The Hub opens Friday, see the first inside video HERE.

So Playmakers/The Hub stayed true to their word this week and allowed me to come inside with my video camera and lots of questions. As of the day of filming, there was still a LOT of stuff to be finished up before opening their doors, so very little of it was in final, presentation form inside there. There was a great deal of construction going on in every direction, building materials, tablesaws, and workers were everywhere. Even the inside club signs were not yet displayed, so when I was leaving they hooked me up with all the logos and jingle beds for the clubs to use in my video if I wanted to. That was a cool gesture that made the video a lot more interesting.

(This movie was created in iMovie with no owner's manual to follow. Macs rule...)

While it's hard to imagine what some of this will look like when totally finished, I can tell you this from being inside: The video does not do a good job of showing the detailing of the art, surfaces, floors, fabrics, etc. used inside the various clubs. Everything is so RICH.... You walk from room to room and constantly lose the feeling of "House of Rock was right here" or "Skybox was right here." It really feels like a new place. This was one hell of a "remodel," bringing Fargo it's first taste of what it's like to have the kind of club environment you find in bigger cities.

We'll see how it all turns out this Friday when they open, but until then check out the video and see what they're doing, the clubs that are going in there, and what those club logos look like. This place is going to be amazing... No more bar hopping outside during the winter in FARGO!!!!!

The clubs that comprise "The Hub" are:

FAN Club: Grill & Sports Bar

Cadillac Ranch: Country Bar & Dance Hall

Prime: Steakhouse & Ultra Lounge

The Monkey Bar: It's a Jungle in Here.™ (rock club)

Forbidden: Asian Pub

Vibe: at the Venue (dance club)

The Venue (concerts and events, as it was)


As a side note, thanks to the staff at The Hub. I was fully expecting a chilly reception over there after all of this, but they treated me like a drinking buddy (hey wait, they never gave me a beer though!) and they couldn't have been nicer. (A beer would have been nicer, actually.) So thank you. Can't wait to see you all on opening night. If you see me, say hello. I'll be leaving my cameras at home. :)

Kid Commando

The Hub FOUND ME and CALLED ME at home! We're IN!

A few hours after I posted my reveal video (below) earlier today, my phone rang. I looked at my caller ID and it said "Playmakers." You know that feeling when you get over the peak on a rollercoaster and on the way down your stomach goes into your throat? That's what happened when I saw that name on the ID.

I have their permission to talk about the conversation (like I wouldn't have -- HA). It went something like this:

Me: Hello?

The Hub: Hi... Is this Kid Commando?

Me: ...pause... Who?

The Hub: Do you have a blog called Kid Commando's Hideout?

Me: *I* don't, no.

The Hub: Do you live alone? Do you have a roommate?

Me: I have a roommate.

The Hub: Is your roommate home?

Me: No. Could I take a message?

The Hub: *chuckle* Yeah, you can leave him a message. Tell him The Hub called to speak to him.

Me: Ok...

The Hub: Write this down, ok?

Me: Ok...

The Hub: Tell him we know who he is... we know about his blog and what he's doing, tell him that despite trespassing and a few other things, HE'S NOT IN TROUBLE, but we'd like to talk to him about about this and see if we can't do something together to... This IS Kid Commando, isn't it?

Me: ..................... yeah.

The Hub: Look, we're not mad. We WERE irritated, but we've gotten a ton of calls about what you're doing, we've watched what you've been doing, and we think it's kind of cool that you're this into this. How about this: You agree to leave us alone and let us prepare for the opening, and we'll agree, in writing, to give you the first, exclusive full-access tour of the new place before anyone else, and you can post it first on your site.

Me: Are you serious?

The Hub: Yes...

So I agreed. I'm supposed to have something in writing e-mailed to me by the end of the day today. HOLY SH*T!!!

They said we could do it the beginning of next week, and that they'd be calling me Monday morning with a time and contact, so check back! You'll be seeing the inside HERE FIRST!

It's Miller time...

Kid Commando

Oops, I did it again... Playmakers/The Hub REVEALED!

So, yesterday morning I drove over the The Hub and parked in back by what used to be the House of Rock, got out of my car, and started walking around to see if I could find someone to talk to me on tape. I was about to get back in my car and take off, and caught someone open one of the doors near me, dump a bunch of trash outside, and go back in. I zoomed in on the bags, made a run for them, grabbed a couple and hauled ass out of there. This was kind of a low point for me, and I was reminded of that by the stench of garbage in my car for my 15-minute drive back home. What do I have to lose at this point?

