Mafiosi (Last Part)

To declare a party a blast or not would mean staying until 2 in the morning inside the club. It is to see whether the dance floor would be filled with people - dancing to their heart's content or whether they would remain a bystander, waiting for a brave soul to show his groves while those around him merely nod to the music or to the dancer as a gesture of approval to his amazing initiative.

As mentioned in my previous entry, my jaw literally dropped the moment I step foot on the dance area. It was not because the space was filled with people. On the contrary, Club Mafia was nilalangaw on a windy Saturday night.

And it was past 1 am. In the previous club parties that I attended, the parties were already approaching their climaxes at this time of the night.

To give the club much consideration, maybe the reason for such lack of patrons is because the club had recently opened. Yet, on the contrary again, it should be packed with people since the place had just made its debut. It was natural for curious party goers to check the place out unless, the Mafiosi organizers did not do well with the events and promotions.

In fairness, there were many beautiful people last night. In fact, they were so good-looking and rich-looking that I felt out of place inside the club. Like BED and Government, they played House Music. The acoustics around the dance floor was superb, that it could easily beat BED's own acoustics by several notches higher. They also played House tracks that I haven't heard anywhere before. It implied that their DJs were quite aware of the current Electronica music being played in party places across the planet. However, other than these advantages, I do not see anything interesting that could be said about Club Mafia.

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The dance floor is located adjacent to the sole door to the club. Around a hundred people could easily fit in, with a comfortable extra space to move or sway restless arms and limbs around, especially when the electronic track being played is Progressive House Music. When one looks up, several disco balls in different sizes hung in the ceiling. Green and Red ion laser lights flood the entire dance floor, leaving the revelers with "Christmas-inspired" spots on their bodies. Sometimes these lasers create a "liquid sky" effect to give a different kind of clubbing experience, which BED and Government could easily imitate with their own club lighting.

The bar area, with its dark pink inspired theme reminds me of O-Bar. Since I assumed that the price of their beverages are a bit expensive, I didn't bother to check the place out. Bathrooms are located on the second floor. It was roomy and the toilets were quite clean to use. The second floor mezzanine also has its own bar area and several sofa chairs for patrons who prefer to lounge instead of dancing on the floor. It could be a fine addition to the club experience, except that most bars I've been to has their own lounge areas as well.

Last night, there were several performers who graced the stage with their own version of Diva songs. Most were borrowed from the movie Dream Girls, which, I honestly feel very gasgas even for an average gay guy like me. What's so funny is that every performer had feminine names like Mafia Bodies or Mafia Girls etc. and what's so strange about the whole gimmick is that ladies were more prominent inside the club than PLUs, who the club was supposed to serve.

I left before 3 in the morning feeling cheated with how the party took place. I haven't even witnessed its climax, where I expected everyone to head to the dance floor to prance and jive until they feel exhausted from dancing. Some did, but I never felt the energy from everyone.

Club Mafia Manila packs a lot of promises, which unfortunately, the owners and events organizers of the club hasn't realized yet. In my two-hour stay in that place, feelings of undeniable confusion emanated from me simply because I am not sure whether I entered a straight dance club, a gay dance club for the socialites and social-climbers or a dance club simply for those who wants to be discovered in the modeling industry. If it wants to be a better version of Club Fluid ( another bar in Orosa which a friend claim to be exclusive for a certain group of socialites), then Club Mafia has wasted some good space which can be occupied by more promising establishments for the gay community. If it wants to directly compete with BED, I say it now that within a few months, Club Mafia would wrap up without realizing its ambitious and lofty goals.

What I really think is that Club Mafia should find its niche as soon as possible. With a non-existent marketing and events campaign and a very competitive clubbing scene that can easily gobble it with sheer brutality, it has no chance of taking a slice of the gay market - unless they are planning to market themselves to the straight crowd, which I find totally absurd knowing that they set-up their party place at the heart of Gay Malate.

As long as I don't stumble upon other bloggers who would rave about the place, I would probably not return to Club Mafia. It has no character to speak of, no events to look forward to, and no action to serve as my beacon every time the place would cross my head. Basically, what I did the whole time was to look around, nod at the music being played and shake my head in disappointment upon realizing that nobody is dancing on the floor.

Last night, when I was inside the cab on my way home, I realized that for P300 pesos, I could have treated someone, perhaps maybe Deathnote to join me inside Che'lu. I was supposed to have a great time last night. But sad to say, everything I ever thought of doing had simply gone to waste.

And what's worse is that it would take me another five days before I can freely spend my night out again.