No, I'm not going to ramble on about astrology, though I'd like to (I am a Sagittarius after all). But I do want to talk about a great dance party I went to last night at Zodiac. The former restaurant/bar is now a performance space/bar hosting various Wham City dance parties, shows, and lecture series. Every Monday night the venue features a dance party called "No Rule" with rotating DJs and some regulars, like Cullen Stalin of TaxLo fame and Scottie B from Unruly Records. I've heard good things about this dance party so far (it started in April) so I wanted to check it out.

I wasn't sure how the former restaurant was going to pull it off as a dance space, but they made it work by clearing out the back part of the room and putting the DJs up in the loft. At 10:30 the place was pretty empty, but, in true Baltimore style, it got totally packed in less than an hour. Drinks were cheap (think $2 beers and $4 mixed) and the best part was the admission was free. Some of the people walking into Zodiac last night were more noticeable than others: After I was there for a half-an-hour, Dan Deacon joined the party and, a little after that, Blaqstarr walked in.

The dance party picked up towards the end of Cullen and Scottie's sets, which consisted of everything from songs off of Ultimate Dance Party 1997 (seriously awesome) to techno and R&B. Then Blaqstarr got up behind the turntables, but the funny thing was, it wasn't like the place went completely crazy at first. My friend remarked how the last time she saw Blaqstarr was a huge festival in Central Park and, here we were, seeing him for free. The modesty of everyone involved was incredible. That's not to say the crowd didn't enjoy Blaqstarr's set, a range that included Prodigy and a mix of hip-hop top 40.

I found out that it was a sort of a "welcome home" party for Dan Deacon (who was touring in Australia earlier this month). Continuing the humble nature of the show he said, "No, this isn't about me, we're all just hanging out." He went on to talk about how Zodiac was a great music venue and what he missed most about Baltimore. "This place draws such a diverse crowd," Deacon said, pointing towards the dancers. "That's one of the reasons I love this city so much."

Last night was also a pre-going away party for Blaqstarr who told me about his plans to move out to Los Angeles. "I'm trying to really find my artistic side out there," he said. "It will be good to free my mind." But if last night was any indication, the DJ will surely return to his hometown eventually.

I definitely recommend you check out the dance parties at Zodiac (heard they had a fun one on Friday too). It's cheap, it's fun, and you never know who's going to walk in the door next.

[Image: Blaqstarr at Zodiac, courtesy of Allison Davis]

This is the first in an occasional series of Q&A's with local bar owners, tenders, musicians, bouncers and anyone else apart of Baltimore nightlife.

Tony Cushing Jr. is the 25-year-old owner of Cat's Eye Pub in Fells Point. In his 25 years, Cushing has seen a lot of hardship, with his father passing away from a heart attack a year-and-a-half ago, leaving him to run the bar. Tragically on Sunday, Cushing's right-hand man, and good friend of his father's, Timmy Wright (or "Indian Timmy") also suffered a fatal heart attack.

But business must go on, and despite all of the loss in Cushing's life, he keeps Cat's Eye going strong. Walking in on a weekend night, there's always a raucous band (of pretty much any genre) on stage, as well as a crowd that's all over the board as far as age, race, and background. But there's one thing they all have in common: They love Cat's Eye and keep coming back because it feels just like home. I sat down with Cushing Tuesday afternoon and discussed how he runs such an awesome place.

Can you give me a little history of the Cat’s Eye Pub?
My father Anthony Cushing started the bar with Kenny Orey in 1975. Kenny passed away 11 years after the bar started and my father passed away a year-and-a-half ago, February 5. My mom, Ana Marie, is the treasurer; she re-books all of the bands and does all the accounting. About five-and-a-half years ago, my dad called me up and was getting a little overwhelmed with the bar. He called me and didn’t ask me to do anything, he was just telling me his situation. He never wanted to force me and I made my own choice. I was at the University of South Florida for business management. I had finished three-and-a-half years there and cut it short to come down here. He gave me three months to help him out and try to learn everything. I’ve been here ever since.

It seems like you’ve made a lot of improvements, despite some terrible circumstances.
Yeah, the first thing that I did when I got here was I tore up the old keg room (it was 25 years old), so I tripled the size of the room. I refinished the bar, sanded it down, and replaced the rotten wood. We went from 28 to 32 beers on draft, and have 41 total in the whole building. I reinforced the floors. A week from now we’ll be repainting all the windows outside. I just wanted to bring the bar back to its heyday.

Can you describe its heyday a little bit?
When the bar first opened, they couldn't afford to order actual booze, so they used to sell illegal hooch out of here and it came from a distillery in Southern Pennsylvania called the Cat’s Eye. That’s where we got the name from. One of our patrons drew up the logo and then it all fell into place. We’ve always had a good relationship with the sailors and, once we could afford it, the distributors too.