This video shows what I found in one of the bags, which was full of MOSTLY shredded paper, but contained some balled up documents that put to rest at least some of the mystery. This was pretty much a home run. Of greatest interest was a promotions meeting spreadsheet (titled "Creative Team Meeting: Weekly Promos Per Outlet") that contains the days of the week along with ideas of promotions for EACH CLUB inside the Hub. Only one club was listed with a name attached, the rest were labeled by genre and reads like this across the top columns:

Sports • Country • Steak/Lounge • Club • Rock • Forbidden

I combed through the shredded paper looking for anything useful and saw a bunch of color printed pieces that stuck out from the rest. So I got those together, spent a couple hours taping them up, and found that one of the clubs in there is called Forbidden: Asian Pub. You can see that logo at the end of the video. That name was the only inner-club listed by its name rather than its genre on that promotions schedule, so that's got to be one of the things going in there.

This has been mostly a lot of fun, and frankly, I didn't expect to really find anything else. People who seemed to know had suddenly stopped talking, and I was ready to pack it in, but this gives me something to work with. I want to know what they're calling the rest of these clubs, and I want to see what they're doing. This is going to be cool as hell...

Kid Commando

Anonymous Inside Construction Video -- Playmakers, Fargo

LOVE IT! LOVE IT! LOVE IT!

I was contacted through Brit by someone with video shot inside Playmakers (now The Hub) the other day during construction. I won't say which work crew he's from, but THANK YOU for getting ahold of me. He came close to running into a couple of other people while he shot this, you see one near the end, so he took some risks here. Don't do that again... Just find a way to get ME in and I'LL take the risk. :)

In this video, furniture is piled up in every direction inside the Venue, being rebuilt and recovered. Note also that the Playmakers sign outside is now gone. The end of an era.

Thanks also to everyone who has sent e-mails and messages with tips. I did something today that I should have up here by tomorrow sometime -- I did some dumpster diving there and struck a little gold. My mother would SO not be proud. More tomorrow after classes.

Kid Commando

Playmakers To Re-Open As "The Hub" + new vid and rumors

My Research Begins...
After a mess of e-mails and tips following the Playmakers closing party video, I decided to move forward with trying to figure out what's going on. I poured over the e-mails, forum articles, and anonymous tips from friends and strangers. I also went over to MSU to talk to a bunch of the students over there and find out if any of them have heard anything. Just a couple of bits of valuable info to be had in those interviews, but all fairly entertaining nonetheless.



Most of these people were clearly in the dark about it. Most. I hope to god they're not turning it into a supermarket. :) lol

My friend Brit from school posted a link to my last video over on her MySpace (Thanks Brit, it rules that you give a crap!), and that brought people out of the woodwork. Some had a lot to say, and she forwarded those e-mails to me. I will keep the names of senders anonymous, but among those e-mails the following rumors/ideas/guesses/speculation surfaced:

"They're probably just shut down for remodeling."
"They're changing a few things and renaming."
"They're turning the House of Rock into a Steak House and a Sports Bar."
"They're turning the WHOLE THING into a steak house."
"I've heard the House of Rock is going to become a country bar with a Coyote Ugly type feel."
"They're putting in a fine dining restaurant."
"The owner sold it, they're remodeling, and reopening."
"The Venue is getting bigger, and the House of Rock is turning into a country bar."

One person e-mailed my friend and said he received tickets to their opening night and said the tickets said "The Hub" on it with a date of "11/29/07." (I WANT TICKETS. They'll probably have a picture of my face by the door by the time the 29th comes...)

An ex-employee posted a comment on my blog here that it "will have 7 different themed bars (supposedly lol). I guess that's how they came up with the name "The Hub." If the ticket saying "The Hub" wasn't enough proof of the new name, the news report issued by The Forum a couple of days ago should clear up any doubt, as well as solidify a couple of the above rumors:

Nov 16 The Forum -- "Taking a Time Out" -- Playmakers will re-open Nov 30 as The Hub

The 30,000-square-foot-complex will feature seven different nightclubs and multiple restaurants, project officials said in a news release. One of the seven nightclubs will be named The Fan Club Grill & Sports Bar in conjunction with The Fan radio station, according to Jon Taffer, president of Taffer Dynamics Inc., an entertainment consultant from Palm Beach, Fla, who was hired by the property's owners to mastermind the project's conceptualization and development.

