Mix Ultralounge features a big city feel in Springfield
by Sara Ritsch
Staff Writer
Jeremy Kirkland went from a fake ID and dreams of being a pharmacist to opening one of Springfield’s most well-known straight friendly video bars, Mix Ultralounge. At Mix, there is something going on every night of the week (besides Sunday). It is impossible to have a dull time when the audio and visual aesthetics are so in sync – and that’s the Mix specialty.
Being a video bar means featuring screens all around the building. So, whatever you hear is accompanied by its music video. “It’s more than screens and lights, it’s actually the video,” Kirkland explains. Did I mention aesthetics?
Modeled after video lounge Side Track in Chicago, Mix Ultralounge includes two projectors above the bar. The bar itself, laid with bricks, has LED lights above and below it “for shadows and colors,” and to the right and left are two 70-inch canvas screens. There are four flat panels throughout the bar.
After working as a DJ for years, Kirkland decided to move forward into the business of working with people. “I thought I was going to be a pharmacist,” he jokes. “Somehow this happened.”
Quoting his regulars at his previous job at Martha’s Vineyard, an 18+ bar in Springfield, MO, he says, “’We just come here to see you!’”
Kirkland knew he wanted more than just to be a DJ or bartender. “I needed to move on. There was a market for something different. I heard this straight bar had been sold, and struck up a deal January 1, 2012.
“The gay community, from the beginning, jumped right on it. It’s been fantastic,” Kirkland says. The city of Springfield is wonderful; we haven’t run into anything negative at all.”
Mondays feature show tunes and one dollar well drinks, Tuesdays are Bingo night with a Happy Hour all evening, Wednesdays are karaoke night – a personal favorite – Thursdays feature $3 Absolut cocktails, Fridays are another evening of show tunes and Saturdays feature $4 “freezer shots” with their top-shelf liquor. Happy Hour is every day from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., when you can get a dollar off on everything except shots.
Mix Ultralounge is 21+ and is open nightly from 5 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. but closed Sundays. Dubbed “a great place to mingle and tingle,” it is great for parties or just an evening out. Visit their website at www.SpringfieldMix.com.
Copyright 2016 The Gayly - 8/21/2016 @ 12:28 p.m. CDT.