What makes Cat’s Eye unique among the strip of bars on Thames Street?
We have live music 365 days of the year. The days that people aren’t open, we have music, like Christmas and New Year’s Day. We have music twice on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in the afternoons and evenings. We’re eclectic. We do blues, classic rock, funk, zydeco, jazz, bluegrass, Irish, and rockabilly.

You talked earlier about the things you’ve changed. What would you never change?
I’m never going to repaint the bathroom walls because of all the “drunk knowledge” written on them. There are proverbs, like “the man from Nantucket, with a [expletive] so big you could…” You can probably figure out the rest. I would never change the flags on the ceiling. I would never change the music. Steve Kraemer [and the Bluesicians] is my Sunday afternoon band and has been playing here for 29 years. I’m never going to be a Greene Turtle. And I’m never going to make chains, people keep asking me that. I have enough work here, number one. Once you start making chains it becomes unoriginal. I’d rather have one great place than a bunch of okay places.

Can you talk about your clientele?
Here’s an example of somebody not used to our clientele. This one guy came in from New York and comes up to me and says, "Hey" and he has a problem. He tells me that somebody tried to buy him a beer. So he was like, "What is this guy, hitting on me or something?" And I said, "No he’s trying to make you feel at home." And it blew his mind. He just couldn’t imagine that someone was trying to buy a drink for him to be nice. I guess they don’t do that in New York. The reason that I love Baltimore is because it’s filled with honest, genuine people.

To you, what makes a perfect bar?
Staff. No one here is above anyone else. There are no managers, but we all help out together. I have three employees here right now who aren’t working, just here to help me out. We all chip in together and that way there’s no hierarchy. We have Terry who’s been here for 27 years and she is very in your face. Then we have Rob who’s my doorman and always shakes everybody’s hand. One thing I always do is I introduce myself when people start a tab. If you’re going to come here and spend your money, I want you to feel at home.

What do you think your dad would say about the bar today?
I think he would love the keg room, since the draft beer actually tastes good now. I hope that he would be proud because I plan on being here as long as he was. I figure this is still his bar and as long as this place is here, he’ll live on.

[Image: courtesy of Bmorelive.com]

It's just been gorgeous out lately, hasn't it? And apparently this lovely rainfall isn't going to quit the whole rest of the week. Besides creating inconveniences, rain usually makes me pretty unmotivated to do much of anything, especially go out at night. Okay, depressing enough for you? Don't worry, there's good news.

Alexander's Tavern in Fells Point offers $1 domestic drafts while it's raining. So, really, this week could totally be a jackpot depending on how you look at it. I called over to Alexander's to see how they feel about all this downpour. "When we planned this special, we never really expected like 10 straight days of rain," laughed co-owner Charlie Gjerde. The deal is one of the tavern's many creative specials like build your own tots Mondays, kids eat free Wednesdays, and $1 off all local brews Thursdays. Gjerde explained that they came up with the weather-inducing special when they opened nearly two years ago. "With our location being in the heart of Fells, half of our business is tourists," he says. "So rainy days can be a problem and we wanted to combat that somehow."

So does the special work? "The bar definitely gets filled up when the weather turns bad," he says. "Especially if it rains during our happy hour, then we see a real boost in business." Gjerde explains that there's not really a science to the drink special and that it's mostly in good fun, though his staff does frequently check the weather and the special does have to end as soon as the rain dissipates. Luckily for Alexander's, it doesn't look like that will be anytime soon.

[Image: courtesy of 600Block.com]

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend in the summer-like weather. I know there were tons of festivals going on and the weather was perfect for a barbecue (which is how I chose to spend my Saturday).

Saturday night I did go to Under The Big Top at Paradox, which was pretty fun. Though the crowd was a little too rave-y for my taste, there was enough diversity in the music acts to keep everybody happy. Highlights for me included Damn Right!, a mostly local (hailing from Philly, Annapolis, and Baltimore) and very funky four piece, and DJ Joe Nice's bass-heavy dubstep set.

What also made the night great is the fact that the event was BYOB. After paying $35 for admission, it was nice not have to pay for drinks once I was inside. And the way Paradox organized the whole bring-your-own thing was great. Whatever you brought in, you were able to give to the "bartenders" working the event, they labeled it with a ticket number, and held it for you until you were ready for another drink. This way no one had to drag around a 12-pack of Natty Boh or a bottle or whiskey (popular items that night), but still didn't have to pay bar prices. Best of both worlds.

I think this method is great, and I know they have a similar system at Hour Haus. Are there other venues out there that have the BYOB thing down pat? Ones that need to improve? Hey, these are important questions in a recession.

[Image: courtesy of myspace.com/nattybroh]