What happened to Thursday night?

That’s what I want to know. The last couple weeks haven’t really been that great for a night out in Providence on our weekly “club night.” Did I miss a memo or something? Has the glory of going out on Thursday night just died away?

For the past few Thursdays, the entertainment editor Mat, our friend Jim, and I have all “gone out.” Now, I’m not too sure how many weeks we have done this in a row, but it was more than 2 or 3, so I have about a month of Thursday nights to base my question on.

Most nights begin in the usual fashion; we wait for everybody to get out of work, go home and get some fresh clothes, and then all meet up at one of our houses. (Yes, there is ALWAYS a designated driver for that night!) More often than not, we go to Union Station Brewery in downtown for a quick bite to eat for energy since we arrive at our nightspots betwen 9 and 9:30 and most places close at 1 or 2.

Over dinner, there is always a 20-minute conversation about where to go -- and more importantly, where not to go.

After dinner we then make the usual “rounds”, just to be sure about the places we picked and didn’t pick. Now, this may seem strange to some people, but we feel it's necessary to drive around to where you want to go to be sure that there are actually people there.

I know what you’re thinking; you can't judge the crowds simply by driving by, since most places keep a line outside just to make it look like there are people waiting to get in.

There are a few places that you can tell from the outside if they are busy simply by walking up to the window and peaking in. For some clubs, we've perfected "the side door sneak".

If you’ve driven around Providence as much as we have, you know where the side doors are -- and how to sneak a look to see if the place is dead or not. This is much easier now since the side doors of most places open early because at least one bouncer smokes. You can rest assured that if a cute young lady wants to smoke, the bouncer will let her out the side door for a few minutes. (More on smoking later.)

Driving around leads us to believe one thing -- Thursdays are dead!

Usually by 10:30 or 10:45 there had been lines forming virtually everywhere. Not the case lately. The side door sneak technique showed us that even places with lines were dead.

This puzzled us quite a bit. Four months ago Thursday night was "the night". Thursday night was party night, Friday night was date night. (Saturday night... well... I'm not too sure what that night was.)

One thing we did think of was smoking. No, not in taking up the habit. We thought that the fact that making every club and restaurant in Rhode Island smoke-free could be hurting the popularity of these places. Of course you have to wonder how many actual smokers there were and how many were “I only smoke when I drink” smokers.

I would put money that many people were the “I only smoke when I drink” smokers and now have since found somewhere else.

But where could that be? Has everyone gone out of Providence? Maybe down to South County? (I was there a lot when I was at URI.) Has the nightlife in Newport exploded recently and we missed it? I know that there a handful of off the beaten path places to go, but they were mostly bars.

Buy this Art Print at AllPosters.com

If none of those is the case, maybe “club night” has moved to a different night and we missed the memo. I guess I'll have the duty of going out on Saturday nights with my buddys to see if it's true.

I know it's hard work and long nights, but I think I can handle it.

About the author, Brian Maksymowicz: Brian knows how to have a great time. He's a student at URI's College of Business in his final semester. With four years of college, he's learned Rhode Island's Night Spots. He loves to find new places to visit.

Readers Comments About This Page:

Be the first! Add Your Comment!