Vitals: 802 E Whiting St., Tampa; (813) 221-2582; Saturday nights, doors open at 10 p.m. Women are admitted free, men pay $5 and drinks are $1 until 11 p.m. Admission is $10 for everyone after 11 p.m.; women must be 18 and men 21.
Proper attire: "It's not what you wear. It's how you wear it," so says the flier. So, pretty much anything goes.
The vibe: DJs spin dirty South, hip-hop and reggae in two rooms on Saturdays. The club also hosts live rap performances.
The spot: In the heart of downtown Tampa, Club Underground isn't hard to get to and there's plenty of parking either on the streets or in nearby lots. Word to the wise: You'll have to go through metal detectors to get in, so watch what's in your pockets. Inside, the dance floor is wide and open, very dark and decorated with a half-dozen different-sized disco balls hanging from the ceiling. Bass-thumping, eardrum-rattling crunk rocks the room, and women take care of the multiple bar stations. In an upstairs room are more disco balls and flat-screen TVs half the size of a movie screen. Different hip-hop music plays and the dance floor is much smaller - but not in a bad way; it makes for a more intimate setting. A long bar set deep into the floor is no higher than mid-thigh to a standing person. Kind of cool. For those with the strength to fight the beat, Club Underground has a dozen or more comfy black leather couches.
The juice: My Sex on the Beach was great - strong but still fruity. Even though it was kind of small, you can't beat the punch for the price - $7 - and the bartender was quick to serve.
The crowd: If you like late-night BET music videos, you'll be in heaven. Or put another way: Expect some raunchiness. For example, as the larger room on the main floor began to fill with folks 'round midnight, some chick wearing a skin-tight white "dress" hit the floor - literally hit the floor on her back. And let's just say there was nothing secret about her Victoria's, if you get the drift. What came next, is nothing I can accurately describe in a newspaper, not even in tbt*. But I can share that in a move straight from the pre-dawn broadcast BET show Uncut, a few of the guys circled around her and began pouring their drinks on her and throwing dollar bills at her. Security guards soon stepped in - but not in a way you might think. They began shining their flashlights in the woman's direction so everybody could get a good look. "Does this happen here every Saturday night?" I asked one of the security guards. He nodded his head "yes" and then hunched his shoulders as if to say "what are you gonna do?"
Final word: Now you know.
