Spending a recent Friday in Providence was a revelation as I trekked through new hipster cafes, fantastic nonprofit arts spaces (notably AS220), state-of-the-art dance clubs, and an alt- rock haunt called Club Hell, among others.
"There are a lot of cool things going on now. We're not an island anymore," says Lupo, who has had three locations for his club, the latest in the former Strand Theater . He shares space with a dance club called the Roxy, which has ownership ties to the Roxy in Boston.
My journey began by hearing the Schemers at the spacious, acoustically fine Lupo's. Led by Mark Cutler , it's an excellent guitar-rock band that never quite made it nationally. "If they had moved to Austin instead of staying in Providence, they might have been much bigger," says Bill Flanagan , executive vice president of MTV Networks and a Rhode Island native , who was at the show.
I then commenced the so-called "downtown loop": down Washington Street (where Lupo's is), around on Empire Street, back up Pine Street, and around on Richmond Street. It's not quite West Hollywood, but it's an eye-opener as cars loaded with young revelers swoop around and clog the roads. (Word to the wise: Park your car and walk.)
I stopped at Local 121, a bar -restaurant run by state Senator Josh Miller, who was in the appropriately stately mahogany bar talking with film director Michael Corrente, known for "Brooklyn Rules" and "American Buffalo." They are ecstatic about the "new" Providence. Corrente had just moved back to the city after living in Manhattan.
"It seems like the good guys are taking the city back over," says Corrente. "There are more eclectic pockets now of rock 'n' roll and art and diversity."
Striking a blow for diversity is the nearby Cuban Revolution. It's a sophisticated, Havana-like cafe with an outdoor patio and walls featuring paintings of Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. A Castro documentary was airing on its TVs . Its website, theCubanrevolution.com, says the cafe is dedicated to questioning "the economic embargo directed against Cuba and its people." The room has a cosmopolitan crowd of Hispanics, Afro-Americans, and Asians. Another Cuban Revolution opens in Providence in September.
