For reasons I still don’t fully understand, almost every disco in Medellin, if not all of Colombia, requires a theme.
After the opening fireworks for La Feria de las Flores, it began to rain, so I suggested to Troy and the three ladies we were with that we grab a taxi to Trilogia Bar in Barrio Colombia.
We drove there by way of a detour all the way down to Itagui so Troy could drop off his camera equipment. Â It was raining hard, and we only had the one umbrella he picked up at his apartment.
When we got out at Trilogia, they ID’d everyone, but the ladies, who were all in at least their 20’s, didn’t have anything. Â Troy pointed me toward a cop who was hanging around outside the club as the reason the doorman was being so stringent.
Plan C was thus created, and we walked over to the club next door, which just so happened to be called Indiana, as in Indiana Jones.
The exterior was painted like a stone fortress, and inside, murals from various Indiana Jones movies decorated the walls.
That was the extent of the movie-related design features, however I suppose it’s enough for it to set itself apart from those silly clubs without a theme!
We ordered a bottle of rum, and some Cokes for mixing. Â Troy comandeered a bucked of ice so we weren’t dependent on the wait staff for refills. Â The typical finger food of popcorn and salted mango were served.
The music was classic Colombian “crossover” which is most often a mix of salsa, meringue, vallenato, and reggaeton.
The club was nowhere near capacity, and I imagine that’s because everyone was in the other clubs like Trilogia where I wanted to be!
Male and female go-go dancers provided some entertainment for the partygoers, however I found the cavernous interior space to be a bit depressing. Â Maybe with more people, it’d feel different, but I won’t be going back to find out.
All that said, you can make up for a lot with a bottle of Medellin Anejo Ron on your table.
 in Barrio Colombia, Medellin.){kind=link}
I saw this place a few months ago, passed by their opening week. To tell you the truth I am surprised they are still open.
In Medellin, there is only so much room for cheesy theme bars, and with Mango’s already stealing the show with their Mickey Mouse cowboy vaudeville routine, I can’t see the Indiana Bar with much of a future. I found it to be one of Medellin’s worst black holes, hitting every mark of bad taste on the way down to a cheap black-lit nightmare. More like Indiana’s Temple of a Doomed Business. Nonetheless, as far as MED LIVING goes, I’d say stick with the content that makes for good recommendations and leave the garbage behind…there’s a lot of it. We wait for recommendations, not for depressing nights out.
Good advice Robin — going forward I’ll stick to reviewing the clubs I enjoy the most!
I don’t know, think you should review what you see. If it’s bad, say it so others know. If it’s good, then for sure let us know and why! Websites aren’t traditional media (like magazines, news papers exc) that have limited room for content. So writing about all is within the real because if it’s not what your looking for, then it’s just a click off from something else.
I think if anything, you should be writing more reviews on events and clubs in Medellin. As Robin said, there are a lot here and most don’t have much written on them (god or bad) and only maybe 1% even have there own website. Hell there is enough content here that isn’t being done that you could make a whole new website about it (in English please).
Just my 2 cents worth… 🙂
Yeah, there are some websites in Spanish about Colombian nightlife, but there’s a huge opening for sites in English. Of course Robin is on the scene, and I could probably step it up and take a more methodical approach to covering the club scene. I just wonder if the club managers recognize the return on investment if they were to give me access for free (I’d hit a bunch of clubs every weekend in that case!)
Well, I think the idea of a themed club or bar is one of those things where if it’s done right it’s friggin’ AWESOME (that bar made entirely of ice comes to mind, super super cool IMO), but it’s really, really easy to screw up and as a result 90% of the time it is :/
Cheers,
Andrew