This last weekend, I met some friends for a night of dancing at Privilège Ultralounge in the Strip. It was the first time I had ever been to one of the new ultralounges that are apparently all the rage now here in Pittsburgh. What makes an ultralounge different from any ol' dance club?

Inside the Ultralounge

Well, the ultralounge brings visitors all of the glamour of a Miami or LA club by offering exclusive VIP accommodations and bottle service. The VIP accommodations are straightforward enough—for a fee of undisclosed amount (in other words, I didn't ask) you and your party can luxuriate in a secluded or cordoned off area... but, then, why are you coming out to a club and not having a private party at home? VIP areas make sense in Miami or LA clubs where celebrities want to get out for a night on the town without the bother of rabid fans. But in Pittsburgh? What celebrities are going to be sitting in the VIP section of a Pittsburgh club? Jerome Bettis? Luke Ravenstahl? Sally Wiggin? The bottle service, it turned out, is even more mystifying. Privilège offers a special Firday nights on bottle service—3 bottles for $300. At such a price, I envisioned that bottle service would constitute a black tie-attired waiter popping French champagne, table-side. In fact, it turns out that you get three bottles of booze and several carafes of mixers served to your table (probably by the bartendress, as I didn't see any tuxedoed waiters), after which you must serve yourself. That's right VIP's, nobody's going to come pour your refills. You're just going to have to do it yourself. On the upside, after three bottles of Grey Goose, you probably won't care about that $300 you dropped on bottle service.

Bottles behind the bar at Privilege At $100 a pop, expect to pour them yourself

We arrived at Privilège around quarter to eleven. The cover charge was seven bucks, which is a tad rich for my blood, but considering that finding free parking in the Strip on Friday nights is pretty easy (in other words, you have to pay $8 just to park at Matrix, even if you get a deal on your gate). Inside, there is a semi-porch area that is open to Smallman street on warm October nights like the one we had on that occasion. The décor is low, lounge-sofas in red, ivory and charcoal colors. I recalled from the Privilège website that they offer some breed of drink specials on weekends, and I recalled further that the specials were on fancy brands of booze. I inquired at the bar as to what the specials were, and I was informed that I had arrived just in time (apparently they end at 11pm) for $3 Grey Goose drinks, $4 wine and a couple other specials that went over my head for lack of interest. I asked whether Grey Goose martinis would count for the special. The bartendress told me that no, martinis didn't count, only drinks like vodka cranberry. Needless to say, I didn't order one. What's the point of getting Grey Goose in a mixed drink? I guess if it's cheaper than getting the well by virtue of being on special... which is entirely possible because my eventual order of a whiskey and diet turned out to be $4. We took a seat on one of the couches for awhile to sip our drinks, wait for the dance floor to get cooking, and keep on the look-out for Pittsburgh VIP's. The DJ's were playing a great variety of recent and retro tunes, and shortly after eleven we spotted a party of men in suits stream through the club and up to the VIP lounge. None of them looked remotely familiar.

The lounge-y couches

With our drinks drained and the dance floor activity picking up we decided to embark onto the floor. The crowd at Privilège was surprisingly diverse. Some decidedly un-mainstream folks with red and orange hair were tearing up the floor, as well as some semi-geeky guys whose grooving style was just inches away from break-dancing. Otherwise, it was the standard Pittsburgers-out-on-the-town crowd. The music, as mentioned earlier, was a rich mix of dance hits past and present, often sampled and layered one atop the other by virtue of the DJ's creative impulses. I have no problem with spicing up old songs with new ones and vice versa. Take the base beat from a hip hop song and add it to an 80's rock anthem... good stuff. Build the rhythm of the next song into the closing of the last song so that you can get excited about what's coming at the same time you're dancing to what's on... great! Toss in the hook of a well-known pop song to give a disco jam a modern flair... wonderful! The DJ at Privilège did all these things, but the problem was that he did it much too often. An important part of dancing is getting into beat of the song, anticipating the changes in rhythm.

The VIP alcove Anyone see Jeff Verszyla?

And besides, when a song you like comes on, you like to relish in dancing to it for a good few minutes, right? The DJ at Privilège played no single song for longer than ninety seconds. Just long enough for a verse and a chorus, then came the transition to the next song. Now, I'm not adverse to medley mixes, where samples of, say, three songs last as long as one song, but they need to be used sparingly. The whole evening at Privilège was a medley mix. I missed literally ten songs when I went to the ladies room. While I can't complain too much about a club that has a good crowd and a good variety of music... I suppose I would have been happier if the DJ hadn't attempted to pack every dance song from the last four decades into one evening.

We ended up leaving a little earlier than usual, around one o'clock rather than at closing. By then the VIP's in suits were down on the dance floor busting moves. It was a fun evening (though, good company also deserves some credit for that), despite the peculiarities, and I'd definitely be interested to go back again... as long as I make sure there's a different DJ.