Sultans of Salsa - Grupo Salvaje at the Harem

You get a shiver in the dark
Its been raining in the park but meantime
South of the river you stop and you hold everything
A band is blowing dixie double four time
You feel all right when you hear that music ring

Maybe at the Harem you call them the Sultans of Salsa. No. It's not Creole, but Thanksgiving Eve with Grupo Salvaje at the Harem with the rain, decor and cozy atmosphere made me think of the Dire Straights' classic. Ducking in out of the rain after navigating the parking situation, it felt like one of those "this is what its all about" moments. In what had to be the biggest night yet at Harem, hundreds of salseros and a good number of plain old music fans piled in for a terrific night of dancing and live music.

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Thanksgiving Eve is unique in that it is the traditionally biggest bar night of the year: Occurring on a Wednesday without the threat of work the following morning. In past years, the only option for salseros has been Sangria, with pretty mixed results. This year Sangria thankfully and wisely switched salsa night to Thursday for the Thanksgiving week so that they could still please the hard drinking college crowd and give them all the reggaton and booty shaking they want without having this odd culture clash with the salsa dancers. So Harem turned out to be the place to be for the salsa crowd.

From the outside, its not much to look at but once in, you are actually "greeted" at the door and for any of the salsa regulars, you see lots of familiar faces. Some of the elements that make the Harem a great club to dance at are of course the music, the floor is bigger and smoother than most, the layout harking back to its days as a supper and show club with the booths, bar tables and couches is comfortable, but more than that, the Sky Mambo crew does everything in their powers to make it a dancer's club.

Last Wednesday, there was a lot to love for a lot of people. Scanning the room, there seemed to be a sizable group of non-dancers or first timers, indicating that the word is getting out. While they were as usual pretty light on drink options for the discerning pallate, "bar saver" Lamar made up for it with a couple of inventive drinks including a citrus/jalapeno mix that turned out to be really pretty good.

With 3 singers and seemingly countless percussionist and horn players, Grupo Salvaje again showed up in force. I wish I could do a critical review of the band - which songs they played and really recall back on their performance; but when you're dancing the whole time - the night just flies by. The band played all salsa all night while DJs Shekyla added variety with a mix of bachata, hustle and merengue during the breaks. A birthday dance with salsera Kia showcased the ultra friendly atmosphere at the Harem and the melee that ensues with leaders jumping over each other to get their turns is always fun.

With more promotion than in the past, it looked like there were a lot of first timers to the Harem -- people who may have heard about Harem but didn't want to drive further or were unsure about the club or neighborhood. Hopefully some of them continue to make it out for the regular great dance nights for what I argue is the best weekly dance option. All in all a great night and hopefully there are many more to come.

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