We've spent the last year in the laboratory putting Phoenix under the microscope to reveal hundreds of specimens of the best culture, outdoor adventures, shopping, dining, and nightlife the city has to offer. And we're finally ready to publish our results. Nerd alert! Now presenting Scientific Phoenix.
There's no better way to shake off the week and let loose than getting your dance on. Whether it's country, hip-hop, dub step, or something else that get's your feet moving, we've got you covered. Here are 2012's six best dance nights in Phoenix.
Best Hip-Hop Night: The Blunt Club: Thursdays at Yucca Tap Room It's been an important year for the cats behind The Blunt Club. At the beginning of the summer, they celebrated the 10th birthday of the long-running Thursday night affair, marking a full decade of bringing hip-hop music and culture to the masses. The party served as both a major milestone and a major rager, taking place over the course of two nights at both Tempe's Yucca Tap Room and Hollywood Alley in Mesa. Read the full Best of Phoenix 2012 story.
Best Country and Western Night: Valley Fever at Yucca Tap Room
DJ Dana Armstrong and her Valley Fever crew are stuck in the past, when country music didn't mean Toby Keith and Taylor Swift. That stuff's fine if you're looking for a little pop pleasure, but if you're looking for the hard stuff -- the Waylons and Willies -- Valley Fever (every Sunday night) at the Yucca is the only night for you. Read the full Best of Phoenix 2012 story.
Best Dubstep Night: UK Thursdays at Monarch Theatre (Readers Choice)
Hate to break it to you, club kiddies, but Skrillex didn't invent dubstep. While the cutesy-pie electronica producer helped light the match that caused the bass-heavy genre to explode in popularity in the past couple of years, dubstep's been around for more than a decade now. Just ask the cats behind long-running club night UK Thursdays, who were blasting bass long before Skrillex launched into the limelight. Read the full Best of Phoenix 2012 story.
Best Weekly Dance Night: The Palace @ FilmBar
Local selector DJentrification doesn't do things the easy way; while plenty of DJs are content to cue up the laptop, press play, and then start hitting on girls in the audience, DJent is a strictly vinyl kind of guy, meaning his sprawling sets are filled with the kind of music you can't snag easily from the iTunes store. Read the full Best of Phoenix 2012 story.
Best Weekly Dance Night for Hipsters: Sticky Fingers at Bar Smith (Readers Choice)
The word hipster has taken a pretty heavy beating in recent years, becoming the buzz word for someone looking to talk smack about the kind of erudite, nattily dressed young people packing clubs like Bar Smith. But the reigning mixers at Sticky Fingers, William Fucking Reed, Prince$$, 2 Tone Disco, and more aren't about to let that stop them from appealing to, well, hipsters. Read the full Best of Phoenix 2012 story.
Best Industrial Night: Fallout.Shelter: Wednesdays at Sanctum The gorgeously gauche atmosphere of Sanctum is often a prowling ground for curiously dressed creatures of the night, whether it's the grotesque goths who come for Tranzylvania or the tattooed-and-pierced freaks who frequent Doom Disco. Read the full Best of Phoenix 2012 story.
Best Latin Dance Night: Latin Passion Fridays at Sky Lounge
The doors at Sky Lounge typically open around 9 p.m. on any given Friday, which might be the ideal time to arrive if you're seeking a primo spot before the rest of the masses flood the place. It's the most popular night of the week at the two-story dance hall, which fills up quicker than the beat in a feisty merengue number. Read the full Best of Phoenix 2012 story.
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