"The Hub will be a world-class lifestyle destination with incredible entertainment options for lovers of rock and roll, country music, sports, dance and other entertainment formats." --The Forum

Rewind to the MSU interviews above (also shot a couple days ago) where the guy mentions it being broken up into different "sects" like different places to hang out. Seven nightclubs... Ex-employee : 7 different themed bars. The name: The Hub. This could really kick ass. Confirmed Sports Bar and as many as 6 other clubs/and or restaurants of some kind. THAT'S WHY THE FLOORPLANS WERE ALL SEGMENTED.

Anyone know anyone on the construction crews involved? Anyone been in there this week? Take a camera phone picture or two!!! :)

Kid Commando

PS: Big SHOUT to Scotch and DUI from 102 and Dan Hammer from FAN. I heard from 2 of my friends that they talked about my blog on their shows. Stay tuned, radio demi-gods. I'm not finished yet.

So, I broke into the office at the Playmakers Closing Party...

WTF is going on at Playmakers in Fargo???

Yes I love investigating. Yes I love shenanigans. But this was one of those wild-hair moments that could have probably gotten me into a lot of trouble. Or at the very least could have gotten my ass kicked.

Playmakers was closing a week or so ago and they had a closing party with a funeral theme. It was a funeral of sorts. But a party too. A funeral/party. While Bright Eyes was playing in the Venue, I was hanging out in the Playmakers area, talking to people with my camcorder, seeing what they thought about the club closing, etc. Here are some short interviews with a bartender and a couple of club-goers:



At this point, a couple of us noticed the door/ticket person stepped away from the Venue door for a second to deal with a drunk, so we slithered past and went into the Venue to catch a bit of the Bright Eyes set. This was bad move one.

So we watched a little bit of the show, but I was preoccupied with the closing party, more importantly the fact that when asked on camera and off just previously, none of the Playmakers employees would say ANYTHING about what was happening to the club after it closed that night. Some were almost hostile when pressed. So I wanted to see if I could find anything out, and I still had my camcorder...

I knew where the office was, so I made my way up the stairs with my camcorder tucked under my armpit and just walked in like I was supposed to be there. The door was unlocked, lights on, but nobody in there. I figured if someone was there I could just say I lost my keys and wanted to leave a lost-and-found note with them. So I walked in and made my way through the office, past a front desk, a bunch of smaller offices, etc.. I was thinking I might find SOMETHING that would give me an idea of what's going on.

It was looking bleak and I was just about to get the hell out of there when I walked around a little wall at the back of the offices and found a big table ........... with FLOOR PLANS(!!!) spread out on it. They appeared to be plans for that building. I also noticed they were broken up into distinct "chunks" of real estate. I did a quick scan of the plans with my camera, and was just about to run out of there when some dude from the club came flying around the corner screaming at me.

I hid my camera as fast as I could, and I don't think he NOTICED the camera amid the chaos of throwing me out the front door because he didn't bother taking the camera or the tape inside. I wish I'd had another 3 or 4 minutes to really comprehend what I was looking at. It went by pretty fast and my was heart beating out of my chest from the panic of even being in there. This is the video I captured in the office:



Something big is going on there. The club was full of people throwing around crazy speculation. If anyone knows anything, shoot me a message. I'm gonna do some digging...

Kid Commando

Bras on Broadway

Walking down Broadway last week, I came across a mammoth bra display covering the entire front side of the building that houses the Ho-Do in Fargo. I thought I should go inside and ask some questions about it, say hello to the locals, drink a beer for good measure and to repay them for my camera harassment.

As usual, the locals just hanging out when you tape something like this end up being the most entertaining part.



Bonus: Protesters!

Leaving the Bras on Broadway questioning, I came outside, turned the corner and came across a small group of protesters standing in front of the doorway to the Red River Women's Clinic. I kept a safe distance because, well, honestly, protesters frighten me.

More Stupid Human Tricks

Fire Eating
Watching the playback of my Human Can Opener video reminded me of a couple of other stupid party favorites. The first is Fire Eating. I have never yet *knock on wood* burned myself doing this. As always, don't attempt this at home...



Hand Animal Planet
This one's for the kids. Or for drunk adults. My nephew loves this...