In the Scene » Nightlife in Focus: The Year in Review

by Jim Winsor
Posted on 01/13/10
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Nightlife in Focus: The Year in Review

by: Jim Winsor | In the Scene | January 13th, 2010

(I had meant to write this post last week, but Pride-gate kinda bumped it off the radar screen. I guess I better write it now, or the New Year will soon not be so new…)

2009 has come and gone. For those of you statistically-minded, last year SDPix covered a total of 371 events, and took exactly 20,342 photos, which is actually a bit down from 2008.

There were the usual shake-ups in the local nightlife last year. A few clubs changed owners, with at least one getting a complete name-change and makeover (Hulas to Fiesta Cantina). A new hot spot sprung up (Gossip Grill) while sadly, another closed down (Universal Hillcrest).

Well, actually thats not true about Universal, I suppose…it’s last night was January 2, which is technically this year, 2010.

A few thoughts are in order concerning Universal, I think. Like I said, it held it’s Closing Party on Saturday, January 2…and the place was packed. So busy that moving about the more popular areas of the bar (such as the outdoor patio) became a challenge. Someone remarked to me that if only it had been this busy every night, it surely wouldn’t have closed. But of course, that was the problem – it didn’t get that busy every night.

In my view, the club seemed to do OK. In other words, I never had problems finding people to take pictures of, whenever I was out and about with my camera. It was never what I would call “dead,” there was in fact always at least a moderate-sized crowd, having a good time every night.

But Universal needed more than a moderate-sized crowd on average to survive, it seems. San Diego Uptown News had a very good article about the closing (“Universal Goes Out of Business Due to Finances”…click on the Jan 8 digital edition to view it), noting how the business was plagued with behind-the-scenes bad luck and bad timing from the get go. Beginning construction at the height of a boom, then opening your door at the start of a recession, would probably kill most new business ventures of this sort. Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about Universal’s closure is not so much that it closed, but that it managed to stay open for as long as it did. The business is for sale, so, hopefully a new owner will step in and with better luck, bring some nightlife back to that corner again.

But anyways, enough of the past, on to the future! And in the immediate future, the big event this weekend looks to be Michael Mack presents DJ Tony Moran at Spin. Of all the Spin Saturdays scheduled for this month, this would be the one most likely to draw in a big crowd, I’d say. SDPix will be there in force, so, see you all there!