Velvet - Speakeasy. 426 St Gabriel
In Auberge St-Gabriel
Sous une vieille auberge Montréalaise, existe depuis 1754 une grande pièces aux murs de pierres. On longe ensuite un grand couloir de pierres uniquement éclairé de cierges. Mille bougies déversent leur cire sur le sol. La fumée opaque encercle des dizaines de corps qui s’agitent sur une piste de danse. Une femme vêtue d'une robe moulante
aux motifs léopard ondule sur le dossier d’un canapé de style Louis XV. Deux barmaids vêtues de façon quasi identique distribuent drinks et sourires racoleurs. On a l’impression d’être dans un tripot clandestin branché, un bar underground de New York ou un Speakeasy londonien. Nous sommes au Velvet Speakeasy, club situé sous l’Auberge Saint-Gabriel du Vieux-Montréal. Le Velvet s’est rapidement imposé comme étant LE club le plus branché de Montréal. S’y entassent les plus hot fashionistas, hipsters, DJ’s, designers, artistes, mais aussi les starlettes trash, mecs lookés et travestis excentriques. Talons hauts vertigineux. Décolletés agressifs. Mini-jupes scandaleuses. Tout est follement excitant, chic, sexy. La carte des boissons, complètement éclatée, participe à la réputation du club. On y consomme à gros prix des mélanges recherchés et inusités d’alcools forts, d’épices, de fines herbes et de fruits divers. Explosion d’originalité, de qualité. Mais attention, on ne fréquente pas le Velvet que pour y jouer les stars. L’établissement mise sur les meilleurs DJ’s émergents et ceux de calibre international, en provenance de partout dans le monde. On sent qu’au Velvet, tout est permis. On s’étonne même de devoir quitter l’endroit à 3h du matin...
ENGLISH //
Velvet - Speakeasy. 426 St Gabriel
At the Auberge St-Gabriel
Inside the under-belly of a historic Montreal inn built in 1754, is a gorgeous stone-walled room. To get there, one must enter the Inn and then be escorted by a doorman towards the basement. After making your way down a long, dark, candle-lit corridor, you have arrived in what can only be called a parallel universe. A thousand candles slowly drip their wax onto the floor. Thick smoke surrounds a hundred bodies entranced to the sounds of the music on the dancefloor. A woman in a provocatively tight leopard-print dress slowly moves her figure from side to side, while lounging on a Louis XV sofa. Two barmaids in quasi-identical dresses distribute drinks, cocktails and friendly smiles. One gets the impression of being in a clandestine yet trendy dive, a London speakeasy, or a prohibition-era New York bar. Welcome to Velvet Speakeasy, a nightclub situated in the basement of the Auberge Saint-Gabriel in Old-Montreal. Velvet rapidly imposed itself as THE trendiest nightclub in Montreal, a city internationally renown for its nightlife. The hottest fashionistas, hipsters, Djs, designers, artists, religiously flock every week along with trashy starlets, pretty boys with hair to make a woman jealous, and eccentric transvestites. Vertiginous high heels. Aggressive cleavage. Scandalous minis. Everything to make your experience insanely exciting, chic, and sexy. The drinks menu, absolutely mind-blowing, participates in the club's reputation. One can find on it well-researched and unusual mixtures of hard liquor, spices, fine herbs and diverse fruits. An explosion of originality and quality. But beware, one does not frequent Velvet to pretend stardom. The establishment has its base deeply-rooted in the city's best underground electronic music DJs, as well as with high caliber guest artists from around the Planet. Once inside Velvet, you get a feeling that anything goes. You may even be surprised to realize that you actually have to leave at 3am...
