After a successful summer pilot, one of Ottawa’s newer music venues Afterlight has decided to kick off Bring Your Own Vinyl Night on Tuesday evenings from 7pm to midnight for the rest of September. Save your money for the bar, because there’s no cover charge! We decided to check it out for ourselves.
There’s nothing quite like soaking in the sweet sounds of vinyl spinning in this legendary basement venue with a seriously impressive sound system (if you’ve experienced an event at City at Night, you know what I mean). Some of us with record collections at home often find ourselves dusting off our stacks more often than actually listening to them, so it is an absolute treat to be able to bring our own records, hand them over to the DJ, sit back, relax, order a delicious drink (or three) and enjoy some of our treasured tracks through Afterlight’s sound system.
-
- Photos by Shaily Allison
There is something special about seeing others light up or sing along to a song on an album that you’ve brought. There was quite the variety of music played throughout the evening including some soft reggae and jazzy afrobeats spinning that not even our Shazam apps could decipher, and knowing you were in the room the person who brought that album made it interesting.
Curator and Resident DJ at Afterlight, Jordan David (JFun) knows what we mean:
“Personally speaking, I’ve got a lot of vinyl that I don’t play often and it’s nice to be able to share that with other music lovers in a space that was built for a rich listening experience.”
As the evening went on albums from Grimes, Holy Ghost!, Lorde, Fleetwood Mac, Ariana Grande and others were played. David recalls a similar mix of artists and genres at the pilot event, “Everyone who attended brought records, everything from David Bowie, Tame Impala, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Ashanti and more!”
View this post on Instagram
Afterlight is the perfect spot to unwind after work, or enjoy a chill weeknight out. The music is loud enough to enjoy, but not so loud that you can’t have a conversation. Most folks sway in their seats, casually chatting with friends, but with such an easy conversation starter (who brought which vinyl) expect a bit of mingling and friendly introductions.
The cocktail menu is small but delightful – featuring a few classics (or their spin on classics) including a Whiskey Sour and a unique scotch based cocktail called “Chocolate Punch” (featuring real chocolate shavings on top). Cocktails range from $14-$18, in addition to a short list of local craft beers by Dominion City, a few natural wines, and the “Dealer’s Choice Mocktail” – a welcome listing for a weeknight libation. With a full bar though, you are certainly not limited to menu items. There is a $5 special on Stella before 9pm, as well as $5 bar rail on Tuesday evenings. They also offer a few bites including chips and salsa, warm olives, seasoned popcorn and a charcuterie board.
David says that the plan is to run this series for the month of September to see if this is an offering that the community wants.
Afterlight is located at 129 Bank St. Patrons must be able to navigate one flight of stairs to enter the listening lounge.
Bring Your Own Vinyl Night will continue on Tuesdays between 7pm and midnight for the rest of September.
.gif)