Alternative Dance
A brief guide on where to find the most happening, hip and hard-core dance clubs in the three Baltic capitals.

In Tallinn / In Riga / In Vilnius

Tallinn Taciturn they may be. But Estonians have gone hog wild for club music. A hardcore dance-music scene barely existed five years ago—now, it’s booming. Organizers of the biggest, best and craziest dance parties are Vibe and Mutant Disco, both of which put on bashes at warehouses and old industrial sites. Try www.vibe.ee  and www.mutantdisco.com  for updates on party venues. You can call Vibe directly at tel. 666-3166. Vibe recently opened an exclusive night club, Prive, at Harju 6, (J-2). Among the best DJs in Estonia are Vibe’s DJ Meri and DJ P Julm; Mutant Disco’s Raul Saaremets and Rhythm Doctor are also top-notch. Several stationary venues have also become hotbeds of cutting edge dance music. Café VS, (C-3) at Pärnu mnt 28, tel. 627-2627, is leading the way in Estonia. It’s excellent. The more bohemian Levist Väljas, (H-3) Olevimägi 12, also dabbles in house.  Other popular but more commercial clubs are the huge Terrarium, at Sadama 6 (B-4), and Hollywood, in the old city at Vana-Posti 8 (I-2).         Also see this site's Tallinn Nightclub section, here. Riga Riga's long shown a real aptitude for progressive dance music-more so, some argue, than Tallinn or Vilnius.  The well-established Nobody Writes to the Colonel (Pulkvedim Neviens Neraksta) has championed harder core, less-commercial dance sounds for years; Peldu 26/28 (I-3). Another daring, ultra hip dance club is M-808, just outside the old city at Lacplesa 5 (B-4); tel. 7240-633; http://m.808.lv;  this is a Mecca for the country's cutting edge DJs, including DJ Kin, Bogdans Tarans and DJ Raitis. A newer, forward-thinking club is Nautilus, at Kungu 8 (J-3); tel. 781-4477-they like to boast about their bone-jarring 12kW speaker system. You get a credit card as you go in, pay as you leave; www.nautilus.lv. A less polished but no less fun option is the new Depo, at (J-5) Valnu 32, tel. 722-0114; plays trance, dance, electro with well-known Latvian DJs.       A more commercial, but extremely popular dance club is La Rocca (B-5), Brivibas 96-reportedly the largest such dance club in the Baltics; tel. 7506-030.        A good dance party promoter/organizer-a la Estonia's Vibe and Mutant Disco-is Varka Crew. They have a website in English at www.varka.org; which includes performance locations. You can also call them at tel. 9286-259 or 9208-478.  Another good site is www.JaffaRiga.lv; they have dance-club news, party venues and links. Also see this site’s Riga Nightclub section, here. Vilnius The dance scene in Vilnius has, somewhat undeservedly, had the reputation of lagging behind Riga and Tallinn. But this, at least partly, has to do with a wider range of musical tastes here; there are strong followings for death metal, hardcore punk, reggae, jazz and the like. That can’t be said, say, for Tallinn. Committed clubbers, however, need not fear: you can get satisfaction in Vilnius. A clearinghouse of information about non-club-based parties is the largest party organizer in Lithuania, Ore; see their up-to-date calendar of events at www.ore.lt/kal.html; you can also email them at ore@ore.lt. The best option might be to call tel. (370) 687-96475. Ore organizes at least one big party a month, and several smaller ones in between. An Ore spokesman said their DJs stress “nu-jazz, nu-funk, breakbeats, deep and spacey house.” Boogaloo organizes about one party per month and often at an offbeat location, like a library or gallery. The crowd is young and funky. To find out where and when, ask cool-looking people on the street, they’ll know (really); or see www.boogaloo.lt. Other party organizers include Good Will People (techno and drum ‘n bass) and Metro Crew (techno). These roaming parties are held in warehouses, printing plants and even at former Soviet bases in and around Vilnius. Landlocked venues also feature dance music, though often of the more commercial variety. The semi-underground Green Club is punk oriented but also dabbles in dance club music. They’re shy about publishing their address, but you can call Ore (above) for their coordinates. Among the top DJs in Vilnius are Soulus Macoulus, DJ Mamania and DJ Halusin. Also see this site’s Vilnius Nightclub section, here.                                         —CITY PAPER-The Baltic States