It seems in the clubbing world, Lebanon’s lucky number is 3. The biggest Top 100 charts are arguably DJmag’s Top 100 clubs and of Worldsbestbars.com’s chart. Now, Beirut’s been on those lists for quite a while, and what saddens me is that very few people know.
Now, I’m not sure why everyone calls Sky Bar the world’s number 1, it never was on any chart I know of. I believe it was nominated for that spot, but never got it. Nevertheless, it is number one in the second half of the top 100 on DJmag’s poll (as a new entry), with the VVIP rooftop being ranked #51 worldwide (an impressive feat no matter what you say)
The second Beirut entry on the DJmag poll is of course the brutally misunderstood club by the Lebanese themselves, but adored by any club-savvy person from around the world. This club is the longest-running night club in Lebanon, and is renowned for its afterhours trademark sets, by a group of tight-knit local residents vs glitzy and glamorous foreigners (which it occasionally also hosts). I’m talking about B018 of course! It’s ranked #68 on DJmag’s top100 clubs of 2010 (as a new entry too)
The third is my absolute #1, or was at least, and that’s the Basement, which comes in at #77 (as a new entry). This was truly a shock to me, for the Basement’s strictly underground and non-mainstream music scene is not the kind of club that people like to brag about going to, such as the jet-setter destinations of SkyBar and similar clubs. However, it still managed to be the world’s clubbers 77th favorite club, and well-deserved by all means!
Now, Worldsbestbars.com also has 3 Beirut clubs, but only 1 in common with DJmag’s. The winner is of course B018 again, which slips 2 places to #7 this year. Up 3 though is my favorite dining destination, Centrale, to become the worlds 35th best bar. Crystal (now Palais) comes at a respectable #86.
Now, I guess the worldsbestbars.com chart is a bit more technical and might not reflect how the world’s clubbers themselves see the clubs, so I’ll go with DJmag’s as the more reliable one.
Sky Bar 51 (new entry)
B018 68 (new entry)
The Basement 77 (new entry)
and whoever tells you otherwise, just nod and smile.
Now, vote for your favorite club on DJmag’s 2011 Poll and I hope I helped with this simple point of the finger =P
[...] Posted by My Name Is George on January 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment I was about to blog about the following back on Tuesday when I received a message on facebook from a couple of promising and talented Lebanese teen DJs (Roy-A and Carlos-B aka Troyka and D-like) that was titled “Vote for BO18 Beirut”. But I saw that Gino’s Blog blogged about this on that same day as well in his post. [...]