Philly Nightclubs

Rumor Nightclub
Located at Center City between 15th and Sansom, Rumor has been the leader of Philadelphia nightclubs. The venue is underground and the club features futuristic design, spacious layout, and performances by international DJs. Examples include: Jay Hardway, Firebeatz, DeadMaus, and even rap icon 50 cent. Rumor has also been visited by many athletes from the NBA and NFL. The club has two large dance floors, where the “main room” focuses on electronic dance music and the “level” room” plays mainly hip hop. The third area of the club is a VIP vault that connects the two rooms. Four full-service bars and bottle service are available nightly. The crowd is racially diverse, but age tends to vary depending on the night. Friday nights attract a larger college base, while Saturday nights tend to have older patrons. Rumor has a strict dress code with a policy against shorts, caps, and sneakers. The club has just celebrated its fifth anniversary on September 23rd, where a new sound system was introduced. Rumor has couple of drawbacks aside from all the positives. The first is pricing. Aside from Friday guest-list nights, where patrons still have to pay ten dollars, standard entry is twenty. Mixed drinks can cost from eight to fourteen dollars, and shots generally go for ten dollars apiece. Thus, customers can expect to spend anywhere from fifty to even a hundred dollars including entry. The second limitation is ventilation. The popularity aspect of Rumor causes the place to get overcrowded. The AC system doesn’t efficiently accommodate the large number of people, which creates a stuffy environment. With all this said, Rumor has seen great success by providing patrons with an exciting experience.  

Coda Nightclub

Two blocks next to Rumor at 17th and Walnut is Coda Nightclub. Having two floors with a high ceiling design provides guests with great space and view of the stage. Unlike Rumor, there aren’t separate areas and one artist or DJ plays for the night. Coda’s specialty is that it is the only venue in the region operating until 3:30 am. International DJs like Vicetone, Cedric Gervais, and Quintino have all performed here. Coda also recently hosted a sellout event featuring rap icon Snoop Dogg. There are a total of three full service bars. The second floor area overlooks the entire club and bottle service is available on both floors. Saturday nights are the busiest. General entry ranges from five to ten dollars, where nights with ticketed events are in the fifteen and up region. Another strong aspect of Coda is diversity in demographic. Patrons are a good mixture of college students from neighboring schools, along with young working adults from different areas of the city. Coda has a wide range of music selection. Although electronic dance music and hip hop are dominant, there have been many performances from rock artists, live bands and more. Pricing is only slightly lower than rumor. The LED screen with visual effects and laser lighting gives Coda another unique angle. Coda’s main drawback is that patrons often don’t arrive until 1 to 2 am, which is always a concern for after hour venues. In terms of dress code, classy outfits are encouraged but not enforced. Overall, Coda on event nights is always a fun time and generally the go to spot after Rumor or a neighboring bar.      

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Monarch Pool Club
Monarch Pool Club is a rather new establishment that offers a different going-out experience. It is mainly outdoors with a medium-size pool in the center surrounded by beach chairs, a full-service bar, and VIP tables for bottle service. Next to the bar is a staircase that leads to a second floor deck that overlooks the pool club and is a popular dancing area. The DJ booth is located right next to the pool and the surround-sound system gives Monarch a concert-like feel. Operation hours are flexible, with Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday going from 11am until midnight. Fridays and Saturdays open from 10am until 2am. Thus, Monarch is very accessible throughout the week. The venue also has an indoor area with another full-service bar and restaurant focusing on Asian as well as American cuisine. The pool is open the entire duration of operation hours and there is also a locker room. Monarch is located at the edge of Penn’s Landing and is fifteen minutes away from Old city as well as Center City area. Patrons generally go to Monarch in the evening, prior to going out, although they will stay on event nights. Monarch has multiple partnerships including DNA nightlife, a well-established organization that also works with Rumor and Coda. The venue also hosted Mad Decent’s after party featuring international DJ icon Diplo. On the weekends, especially toward late afternoon, Monarch gets quite crowded, as seen from the first image below, and usually brings in a diverse mix of people. The pool also offers different accessories including inflatable sharks, water footballs and volleyballs. Monarch is a club where a person can eat, drink, party, and swim. The flipside to this energetic pool club is price and weather. Entry on guest-list nights is a discounted ten dollars, but general admission other evenings is twenty. Along with a pricey bar, one can pay up to fifty dollars for jut three drinks. The other limitation is that due to the outdoor environment, rainy days pretty much spoil the fun. Moreover, Monarch is ultimately seasonal, where spring and summer are the best time to go, with exceptions in the fall depending on the weather. The outdoor area of the club is closed during the winter. Overall, Monarch is a cool place to check out as there isn’t anything similar in the Philadelphia area. However, it is important to select which days to go. 

Noto Nightclub

Noto has been the most talked about and hyped-up venue among young club goers in Philadelphia’s recent years. Short for “Not Out of The Ordinary,” Noto looks to become the biggest nightclub in the city, with a capacity of 1,000 people by December 2016. This has been trending not only because of the promises that have been made, but more importantly, because of the interesting combination of ownership, a son and his mother. And the pair purchased the six million dollar property at the heart of Chinatown at 12th and Vine in February where construction has already begun. The inspiration behind the project is to provide Philadelphia with its first established nightclub that is similar to those in New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas (Image 3: OMNIA Las Vegas). While existing clubs such as Rumor and Coda has been popular over the years, Noto will take on the role as the first ever “Power Club.” With electronic dance music being a popular genre, owners James and Micheline DeBerardine look to create a sophisticated dance venue that will include name-brand DJs from the Vegas, Amsterdam, and Ibiza circuit. Noto has also been trending over social media and has drawn heavy attention among a wide demographic of college students, young adults, and even older club goers. However, like all businesses, the nightclub industry comes with a handful of risks. Most Power Clubs in the United States don’t operate alone. Geographically, they are accompanied by a series of bars or other clubs that create an integrated area for people to go out. Noto’s location, although very close to Center City stands alone in this aspect. Noto’s biggest challenge can be categorized by crowd attraction. On one hand, the place has immense potential in attracting not only folks from the Philadelphia area, but also New Jersey because of its unique position of being the first Power Club. However, with the 1,000 person capacity, it is no doubt that the club will have a lot of space. Thus, in the event where the turnout is on the lower side, the club’s reputation can really take a hit. With all this said, Noto’s potential success has the ability to alter Philly’s clubbing scene with a type of setting that hasn’t been previously attempted before.

  

(Photo Credit: Chris Chang, DNA Nightlife, Noto Philly)