The Central Social Aid and Pleasure Club

Versatility is an underrated attribute, and not just in Mario Kart. Just look at Luigi, who totally holds his own in Grand Prix, Time Trials, and Battle Mode... oh wait, that's still Mario Kart. For more versatility in action, check out The Central Social Aid and Pleasure Club.

Brought to you by a team of music-club vets from LA, SF, and New Orleans, and upgrading the formerly run-down space that used to house hippie haven 14 Below, The Central's a long named, multi-purpose, multi-room venue dedicated to live music, dive bar boozing, and non-profit social activism, but not non-profit social Activision, 'cause they only encourage people to fall victim to Pitfalls. The back room's still a 250-person-capacity music hall, but's been given a total overhaul, w/ a state-of-the-art lighting rig, gut-busting speakers, and a DJ crow's nest; the first raft of booked shows leans hip-hop and electro heavy, including an opening night party Aug 14 from backpack rappers Busdriver, NorCal's Grateful Dead-sampling Band of Brotherz on Sep 5, and a Sep 18 show from the funky, danceable Miami Horror, aka LeBron's ESPN special. The divey front bar's got a separate entrance, so it's free nightly, and has also been totally revamped, w/ exposed-brick walls & rafters, a DJ booth, and a still-forthcoming booze list focusing on high-end whiskeys and 12 draughts (Lagunitas IPA; Deschutes Mirror Pond Ale; etc.), all served at a bent-steel bar embedded with stone/wood and made to look like geometric weaves, or as white people know them, "extensions".

As far as the social activism goes, The Central's opening the front room up early for free meetings of community groups, plus's planning on having a load of benefit shows starting with a series to help the Gulf Coast -- an area that has a lot of underrated attributes, though none of them would help in Versus mode against Luigi. Well, maybe the oil slick. And the turtle shells. The Gulf Coast would dominate!