necks glow in the air because of their bracelets. They’re illuminated in the midst of the crowd.

A guy pops a champagne bottle. Most of it never makes it into the plastic glasses. It oozes onto the table and slides off the floor.

Two people kiss in the corner. Another woman glares at them from across the table, staring through the crowd and bottles and loud music.

Everyone texts their friends to come. No one wants to miss out.

A woman drinks from a fishbowl filled with numerous types of alcohol. She doesn’t seem to be drinking fast enough, so she grabs another straw and sips from them both.

Everyone puts their hands up, pounding the air with their fists or handbags. Shinny clutches wave around.

People dance in place to a song that has no words, dress straps slipping off their shoulders. Women either don’t notice, or they don’t care. It’s all about the house music.

More BBM’s are sent. Text messages received. Phone calls missed. No one can hear anything but the music.

During the party, Ross walks over to the lighting booth to check that everything is going smoothly.

Later Adam and Ross disappear into the green room, which is right off the stage. They talk about how the night is going as a woman sneaks in to use the private bathroom only a few people know about.

***

Ross and Adam go to the microphone at the end of the night. People were calling their names to come on stage. Ross calls out to his friend whom he sees walking in.

After the music stops and the colored lights are turned off, about 75 people are still dancing on stage.

They are moving to the beat that still plays in their head.

Glow sticks have died out and are scattered on the floor, which is covered with liquid that no longer shines.

They have waited since last Saturday for this party, and they don’t want it to end.

As the music shuts off, the crowd starts to chant the introduction to “Seven Nation Army.”