Anna Jones
Writer
Throughout September, Uptown, the University’s on-campus nightclub, has hosted many different events, such as a poetry slam, a dueling pianos performance, Sunday Night Football games, a club night, Trivia Night and more.
The year started off strong on Sept. 7 when Uptown partnered with WVBU to showcase student musicians and groups. This received much support from the student body.
“[Uptown] would like to have more students performing … in the future,” Uptown Manager Steph Wyld ’14 said.
Next, on Sept. 14, the Stadler Center for Poetry hosted their Poetry Slam at Uptown. More than 100 people attended, including students from Susquehanna University who were also able to participate.
“This is one of our favorite events because it exposes students’ creative side and is really entertaining to attend,” Wyld said.
She reminds everyone to look forward to the second Poetry Slam of the semester on Nov. 2, as well.
Over Family Weekend, the Midwest Dueling Pianos made an appearance at Uptown. They played everything from Billy Joel to Bruno Mars, and even took requests from the audience.
“Groups of students and families came out to see this entertainment … and we would like to make this an annual event,” Wyld said.
Club Night, on Sept. 28, was a dance party co-sponsored by the Latino Dance Corner, and more than 100 people showed up. The dance group led a workshop on Latin dance technique and DJ Ian Hackett ’15 kept the crowd dancing all night. Emilie Ratajczak ’15, Assistant Manager of Uptown said free soft drinks and snacks were served to the guests. Ratajczak also said that people actually had to be asked to leave at closing time because the event was so popular. The party was a huge success, with most people rating the event as a four or five on a five-point scale on the event evaluation.
Finally, NFL Sundays, happening all throughout the season, continue to be a big hit as always. Students watch the games on a large projection screen while enjoying the comfort of Uptown’s multitude of couches and free snacks. Another perk of watching the games at Uptown is the season long raffle of official merchandise. Fans can enter their name every quarter and winners will be picked at the Super Bowl Party in February.
“I love Uptown because it’s a great way to meet all sorts of new, interesting people in a very fun atmosphere,” Ratajczak said. “There will be plenty more dance parties in the future [along with] trivia, karaoke and pub nights.”
The first Pub Night for 21+ will be held on the Oct. 19, followed by Bison Haus on the 20. During Homecoming weekend, Vertical Horizon will be performing a free concert at Uptown.
“[The club] is really trying to bring back live bands … and [we] hope this will be a great success,” Wyld said.
Lastly, a jazz café is an event to look forward to in November.
Be sure to like the Facebook page (“Uptown Nightclub at Bucknell”), and to stop by the club sometime soon to enjoy it for yourself.