After co-hosting a NYE dinner party, and spending countless hours cleaning, baking, and martini shaking, I decided it was time to move on from dinner party to the real party. Having been to Vancouver several times before, I heard tidbits about the Vancouver House scene but was never really sure where or what or who it was all about. A bunch of friends took me out to what is their only true after-hours in the city on New Years Day and I, over the course of the night, then began to figure out what all the hype was about.

Nobody talks about big DJs and nobody talks about big, glamorous clubs in Vancouver. But what people do talk about is Gorg-O-Mish. On Smithe St. in the heart of Vancouver lies an almost spotlessly clean and attractively designed after-hours club - if that even makes sense - cleverly tucked away from the bars and exotic nightspots of the adjacent Granville strip. Inside Gorg as it’s also commonly known, is a beautiful club space which features a main dance room, small lounge area, a bar, and a half decent sound system. The features not advertised on their website are those which most attract me to the club: controlled lighting (not only black lights or eerie darkness), friendly security staff, and mostly, super-clean bathrooms. If there was a contest for the worlds cleanest club bathrooms, Gorg would win hands down. And for once, that's something to be proud of at an after-hours club!

DJ Nicky Delgado (Vancouver) held the decks for the latter part of the night. Local DJs opened but Delgado threw down a wicked peak-time set. The crowd at Gorg was a very mixed crowd, not mixed as in gay or straight but rather in age and ethnicity. Although they certainly kept the dancefloor full throughout each DJ set, they were not well-versed on their Electronic genres or music in general. When Electro was played, you could hear someone shouting "Yeah. tribal baby!" but when tribal was played, you would hear another exclaiming "Man I love this electro track! " Are they confused in Vancouver? Certainly, but if you listen to the sounds of Gorg, or of other DJs at House venues in the city, you will begin to understand why. Vancouver DJs and clubbers alike are fond of Electribe, a hybrid of Electro and Tribal. Just as Montreal is known for Tech-House and New York is known for Progressive-Tribal, Vancouver appears to be a new hotspot for Electribe. The confusion over the music then made sense to me, but just like any other on the dancefloor, I danced along and pretended that I didn't notice.

Gorg-O-Mish is one tastefully appointed after-hours. At first glance, you wouldn't even think it was open past 3am because the club is so well up kept and the faces of its patrons are smiling and enjoying themselves rather than slumped over in the corner or passed out on a dirty couch in some backroom.

Props to the owners and staff for running such a discerning after-hours without the attitude or high cover charges and let Gorg-O-Mish set the bar for not only for other club owners, but also to after-hours partiers; if you respect a club and party responsibly, you may be rewarded with many things, perhaps for starters a clean washroom.