What's the difference between a lounge and an Ultralounge?
Lounges are, like, soooo yesterday. Ultralounges are the hip new party spots.
Sam Sessa rages it in Ultralounges.
Sam Sessa is so hip he speaks in third person (when he's raging it in Ultralounges).
What, you ask, makes an Ultralounge so much better than a boring, lowly lounge? (This actually was a question posted by Corey on Dining@Large).
If you poke a lounge in its shoulder with an awesome needle and inject a shot of excellence, it becomes an Ultralounge. Oh yeah, baby.
Everything is newer, shinier, swankier, harder, faster, stronger and ... loungier ... in an Ultralounge.
Red Maple is just a lounge. Pur, on the other hand, is an Ultralounge. The difference? Pur has twice the cover charge. Zink! ...
"If Red Maple had more neon, it could be an Ultralounge," said Baltimore DJ Cullen Stalin. "I definitely associate neon lights with Ultralounges. Maybe an oxygen bar?"
Chris Furst, spokesman for Power Plant Live, had a more serious take on things.
"I guess, in the traditional sense, a lounge is casual," he said. "An Ultralounge is a modern lounge. ... It's something that's a little more modern, sleek, newer, with more contemporary comforts than an old school lounge would have."
Interesting.
But I think Stalin put it best when he said, in a regular lounge, you're rubbing elbows with average club-goers. In Ultralounges, you might just run into dancers from the future.
The only exception to this rule is Suite Ultralounge, which should be renamed Suite Ultralame. Actually, no, it shouldn't be renamed -- it should be closed outright.
Now that's awesome.
(Baltimore Sun archive photo)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
Ultralounges are BYOG
Posted by: J.M. Giordano | September 22, 2009 11:59 AM
Ultralounges have a dresscode where you need to wear a tight Affliction shirt and gel up your hair.
I'm glad my comment at Dining@Large inspired a post on Midnight Sun despite the lack of credit!
Posted by: Corey | September 22, 2009 12:16 PM
I think the key to ultra lounge is hot chicks with d-bags
Posted by: Owl Meat Guyliner | September 22, 2009 12:29 PM
In a lounge, you lose your money and your dignity. In Ultalounge, you lose you life.
Owl Meat Guyliner,
Funny site.
Sam,
The word 'bagling' should be incorporated in reviewing any and every lounge whether it's ultra or not.
Posted by: rube Goldberg | September 22, 2009 12:36 PM
Corey! My goodness. I got so carried away with writing that I forgot the source of the idea. Please forgive me. I've posted a link to your comment at D@L. Again, my humblest apologies.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | September 22, 2009 12:37 PM
I was once asked to distinguish between sales and marketing. My reply: "Do you mean aside from the wardrobe and the vocabulary"?
A rose by any other name...
Posted by: MrRational | September 22, 2009 12:56 PM
now I know why my friends from out of town call Baltimore the land that time forgot. We're doomed.
Posted by: Richard | September 22, 2009 1:32 PM
Not to be outdone, we have just reclassified FuL as Baltimore's only Hyper-outré Lounge.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | September 22, 2009 1:53 PM
Do they serve Dippin Dots at Ultralounges? Now that's futuristic.
Posted by: duffster | September 22, 2009 2:28 PM
About $6 per drink
Posted by: TD | September 22, 2009 3:06 PM
Wow. I am so not hip. What does BYOG mean? And bagling?
Posted by: Deborah | September 23, 2009 9:49 AM
I think one smells like vinegar and water, and the other like Country Flowers. I can't remember which is which though.
Posted by: Abject Disaster | September 23, 2009 10:04 AM
I just heard from someone who went to the Little Italy Communty Org meeting last night that the ultra-lounge part of Milan will be limited to the basement bar.
Ah, now that's ultra-living. I've been in the various versions of that site (Lucky Luciano's etc) and Ultra-Dump would be more likely. It's a very small space that always smells like a frat house basement or worse.
I guess "ultra-lounge" has been co-opted by the less than ultras. Now we need a better term. Uber-lounge?
Posted by: Owl Meat (BYO)Gun | September 23, 2009 11:05 AM
Deborah,
Read Owl Meat Guyliner's hyperlink above.
Posted by: Rube Goldberg | September 23, 2009 11:13 AM
D@L has a post about Milan Ultra-Meatball-Lounge that is full of ludicrous banal shilling. For example:
I stopped by this morning to meet the owner very nice guy! He even kindly gave me a tour of the entire building!! I've never seen anything like that before!!!! The place is amazing ,the way things look this could the hottest place in Baltimore!!!!!! Posted by: Sara
Six !'s. My head might explode from too much ultra. Really, Sara? What sorts of things have you never seen before?
Anyway, I talked to an actual person who visited the site and he said that the work looked really shabby and implied that it was unlicensed work that might not have permits, He said it looked just plain crappy.
A second person who went there said that they seem totally out of their depth.
Not to be one who casts aspersions based upon conjecture, I visited the Baltimore City Housing site that lists all building and construction permits based upon address. Given the extreme ultra-ness there must be a ton of permits, right?
http://cels.baltimorehousing.org/Search_TM_MAP.aspx
Ta da... this is all that was listed:
Permit Number Plan Number Description Address District Issued Date Expiration Date Neighborhood
COM2009-21658 PAINT CEILING OF FIRST FLOOR AND REPLACE COUPLE SHEETS OF BROKEN DRYWALL. WORK DONE TO CODE. 1000 EASTERN AVE 201 09/16/2009 03/16/2010 LITTLE ITALY
Now that's interesting.
Posted by: Owl Meat GotPermits? | September 23, 2009 11:47 AM
Better link
http://www.baltimorehousing.org/ps_permits.asp
Posted by: OMG | September 23, 2009 11:50 AM
Ultra-Lounge it reminds me of 90’s when labels like Capitol, RCA (recordings mostly from their Stereo Action Series), and Rhino were re-issuing recordings from the late 50’s and early 60’s by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Perez Prado, Nate King Cole, Esquivel, Judy Garland, Henry Mancini, etc. The age of Tiki bars, Tail Fins and Luaus.
Samples: http://www.ultralounge.com/
“So you'd like to...
Check out the Capitol Records "Ultra-Lounge" series (There are/were 50 volumes)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/TC6SYEFRQJGW
RCA “Space Age Pop” series Compiled By & Liner Notes
http://spaceage.streetnine.com/sapvol3.html by Irwin Chusid, whose associated with WFMU. http://www.wfmu.org/irwin/
Raymond Scott probably belongs here.
Raymond Scott Quintette - Powerhouse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfDqR4fqIWE
Carl Stallings use it in the soundtrack of 13 Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies cartoons.
Scott was paid but his name never appeared on the credits.
The Raymond Scott Quintette - War Dance For Wooden Indians: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbR6YZs8hqs
*AKA Space Age Pop or Bachelor pad music
Posted by: GDA | September 23, 2009 1:10 PM
Thank you, GDA. I think I would LIKE that.
Posted by: Astronaut Jones | September 23, 2009 3:51 PM
I've been to both Red Maple (lounge) & Pur (ultra lounge) and honestly Red Maple, to me, is the better choice. It's more casual and relaxed. Although it may be a smaller space and can get cramped quicker, it is alot more fun than the bougie ultra lounge where people don't dance.
Here's the difference:
Ultralounge - we stare at each other and sip wine.
Lounge - we dance until we sweat.
Lounge it is.
For more events at Lounges like Red Maple hit: theurbanhangsuite.wordpress.com
Posted by: Rye | October 22, 2009 3:22 PM