Midnight Glimpse: Laundry Bar

For most people, an exciting Friday night does not involve toting around dirty socks and waiting for your clothes to dry. But the proprietors of Laundry Bar (721 N Lincoln Ln, Miami Beach, 305-531-7700, www.laundrybarmiami.com) have added a new twist to a dull chore by throwing in a splash of alcohol. As the name suggests, patrons can relax with a drink while their clothes swish around in the spin cycle. Just watch out, or you may be run over by an inebriated patron riding around in one of the laundry carts.

The stainless-steel bar, turquoise walls, and small DJ booth make Laundry Bar seem like a regular watering hole. But just beyond the pool table, hidden in the back, sit more than a dozen washers and dryers. Detergent is available from wall dispensers and a bench provides customers with a place to keep watch on their loads.

The small South Beach venue was once a primarily gay club, but it has recently drawn in a mixed crowd thanks to a respectable roster of DJs. Laundry Bar is also one of the few places that regularly plays drum n bass and other hardcore forms of dance music.

On Friday, March 9, Otto von Schirach, DJ Basek, Doormouse, and other similar artists drew a crowd of varying tastes, sporting Subhumans and Slayer shirts, and even one Hanson tee. It seems the patrons at Laundry Bar dont take themselves too seriously.

Near the women's bathroom, a guy named Gus spoke of how he got fired from his job to go to a show. Sporting a crude tattoo of the Misfits crimson ghost logo on his forearm, Gus bragged about catching the bands original lineup, with Glenn Danzig, even after the horror-punks had disbanded " a rare occasion indeed. The show had quite an effect on him, he said, admitting that he cried like a girl for Justin Timberlake.