Upstairs Lounge

Small intimate venue with a big time sound system. I am guessing it can hold 100 ppl. This is above the Mekong Restaurant and you might miss it due to lack of signage. The street facing (Grand) glass door just leads you to an ordinary set of stairs upon reaching the top a plain white door. Once you enter you find a nightclub… bar to the right, dance floor straight on, and DJ booth to your left. There is bar seating and booths that line the far wall. Bar service only.
The sound system was so good I stayed from 10:30 to 3am. DJs were all good (I think there were 5 or so) The guest DJ was exceptional. Seth Nichols from Denver flew in to put on a show. He was very active mixing, made no mistakes, and really upped the energy when it was his turn on the wheels. BPM stayed between 126 – 130 for most of the night. Volume was great. Bass shook your soul. Disco ball & some basic lights were the only visuals. A couple of times the crowd gave Seth applause.
This was my first time here and I live 3188 feet away. I will go back & provide feedback on drink offerings and other bar details. I have been a DJ from 1987 till now… pretty much retired now & just listen. It’s only on occasion that someone WOWs me. I feel like I stumbled on a well kept secret. The music format was EDM/​House… you know boom, boom, boom. Energy all night. Dance floor activated at Midnight. Not sure how many nights a week DJs play nor the music format.
I bet I end up there tonight :)

OKAY THEY ARE ONLY GETTING 2 STARS bc the music wasn’t bad– IT was the creepy ass videos they had playing–
someone was getting killed —— super bloody and scary ;-/

This is a hidden gem for electronic music in the Tower Grove area of St. Louis and the venue has a lot of history behind it as such. Many great local parties/​promotions have originated here. Certainly, its a dive. Don’t expect any stereotypical «club» experiences here… dressing fancy, VIP, bottle service… you wont find that here. Come as you are and get down, that’s the name of the game for the vibe of this location.
Plenty of times i’ve mixed/DJ’d here myself and have met a wide variety of locals and a few national acts. This being said, there isnt a definitive sub-​genre of Electronic music here. It’s always switching up; House, Breakbeat, Drum n’ Bass, Techno… all depends on what promoter takes over and hosting on certain nights.
The bar staff are pretty inviting and friendly. I’ve always appreciated them with their different mixed drink concoctions offered. Rotating specials are available. Dave is perhaps the number one ‘tender.always a great discussion with him (he throws down some great DnB sets as well).
The patrons here? Yeah, they may seems a little shifty. But that’s what sort of brings the charm to this spot. One thing is for sure though: the good majority have come to dance.
Come for the acts, come for the interesting mingling, come for the people watching.

Underground EDM lives here.
Come here if you’re about the music.
There are different styles of music on different nights and a HUGE variety of DJs. On some nights, they bring in headliners. The venue is definitely an underground, sorta «divey» ambiance. There are different types of music on different nights.
Great bartenders

Music wasn’t good. This place had some sketchy people in there

The music is good, but the cover and drinks are so overpriced. Also, the people in here are rude as all hell. Its four of us sitting at a table, and people are just setting their drinks or putting their chewed gum on our table without asking or apologizing. Wish I was at handlebar instead. Won’t be coming back unless it’s free or early in the night.

Music was pretty weak and drinks were over priced. Much better EDM places in St. Louis.

Revisited Upstairs Lounge and it was pretty crowded. There was a distinct smell of Mary Jane in the air. Free cover that night. House music dj. Some people were swinging something uv reactive in the air like a glow party. Neat place to visit every blue moon — and after getting a few drinks in on the last club hopping spree. Anything goes here!

I lived in SOBE from 1989 – 2008. I go to WMC every year & have since 1994. I was @ the 2 very first ULTRA MUSIC FESTS which were on the beach in Miami & worked the first that was held in the now legendary BAYSIDE PARK. Needless to say Imma HAUSRAT-​what I call a House Music aficionado. Some of my best friends as cliché as it sounds are DJ’S. It’s hard to impress me… UPSTAIRS LOUNGE YOU DID! WOW. If you’re looking to dance your ass off to some of the best house music & hang with some of the nicest & unpretentious people GO TO UPSTAIRS! I can’t wait to go back! This is just one more reason to love St. Louis & one more reason I’m glad I moved here! Bring a fat wallet if you wanna drink tho!

