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The Greeks Come Out at Night Were
you at To Glenti at The Spot last Friday?
It seemed like everyone else was.
The trend of well-attended Greek events continued last weekend with To
Glenti’s first major offering since June.
The surprising thing about this Greek Night was the mix of people that
were there. Imagine
starting with the standard Greek Night lineup of under-25 Greeks from the
Virginia and Maryland suburbs, adding many people from YAL DC Weekend and GW
Kosmos Club, throwing in almost the entire crowd that was at Alekos the weekend
before, and finally as an extra special bonus unloading a party-bus from
Tidewater, and you begin to understand the size of this Greek Night.
(No, seriously folks, there was an actual party bus that came up from the
Hampton/Virginia Beach area – like a Greek ferry to Ios, only without so much
of the motion sickness and without all the Australians.)
What
explains both the size and the diverse demographics of this Greek Night?
Some of it may have been explained by the entertainment, two DJs, NY’s
DJ Savas and DC’s own DJ Liakos, and the Mylos All-Star Band, an actual live
band from New York City.
Live bands are unusual to see at most Greek Nights, especially bands from
out-of-town, justifying the $15 dollar cover which you also don’t expect at
most Greek Nights.
The Mylos All-Star Band was worth the money, adding a nostalgic feel to
this Greek Night.
It reminded us of how it used to be in DC back in the day, when clubs
like The Astor made us feel like we were in a major Greek metropolis.
Maybe it was the setting of this Greek Night that lead to the huge
turnout? The
Spot is certainly the largest venue in which a Greek Night has been held in DC,
although it did come as a surprise to some when the bouncers pointed everyone
toward the basement of the club.
One thing is for certain, for the non-YAL crowd, a lot of this turnout
was due to this being the first major Greek Night to hit inside DC since June.
(The Greek Night at Ooh La La wasn’t really marketed toward the usual
Greek Night crowd, and not that many people have heard of, or been to, Sfinakia
Nights at Alekos yet.) It
really doesn’t matter why there were a larger quantity and greater mix of
people at The Spot last Friday.
The Spot is just an example of what’s been happening in the DC Greek
community over the last couple of months.
All of a sudden, the Greeks in DC are getting a lot more active.
Whatever apathy that existed in the DC Greek community last year has
faded. Greeks
are coming back to Greek Nights, to Greek Dances, even to smaller Greek events
in the area. Some
of the old-timers in the community, who may have stopped going to events are now
back. More
and more people from outside of the DC Metro area are starting to see DC as an
outlet for their need to have a good time with other Greeks.
Even those who are new to the area are finding other Greeks to hang out
with and are showing up to events as well. With
November fast approaching there’ll be more opportunities to meet and hang out
with more Greeks in the DC area.
So if you haven’t had a chance to make it to the events of the past
couple of months, don’t let that stop you… chances are that the people you
see at the next Greek event will welcome you back with the classic philoxenia
that makes our culture great.
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