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Those who know Webster Hall solely as the roomy host to ascendant indie-acts and faded legends alike will be surprised to hear that the faux-marble labyrinth often doubles as a real-life night club featuring cover-charged theme parties, big-name DJ sets, all-age nights, and the ever-popular “Girls Night Out,” starring the (reportedly) greatest set of all-male strippers in the tri-state area. The four-story, 40,000 square foot space includes a main stage, lined with balcony space on either end, as well as a few amenities and extras: an underground coat check, a large back-area bar (plus a few rarely-trafficked side bars,) bathroom attendants, and the Studio at Webster Hall, a smaller venue-within-a-venue home mostly to tiny Brooklyn bands. Attendees are usually too entranced by the spinning stage lights and gothic chandeliers to notice the multi-culti hieroglyphic hode-podge lining the venue’s wall; the upstairs unisex bathroom – complete with checkered, hop-style design and blackboard walls and chalk sticks on string to encourage scrawled musings from stall occupants – is harder to ignore. Most importantly, the house sound system’s crisp low end refuses to be ignored. — Patrick Coffee

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• Halloween 2006 Nightlife Guide (10/4/06)