Rebar likely purest dance spot in town

People dig the place

BEHIND THE BAR Series: Club Review
Publication title: Edmonton Journal
Pages: C7 Section: Entertainment
Publication date: Jun 26, 1998
Copyright: Copyright Southam Publications Inc. Jun 26, 1998
Author: Shawn Ohler, Journal Music Writer

"You can dance till you drop at Rebar on Whyte Avenue."

An oasis of activity in a street-long desert of tricked-up beer halls, Rebar is that rare Whyte Avenue club where you can actually do more than guzzle draft and smoke.

You can dance, for one.

With apologies to The Roost and Edmonton's sketchy after-hours scene, Rebar's main-floor section is likely the purest dance spot in town.

The electronic intelligentsia flock to the club's black walls, strobing lights, thumping sound system and cool-conscious DJs. It's like Electric Circus, with less cheese and more shots of Goldschlager.

In fact, Friday and Saturday nights on Rebar's floor is the closest you can get to a rave without shelling out $15 for one. Plenty of dancers have that blissed-out, serotonin-flooded look about them. Even if you don't dance -- and I don't -- it's great fun to watch.

Upstairs, Rebar's increasingly aggressive programmers book an ear- shredding array of ska-punk, pop-punk and, um, punk.

The live space isn't great -- it's smallish, crowded and the slightest pogo causes the floor to bulge sickeningly beneath your feet. But the sound's usually crystal clear and the bands always mean it.

Other intangibles add to the Rebar experience.

The ever-present lineup outside -- even when it's -20 C -- gives the club that exclusive cachet. People dig the place, and if you get there too late, forget about getting in.

The doorman's metal detector adds an element of implied danger, though I'd WAY rather take my chances there than any of the tank rooms east of 97th Street.

And the lingering odour from Rebar's adjoining pizza/donair joint gives everything a distinct Fellini vibe.

Or maybe that's the Goldschlager talking.

BEHIND THE BAR

REBAR -- 10551 82 Ave., 433-3600

* In two words or less: Whyte noise
* On the turntable: Serious, edgy dance music
* Suitable pickup line: "I have black lace gloves just like those at home!"
* Bathrooms: Upstairs -- fine. Downstairs -- unspeakable.
* Bathroom graffiti: Work from some of Edmonton's finest taggers; "Canada grows hemp"
* The crowd: Drag queens, dance kings, wild jokers -- the whole deck of clubs
* Cover, booze: $5 on weekends; domestic beer $3.75