[ Index | Bars & Clubs | Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]

Kleidon's Lounge 152 Post St, San Jose 408.293.2461 Hours: Happy hour Mon-Fri 5-8pm; DJ music or live bands nightly--door times vary Crowd Age: 21-35 Music: DJs and occasional live bands Decor: Vintage cool Signature Drink: Hamms in a can Dancing: Yes Games/Amenities: Megatouch 2000, electric darts One of several downtown nightclubs experiencing a windfall since the closing of the Cactus Club left club-goers scrambling for a new hangout, Kleidon's got a jump on the competition by bringing in Cactus' former happy-hour bartender Lorin to handle cocktail duties. Lorin is renowned for mixing inventive drinks like the Peeps Shot (yes, as in those nasty little marshmallow confections that hatch around Easter-time) and playing wonderfully eclectic music you just don't find anywhere else. He recently implemented Spookhouse Mondays, a happy hour with classic ghost stories. Why? Because "a Halloween is an empty ween." The club also hosts CapnT's Smugglers Notch every Tuesday, 5-9pm, and Gary Singh (our own Metro staffer) is reviving Sinatra Night on a yet-to-be-determined evening. With the main room aided by the smaller B-Side, Kleidon's offers a variety of DJ nights every night of the week. The thick walls keep the sound from bleeding from room to room, so Kleidon's is able to have two floors going at once. The club's DJ nights are in a bit of a transition and may change, but for now, Sundays present funk and soulful grooves in the main room and nu jazz, down-tempo and breaks in the B-Side, while Tuesdays and Fridays feature hip-hop, dub and more. Wednesdays, "Deviation and Saturdays" Counterstrike bring out San Jose's dark gothic underworld. Thursdays, throughout the summer, the bar hosts the Brick House, the unofficial afterparty for Metro's Music in the Park concert series. Meanwhile, Mondays just opened for rock & roll with DJs playing man-rock by the masters--from Pantera to Prong, (hed)pe to Marilyn Manson and Metallica to Ministry--plus music by local rock and metal bands. If Your Bar Could Be Any Animal, What Would It Be?: Jason Croteau, manager, says, "That little fish that got swallowed up by the big fish only to be set free when an old salty fisherman guts that big fish and tosses the innards back into the sea, hopefully to be eaten once again. Competition is fast and furious for giant fish. But it is the little schools of fish that have their fins on the pulse and control the core of San Jose's underground movement." Send a letter to the editor about this story . [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]