Democracy of the dance floor, that’s what you’re going to find here. Dancing to techno or EDM or whatever you want to call it began as an optimistic and progressive outgrowth of disco, which in itself was all about embracing everyone; celebrating the fact that gay or straight we’re all red-​blooded ‘muricans in a free country goddamnit.
Rock ‘n roll of the ‘70s was getting too testosterone fueled for some people. The guitar solo is the musical equivalent of a dude whipping his big dick out on stage and telling the world to look at it and admire. In response, you had the asexual and often effeminate glam rock movement, and of course disco. You listen to the music, listen to four-​on-​the-​floor beats, and move your body as an expression of the joy you feel as a red-​blooded ‘murican in a free country goddamnit. In short, you let your freak flag fry without fear of any judgment. That’s the democracy of the dance floor.
The Germans, and specifically Kraftwerk, took the soul of disco and fused it with synthetic instruments to try to create a more progressive sound with that same beat. Over the years there’s been an intermingling with soul singers, heavy metal artists, avant garde artists, so now today there’s all kinds of electronic dance music. But, the spirit remains: just get out and dance. That’s what you find at the Upstairs Lounge.
Unfortunately, a lot of people associate EDM with rolling on X. That can be fun, sure, but if you feel the need to take any drug in order to allow yourself to dance, whether that be alcohol or pot or X, then you’re missing out on the point of why this music was created in the first place. I find this attitude is more prevalent in St. Louis than where I’m from, which is Chicago. In Chicago there’s been a decline in places that play EDM but I can think of at least four or five off the top of my head, not including other spaces that have EDM nights. Upstairs Lounge is the only place I’ve found in St. Louis that plays EDM regularly. Only thing that sucks though is that people don’t tend to hit the dance floor until it’s really late and they’re buzzed.
If you just want to dance to good music, this is a great place. Solid DJs, lit just right, good dance space. But unless you’re a hot woman or it’s past midnight on a weekend, expect to dance alone.

The true story of how Upstairs Lounge was born:
A couple of stoned dudes were in one of the dudes’ mom’s garage, hungover from a night of candy flipping at a trance club with their high school friends. They were both white, but each of them had at least one black friend. With glowsticks fading with the dawn, they talked about how they should start DJing. This is the high school dropout version of the «we should open our own bar» dream. So the dudes talk to their friend’s cousin, who happens to know a dude who DJs. They begin to dabble in it, but usually succumb to an afternoon bongfest before things get too intense. The club starts out as just a Saturday night thing in the garage, or occasionally the mom’s basement. They drink from the cheap clear plastic cups (Solo cups are too expensive and totally selling out). This is before hipsters, but pretty sure not that long before hipsters. One night someone calls the cops and they decide to move the party. A chick at the party is squatting in an abandoned loft above some Vietnamese restaurant. The party ends up there. They tape some newspapers over the window to ensure that no secondhand smoke is wasted, and the party takes off. Some nights four, maybe five people show up. Things are getting crazy, and the dudes realize they need to be more legit. They invest in a used disco ball, because chicks love disco balls. Chicks also love cartoons, at least the chicks they want to bone, so they get a few TVs. Not long after that, they realize the men’s bathroom at their party has been ranked as the number one glory hole in St. Louis by a poll in the Riverfront Times. Officially on the map, DJs flock to this ultra-​hip party, which they are now just calling «upstairs». «Hey man, where’s the party at?» «Upstairs». Throngs of 20-​somethings, whose skin has never actually been exposed to daylight, flock to the club, eager to get behind the horse stall of a DJ booth and go toe-​to-​toe with some other music geek who has also read every issue of Vibe and Source, in addition to every issue of Spiderman. Becoming ambitious and business savvy, the dudes ask the Vietnamese restaurant owner if they can put up a sign outside their club. They forgot if the dude said yes. They also forgot to get a sign. Meh, whatever. In a strategic marketing move, they rename the party a «lounge», as to convey the upscale clientele and overall vibe of the party. A local strip club goes out of business, and somebody’s brother barters a motorcycle for the strip club’s red vinyl booths. Sometimes it’s just the same people at this party as in the old days, but sometimes some newbs stumble in, not even sure how they got there. It’s often referred to as the «new dance club on Grand», because even after 13 years, nobody’s ever heard of this party. The hipster movement in St. Louis explodes, and this underground party becomes every hipster’s wet dream. Nobody here really cares if you can’t dance or if you didn’t take a shower this week. Every afternoon, the dudes who founded this party wake up in a daze, wondering if last night was real, or just some trippy dream (they are kind of bummed when they realize it was real. That’s a lot of responsibility, man…) Just like you will wake up tomorrow afternoon, wondering if Upstairs Lounge was real, or if you need to lay off the shrooms.
P. S. Nothing I’ve ever read comes close to the awesomeness of how this club describes itself on their website. You will actually have to have been to this club to understand what I mean.
P. P. S. They actually do accept credit cards, and will even let you open a tab. When you come back up to order a second and third drink, the bartender will ask if you have a tab open. You will look around the empty room and blink at her, wondering how she forgot that you just gave her your credit card, and how she doesn’t realize that the only open tab is your open tab, because you are the only person to show up for Kung Fu/​Animé/​HipHopParty night.

