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![_Heat Things Up With <em>Desire</em> at the Blanton [Art Preview]](http://austinist.com/assets_c/2010/02/minter-thumb-110x110-478584.jpg)
Heat Things Up With Desire at the Blanton [Art Preview]
Back in 2007, most of you regarded the opening of Pangaea, the safari-themed "ultra lounge" in the Warehouse District, with a mixture of skepticism and bemusement. "I am not sure this type of bar will make it in Austin," predicted Kat1016p. "It will be fun at first but in the long run Austin is not the place for it."
The nightclub's owner, Michael Ault, had told the Statesman at the time that the club was meant to be a "deeply freeing place ... designed to appeal to the primal in all of us."
"I think people go out into the night to be somewhere they haven't, to be someone they weren't," said Ault. "They act way out of bounds."
Despite a bottle service that started at $150 and attempts to expand their demographic, the club failed to weather the current economic crisis and shuttered its doors in mid-July (coincidentally, the same weekend as East Austin's Peacock Lounge). There's no word yet on what new bar or club will take over the space, or whether they're planning to auction off any of those stuffed animal heads.
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Pangaea was full of BS from the start. Even at the end, they falsely claim "2 magical years". They were only open for 1 year 7 months, (a full 5 months short of 2 years). Claiming 2 years sounds like the same math style used to jack up their bottle prices.
Statesman had a blurb on this a couple weeks ago. Ownership hasn't changed, owner says they're remodeling and will open something else there.
Hopefully there will be plenty of trash cans to toss those bags of douche into.
OHHH NOOOOOOOOO!
You know what would go really great at that spot? An Alamo Drafthouse!
Just kidding, Ritz is great, but it hasn't stopped me from thinking nostalgically about the original every time I've walked past this ridiculous club.
Yeah, Statesman said they're just reopening it as "The Phoenix":
http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/nation/2009/07/14/0714makers.html
Uh oh, is Pangaea mgmt spewing more lies? Are they changing owners or just acting like it to win customers back?
From the Statesmen:
Michael Ault, the international club founder and Pangaea lead partner, says the upstairs spot will come with "new staff, new owners, new everything."
For supposedly new owners, he sure knows a lot about the forthcoming decor.
Since the last club was tacky dead animal decor perhaps with the chandeliers and "16th and 17th century paintings" it will be Marquis de Sade themed.
Why are people getting so personal about a bar closing? Pangaea wasn't the right fit for Austin that is a no brainer but who cares? Has anyone googled Michael Ault? I mean the guy is known for trying to create places for people to go and have a good time. Hopefully he has a better feel of Austin now. And as far as new owners why does he need to lie about that? Are people really that bored here in Austin that we talk about people changing up their bar? No business can be successful if things are falling apart behind the scenes so give this poor guy a break. We shouldn't be so anti out-of-towners. We welcome anyone in the music industry? Why not be more welcoming to someone who just wants us to have a good time. These comments seem oddly personal. He didn't even run the place from what I could tell? I went to Pangeae in the begining and it definetly needed an austinite to tell them "what's up". I for one though am all about new scenes here in Austin. Its small and could use another cool place to hear some music or get a drink. Let them fix it and 're-open' hopefully for all of us it will be a positive addition to Austin.
Yeah I googled Michael Ault, he's known for being a spoiled rich kid that wants to get even richer by overcharging for drinks. Of course he didn't run the place, he's above doing actual work.
Ooooh, poor little Michael Ault, he justs wants to have a good time...boo hoo hooo...
Michael Ault puts himself in the spotlight. We react to what he says when he puts the spotlight on himself and his "good time" image. You can call it personal, but Mike's the one putting himself as the personal focal point of the business.