Vivide Summer Update

I’ve been coming to this club consistently at least once and sometimes twice a month now every since last fall. I’m typically here mainly on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays anywhere between 1:00-5:00 PM. It has become my new favorite club despite some flaws in its seating arrangement and design. Vivide is a mid-size club in an industrial part of far West Midtown (or more specifically Blandtown neighborhood) that is very slowly going through gentrification. The club opens at noon Monday through Saturday. There is a $10 cover charge and free parking during the daytime. Deon, the black security guard that mans the entrance on most days, will sometimes waive the cover if you’re one of the very first customers for the day. He does pat you down but he is not overly aggressive like some other guards.

There are two levels to this club but all of the action is downstairs on the lower level. You will enter at the upper level and have to walk a long, steep descent of stairs to the bottom. There is a “horseshoe” shaped bar with approximately 8 to 10 high chairs. The rest of the seating are open booths of couches and small cocktail tables in “L” or “U” shaped arrangements which I’m not a fan of. You’re forced to share a couch with another customer and/or dancers once the club becomes very busy. They have finally fixed the couches as the plastic was previously ripped and falling apart pretty badly. There are two small stages but both poles have been removed from them for the time being. Additionally, there are three large projection-style TV’s on the side where the bar is at and on the back wall but the back wall TV’s are usually kept off which helps reduce the brightness. There are a couple of VIP rooms on the upper level on the dancer’s dressing room side in addition to the 4 VIP rooms on the lower level. Two of them are across the dancer’s dressing room and the other two are on the other side near the restrooms. VIP prices are $60 for the room and $150-$200 for the dancer. There is a restroom guy stocked with your typical items and he is generally chill and quiet. The urinal in the men’s room is still out of order with a black plastic bag over it.

The music is mostly rap and party R&B tracks. There are a few Latin songs that are played sometimes to cater somewhat to the Latina dancers and their customers. The songs are typically played fully. Brian is the main DJ and rarely talks on the mic. Sometimes on Saturdays there is a different DJ that plays more of the Latin songs and noticeably shortens the songs more.