Glad to see you are doing well at what you love :)
My younger sis hangs out at your place when she is back in the Lou’.
***Danielles friend Laura from way back in the day***

Felt like dancing with the girl friends and stumbled upon this place.
Entrance: It is SO HARD to find this place, because it doesn’t have a sign for it facing the street. Just look for MeKong and it’s right above it (As in, the owner owns both places, interesting business endeavor!). You go in through the side door on the side street and after getting your ID checked, you go up some narrow set of stairs and you’re there!
Décor: Dark, alternative. There are booths along the side of the room and of course, your bar and (small) dancefloor. Mind you, this place is a very small place. As in, you have to squeeze by the bar to get to where you want because there’s a narrow width of about 2 people here.
We went on a pretty crowded night and they were playing house sort of music with the 2 DJ’s switching off. I loved that my girlfriends and I could rock out to the music with other people without being creeped on by creepsters. It was just a very fun, chill crowd– do what you want, be what you want!
Oh and I also enjoyed the (weird/​trippy) things on the TV screen, definitely something that I stared at a lot lol
Overall: Very cool for a nice chill night to dance/​drink/​watch! Bad thing: cover charge.

This is a 3 — 4 star place for me and that depends on what you are looking for. I am not quite sure about an $ 8 cover charge for just a dj, especially when there is no variety in the music (or let’s just say none) but I like the vibe and it is interesting to see how the crowd evolves as the clock hits midnight. Both times I have been I’ve gone around 10pm, when it is kinda dead still, and early enough to get a booth, but wait too long and you won’t have a place to sit. Also interesting how you get in. Certainly worth checking out.

Along with Urban I have to say Upstairs Lounge is a close second to new places I like to go. I recently discovered this place after a friend of mine started DJ’ing again. The drinks are pretty cheap and they do have a late night menu. Also, there is plenty of stuff to catch your eye here. I’m not going to lie, I suffer from ADD so watching the monitors or screens with whatever video they have going on while the DJ is spinning pretty much means I’m not paying attention to anything else. The bartenders are pretty good and they have some awesome drinks specials some nights. ($ 2 new castles? yes please!).
This place is a dive and with a dive you want to avoid using the restrooms here. They look like they were original to whenever the building was built and are in need of some sort of repair/​cleaning/​gut rehab. At least the Men’s bathroom does. Still an awesome place to drink and listen to some music.

The Upstairs Lounge has been a great «semi-​secret» in St Louis for years. A lot of St Louis’ DJs from all genres have played sets at this intimate bar, and they’ve definitely had a fair hand in helping to keep the live DJ scene stay alive in St Louis. Their prices are fair and the service I’ve had over the last 13 years has generally been good.
I found out about the bar through friends back in 1999, and have gone there often for various DJ nights off and on ever since. Over the years I’ve seen the Upstairs make improvements to their stage/​DJ area, sound system, video screens, and more. These improvements not only made my experience as a patron more enjoyable, but also made it more gratifying when I perform there as DJ Ronin.

