When editor extraordinaire Matt Driscoll suggests I check out the Nightgowns SXSW sendoff show for this week's column, I happily agree. See, Matt promises me a meat market of epic proportions, saying, "just about every hipster in Tacoma should be there." Every hipster in Tacoma, you say? Finally, a place where I'm surrounded by my plaid-wearing brethren.  

Upon entering The New Frontier Lounge in Tacoma, however, I quickly find that a night among my own doesn't guarantee fluid conversations and easy hookups.

The New Frontier is packed to capacity. Both the Nightgowns and the other band for the night, Follow the Kites, draw a crowd. Every seat in the lounge is occupied by young ladies wearing dark-colored scarves and young men in Clark's brand boots. Under the New Frontier's shining disco ball, patrons with fresh tattoos, fashionable black leggings and vintage coats line up for drinks. Pretty girls with dark hair wait by the stage. Attractive guys with single-color beanies sip tall cans of PBR. Yep, Matt was right. The New Frontier is hip. So hip, I feel like I've transported to a bar in Brooklyn.

But instead of feeling at ease among guys and girls who dress and talk like me, I clam up. Instead of making friends among the laughing, friendly young people, I find a quiet corner. I don't approach the cute girl with the white Barbados patch on her bag or the hot chica in the leopard print dress. I shy away, for the first time in a while conscious of what I'm wearing, how I'm holding myself.

What happened? Have all those nights spent at clubs where I stick out made me nervous when I actually fit in?   

Then the music starts up. People make their way to the stage. I join the throng, and we slowly nod and bop in the typical fashion of our generation. All around me, hipsters in face paint dance together. Some make out. Even on slower nights, my guess is The New Frontier facilitates synth-pop dancing and hipster hookups. That is, unless you've been out of the scene for a while.

The New Frontier Lounge

Open until 2 a.m.
301 E. 25th St., Tacoma
253.572.4020