Chemistry Nightclub
2901 Spring Garden St, Greensboro, NC
Recommendation: Go on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Tuesdays are karaoke nights and Thursdays are drag nights. Aside from the obviously entertainment-packed weekends, Chemistry Nightclub’s themed week nights will easily become your favorite weekly pastime. Or maybe even how you get through the week, as I can recall this exact exchange between myself and friends several times: “What day is it?” “I think it’s Thursday. Wait no. Last night was karaoke, so it’s Wednesday.”
My first experience at Chemistry was back in early September. This was the first semester I actually became a part of UNCG and Greensboro’s queer community (after 2 years/4 semesters being here, bless my little introverted soul). I was on the board for UNCG’s Queer Student Union and had just gotten my Paris Is Burning virginity broken at our first movie showing. It was my second time being in a club. My first was at Legends in Raleigh with a couple friends from school, but we were all 18, barely knew each other, and stayed in the corner for half the night. We went to Chemistry as a group, board members and some organization members, which helped introduce the club as a place to go with my new “family”. It was a night of firsts that easily became “the regular” as I became a usual at Chemistry (sorry, Mom. I know, yeah, I should be spending this time studying.)
Tuesday’s karaoke nights are hosted by Niel Reyes, a lively freshman at UNCG who is not afraid to call you out on your off-key rendition of the theme from Phantom of the Opera. The ratio of college students to adults is almost perfect. Meaning there will be a lot of pop, rock, and trap, but there will also be a good mix of 90's R&B, broadway, and disco. There are some “usuals” that I run into every time I attend: the small group of UNCG students who sing Wicked and Fall Out Boy, the guy that feels inclined to bring back The Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang (to which I always pelvic thrust to like a middle schooler, so let me hush), the fabulous older ladies who dress in their best and wow us with some Celine Dion, and the guy that always ends out the night with Afroman’s "Because I Got High." Karaoke nights are the place to go if you’ve had a long day and just want to pour your soul into a microphone for 3 minutes and 42 seconds.
Thursday’s drag nights are hosted by Chemistry’s performance director, Tia Chanella. Advertised as Dorm Thursdays, on this night, Chemistry will be overrun with college students who will spend half the night out on the back patio in groups smoking cigarettes, gossiping, and being admirably unapproachable. That is until the clock strikes 12:30am, Chemistry’s drag night theme begins to play, and everyone comes back inside and forms an arch around the stage to watch the performances. Drag nights usually consist of three queens (Drag kings are on Sundays but I’ve been hearing some rumors that our kings and queens will soon be sharing the same Thursday stage) who will have your heart, your attention, and your single dollar bills as they perform to their chosen music. Thursday’s drag nights are not the night to miss. Especially as a college student because the night is free for us.
Chemistry is one of my favorite places to go after a long day of nodding off in class. The staff is easy to get to know and they will know your name by your third visit. It’s a place for free entertainment, socializing, and a place to be unapologetically yourself as an LGBTQIA+ person. If the world were to end at 1:14am on a Friday morning, I’d be really glad to say I was a part of the people who got obliterated whilst trying to twerk to Nicki Minaj’s "Trini Dem Girls."
Tuesday’s karaoke nights are hosted by Niel Reyes, a lively freshman at UNCG who is not afraid to call you out on your off-key rendition of the theme from Phantom of the Opera. The ratio of college students to adults is almost perfect. Meaning there will be a lot of pop, rock, and trap, but there will also be a good mix of 90's R&B, broadway, and disco. There are some “usuals” that I run into every time I attend: the small group of UNCG students who sing Wicked and Fall Out Boy, the guy that feels inclined to bring back The Bad Touch by The Bloodhound Gang (to which I always pelvic thrust to like a middle schooler, so let me hush), the fabulous older ladies who dress in their best and wow us with some Celine Dion, and the guy that always ends out the night with Afroman’s "Because I Got High." Karaoke nights are the place to go if you’ve had a long day and just want to pour your soul into a microphone for 3 minutes and 42 seconds.
Thursday’s drag nights are hosted by Chemistry’s performance director, Tia Chanella. Advertised as Dorm Thursdays, on this night, Chemistry will be overrun with college students who will spend half the night out on the back patio in groups smoking cigarettes, gossiping, and being admirably unapproachable. That is until the clock strikes 12:30am, Chemistry’s drag night theme begins to play, and everyone comes back inside and forms an arch around the stage to watch the performances. Drag nights usually consist of three queens (Drag kings are on Sundays but I’ve been hearing some rumors that our kings and queens will soon be sharing the same Thursday stage) who will have your heart, your attention, and your single dollar bills as they perform to their chosen music. Thursday’s drag nights are not the night to miss. Especially as a college student because the night is free for us.
Chemistry is one of my favorite places to go after a long day of nodding off in class. The staff is easy to get to know and they will know your name by your third visit. It’s a place for free entertainment, socializing, and a place to be unapologetically yourself as an LGBTQIA+ person. If the world were to end at 1:14am on a Friday morning, I’d be really glad to say I was a part of the people who got obliterated whilst trying to twerk to Nicki Minaj’s "Trini Dem Girls."
Photo by Jeffrey Tullis
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