Upstairs Lounge is the perfect place to end you’re night if you’re into dancing and are up for something unexpected. My last visit (Saturday) was a dubstep night. We got a couple drinks, some crab rangoon and some dancing done before it was time to go home.
All-​in-​all, a little shady, but exactly what I was in the mood for at the time.

Upstairs Lounge is one of those places that I don’t love but I end up going a bunch of times anyway. I know a couple of people who DJ on the weekends here. We show up for morale support. The place has some comfy booth seats. I like the little TVs. I photograph them often (I’ve uploaded a bunch of pictures). But aside from that, I am just not that excited about the place. It’s tiny. The bathroom upstairs is a dump (cool broken mirror mural I guess on the stall wall). Service at the bar is awfully spotty: sometimes you don’t even get a full drink or it is really watered down. It’s dead empty most of the times until you have a big namer in town. People watching can be fun here but you need PEOPLE before you can watch them.
Just an overall M’eh place for me, and thumbs down for always charging a cover.

There’s nothing really fancy about the Upstairs Lounge. It’s a cozy dimly-​lit space with a bar, some seating booths, a DJ perch, and a dancefloor. Your experience depends on which night you go.
Currently, Monday nights are pretty kicking (indie/​electro/​dance), as well as the 2^nd and 4^th Saturdays (dubstep). Being a 3AM bar, things don’t really get going until well after midnight. The music you’ll hear at the Upstairs Lounge is usually on the cusp of what’s new. Don’t expect anything close to mainstream here. The small space can make for some fantastic intimate dance parties, but prepare to get sweaty and smokey. That’s just the way it goes here. Sometimes it’s free, other times there could be a $ 3-​$ 5 cover.
I have to give this place an extra star for the recent addition of a late-​night food menu. You can order from about 7 – 8 items from the downstairs restaurant until 2 AM. Choices include crab rangoon, egg rolls, chicken curry, kebabs, pot stickers, and more, and every item costs 4 bucks. The quality of the food was surprisingly good. The chicken curry actually blew me away. Granted I was a bit tipsy, but it was just amazing. A small bowl full of spicy, coconut-​y curry with a generous amount of dark-​meat chicken, carrots, and potato, served with a bowl of rice. This stuff was HOT (in both temperature and spice), full of flavor, and I could not get enough. It’s the type of thing you would get at a typical curry house in England. The egg rolls and crab rangoon were also pretty good, and served with some nice dipping sauces. The food came out fast and was a good deal for the money.
UPDATE: As of Feb 2011 the chicken curry quality has gone down, it is no longer as delicious and spicy because people were saying it was too spicy. It’s just OK now. You might be able to ask them to crank up the heat, but I’m not sure.

Granted, I’m a newbie to St. Louis and I am getting to the age where I should be, «over the bar scene», I didn’t HATE the Upstairs Lounge. I had been hearing stories of the Upstairs for about 3 years from my boyfriend, who lived in St. Louis for years and fought tooth and nail about our moving here. This move was one of the side products of the Bush/​Cheney administration but the «husband» (you know we can only marry in metropolises like Des Moines, Iowa) find ourselves here in St. Louis.
Apparently, the Upstairs used to be much more religious iconography filled than it is today. Now it has sad a collection of Jesus statues and Rosary beads. One even so cheesy that I do have to appreciate it, a crucifix inside a water-​filled tube (think bong) with multi-​colored bubbles. Its like Jesus meets the Warp drive on the Enterprise, and seriously, who can’t love that, except every God fearing hypocrite in the mid-​west.
Long-​story short… This place is OK. They play the same fucking music as every other gay and/​or straight bar in town (any city really). You do need to walk in through a pseudo-​Asian restaurant and you can call downstairs to order a pot-​sticker to sober up a bit when the v-​and redbull and shots of Jamesons haven’t subdued your misery with life. Ah… and this is my favorite bar, thus far, in St. Louis. (Thank you Anthony Bourdain for allowing me to be this bitchy, and my mother, and sister, and grandmother, great grandmother…) I’ll just stop now…
By the way… This is not a gay bar. It’s simply my way of stating that every gay bar in the country plays BAD techno-​remixes of either good or bad songs and they’re simply miserable. And now all straight bars have followed suit. Who knew that the downfall of America would be mirrored in terrible, and I mean, TERRIBLE, bad remixes of songs that should have never been recorded in the first place.