DJ Tiesto at Myth

I have never been a concert-goer, nor a big music person in general, as a matter of fact. The good scientist, however, is wayyyyy into trance music, and brought me with last night to see DJ Tiesto at Myth in Maplewood. (Yay, I learned how to link!)

It was quite the experience.

I was amazed at how packed the place was... and this is a venue with something like four times the capacity of your average downtown (Mpls) club. It was MOBBED. Crazy. 18+ too, I might add. (So many kids in braces it was bizarre.)

Anyway, in typical fashion, I was more interested in the club, the patrons, and the fact that this place is booming in Maplewood than I was in the actual show. (Don't get me wrong, Tiesto is impressive, but with 4 hours straight of ear-smashing trance, what's a person's mind to do but wander a bit?)

I have long been fascinated by the economics of entertainment, especially nightclubs, and I recall scoffing at the concept of Myth when I first heard about it. Alas it was obviously my Minneapolis-ophilism at work once again, and I was dead wrong. Suburban clubs DO appear to be flourishing...

(City Pages had an interesting article on this subject as well, I should add.)

So, okay, the following questions present themselves in view of this new suburban club phenomenon: To what extent will these clubs take business away from downtown Mpls? Do they even cater to the same audience? Does anybody really know? (I always thought I could tell suburbanites from city types at places like the Lounge and Quest and so on, but who really knows...) Also, I wonder how much the nightlife sector of downtown impacts other businesses, and what, if any, ripple effect there might be if people decide that it's too much bullshit to drive all the way to the warehouse district, pay to park, buy overpriced drinks and then fight traffic and police barricades on the way back home to, say, Woodbury?

I don't have a clue, but it's interesting to speculate...