Night blooms

In spring, new nightlife joints sprout up like…well, like some sort of plants that exist mainly to get you drunk and relieve you of your disposable income. This season is looking particularly fruitful. Many of the new spots rising from the weeds this month are distinctly high-end. But one can never tell if clubs are going to live up to their chatter until they’re getting lived in, right? We thought it proper to check in with some recent openings and cut through the haze of hype to find out what’s worthy of your time.

The key feature at Lumen(839 W Fulton Mkt, 312-733-2222) is the mesmerizing LED installation overhead, which changes the mood of the large, unstructured space from moment to moment. The converted meatpacking plant hops on the green wagon with organic liquors and mixers at the bar. Lumen bills itself as a “lounge” and eventually will start things early (8pm) and low-key. On our visit, Jordan Z. and Shaka 23 were rockin’ the party with electro and disco-esque material, but co-owner Peter Gogarty tells us he hopes to program “experimental” sounds. It’s not often that a club feels too spacious to us, but Lumen, with its extremely low tables, can feel intimidatingly open. Yet, it’s easy to navigate the crowd—an inspiring mix of the streetwise, the casual and the trendy. With a tuned-up sound system and perhaps some dancing space near the booth, we’d be more impressed.

If you say organic is your thing, then Butterfly Social Club(724 W Grand Ave, 312-666-1695) might just be your hangout of choice. In last fall’s Clubs issue (TOC 89), we shared expectations of a November opening, but building a club interior out of mud, sourcing spring-water ice cubes and Amazonian aphrodisiacs takes time. On our last visit, the playlist was surprisingly lively and unpredictably global—J Dilla to not-so-familiar tropicalia. Thursday nights belong to DJ Trew, formerly a resident at Subterranean, who thrills the raw-food lovers with funk and Afrobeat. Still, if you don’t have dreads, the hippie-chic painted adobe walls might not be for you. The oddest feature? You must buy drink tickets (half of the menu of stimulating libations is booze-free—and thus cheaper by half) on entry or use plastic, as the bar doesn’t take cash: According to the guy checking IDs, your greenbacks are “unsanitary.”

At Manor (642 N Clark St, 312-475-1390), the owners of RiNo build on their rep for late-night debauchery with a luxurious, no-expense-spared joint (in the former Pasha space) where the VIPs can secure private lockers. They’ve spent the dosh where it counts—on a Funktion One sound system, which could probably shatter that Champagne glass in your hand if misused. Designwise, they’ve gone with a “Bruce Wayne’s library” theme (“stately Wayne manor,” ring a bell?): that timeless combo of wood paneling and stone that won’t scare anyone away or compete with the eye candy. The lacquer tables and banquettes with storage space impressed us, but one wonders how long they will hold up. We crashed the party on opening night when DJ Gusto was doing fashionable genre blending of popular dance hits, like Daft Punk and “This Is Why I’m Hot.” In short, this is a see-and-be-seen joint that pushes all the right buttons for downtown partyers.

Also new, River North megalounge Crescendo (222 W Ontario St, 312-376-3111) just popped up on our radar. Promising a combo of dining, drinking and dancing, it’s only open on the weekends for now, but is already packing in the scenesters with its vaguely Hellenic design scheme. On the whatever-happened-to tip, concerns on the part of the neighbors are holding up the liquor license for Pharmacy(1450 W Chicago Ave, 312-666-6006). The latest buzz is that the lounge will lose any potential drug connotations by being redubbed Relax, and will open soon. We’ve heard next to nothing about Tabu (738 N Clark St, 312-787-9900) except that eventually it will amass three levels and occupy the former site of the infamous Icebar. Coming this summer is Martini Park (151 W Erie St, 312-640-0577), a cocktail lounge heavy on DJs but also live tunes. We’ll get back to you with the details.