Clubs We Love: XY:XX at Miss T's Barcade

Miss T's Barcade is a retrogeek watering hole in Koreatown filled with classic video games and toys that date back to the time that Atari and Nintendo ruled the living rooms. For someone like me, who stopped playing video games when Street Fighter II got huge, this is the perfect spot to veg out whilst standing upright. But the truth of the matter is that I was never very good at anything outside of my personal Big Three (Ms. Pacman, Tetris and Super Mario Brothers), so, if I do join in the gaming madness, I tend to hit every button until I blow up something.

Saturday night, though, we didn't get to play anything, due to the huge crowd at the club and, at least on my part, a lack of quarters (been using up those in an attempt to avoid more parking tickets). Without the games, the Barcade is still a good time. Special thanks to the bartenders for pouring serious soju Cape Cods.

We typically hit up the Barcade for XY:XX, which is the new party from Job Leatherette and Eric Dead of M/R/X. The club takes place on the third and fifth Saturdays of the month and it's a can't miss party. XY:XX is far more low key than M/R/X. There are no bands and people tend to come as they are, no Vivienne Westwood or Cabaret outfits here. The music is primarily synth-punk, mostly stemming from the 1980s. I only have the vaguest idea of what is played here as Job in particular never fails to stump this electronic freak.

Part of what makes the Barcade special is its location. Koreatown is now what Hollywood was when I started clubbing in the mid-1990s. It's a place to people watch. For example, when headed out onto the sidewalk for a smoke last night, there was a bit of street theater going on at the corner and then, out of the crowd bolted a bike rider covered in lights. He kindly let me take his picture.