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Photograph by Felipe Buitrago Club Life Studio 8 8 S. First St., San Jose; 408.279.444; www.studio8sj.com By JavaScript must be enabled to display this email address. Amenities: VIP mezzanines, bottle service, pole-dance podiums Ambience: L.A. disco gets a Dionysian twist JUST WHEN you thought a sexy combo of Miami Vice, Tom Jones and Cuban Mafia look-alikes wasn't a good thing, along comes Studio 8, downtown's newest gargantuan nightclub complex. Sculpted, scantily clad cocktail servers wearing impossibly short skirts and fishnet stockings parade around everywhere. Burly security guards decked out in $1,000 suits and secret-service earpieces eyeball the crowd with refined precision. Robotic spotlights come alive on the lighting trusses, spinning visuals all over the place. As soon as you walk in the club, you see the DJs, up on the second level in the back, spinning house and ruling over the place like royalty. Private booths offer folks a semi-intimate experience with complete bottle service. The owners did a great job at retaining the original architecture of the place while adding their own L.A.-style disco-Dionysian twist. The gothic columns and plush ornate mirrors only add to the upscale in-your-face panache of the entire establishment. There are probably 20 employees working the coat-check room alone. That's how huge the place is. And that's just the downstairs area. Up on the second level, even more private areas abound, fully complete with polished vintage couches, exotic potted plants and prime service from Baywatch-looking babes. Upstairs, you can get a drink from one of the million bars in the place while leaning over the railing and gazing down at the dance floor below—perfect if you're not the boogying type. Fans are installed everywhere to prevent the club from becoming too sweaty and steamy once the gyrating commences. Send a letter to the editor about this story to letters@metronews.com. [ Silicon Valley | Metroactive Home | Archives ]