A decade after it rocked into Charlotte nightlife, Mythos celebrated 10 years in 2004
We’ve been on a time machine revisiting the Charlotte legendary nightclub Mythos this week. Today is no exception, when we return to the year 2004.
Ten years after the Mythos opened in uptown, it was still going strong. It held a solid place in 2004’s Charlotte social scene, which was no easy feat: Lots of new places were opening up, and we all know how Charlotte (still) loves its shiny and new.
And already by 2004, Mythos was being credited for starting the nightlife growth in uptown. People stopped abandoning center city at 5 p.m.
“I grew up in Charlotte,” Mythos owner Andy Kastanas told me recently. “Twenty years ago, Charlotte was a much cooler scene musically and artistically than it was today.”
Back then, he told me, the South was a testing ground for new dance music. “’If it makes it there, it’ll make it anywhere,” he said.
Well, it’s no wonder those who remember the nightclub are looking forward to its upcoming reunion. (ICYMI, Mythos is coming back for one night only).
So for today’s Charlotte Observer archives find, let’s go back to April 16, 2004, when the club was celebrating double digits:
From the archives: Mythos: 10 years of having last laugh. Club owners started entertainment district with 1993 opening
Published: 4/16/2004
Byline: Doug Smith
The funky dance club credited with triggering the growth of nightlife in Charlotte’s center city is going on 11 years old.
“A lot of people said we were crazy,” said Gus Georgoulias who opened Mythos at 300 N. College St. on Dec. 15, 1993, with DJ Andy Kastanas and other partners.
That’s because everyone - except them, apparently - understood Charlotteans fled to the suburbs after work and stayed there on weekends.
To toast their decade of success challenging conventional wisdom, the owners are hosting a 10th anniversary celebration at the club Saturday.
But if you ask me, the city and dozen-plus clubs, restaurants and entertainment venues that followed them to the area around College and Sixth streets should be throwing them a party.
“What Mythos did was bring a totally new and visionary type of entertainment to the center city,” said Tim Newman, president of Charlotte Center City Partners. “They really were the first stake in the ground.”
The music was loud and progressive. People of different races and sexual orientation filled the dance floor. And young patrons displayed clothing and hairstyles considered alternative by mainstream Charlotte.
Today, Mythos is still urban and edgy, attracting world-famous entertainers and clubbers Georgoulias describes as less funky and more traditional “now that everyone wants to be uptown.”
More than 8,500 people live in the center city, and 55,000 people work uptown weekdays.
Many are staying after 5 p.m. and returning on weekends because of the dance, dining and entertainment establishments that followed Mythos.
In 1995, the club’s partners bought the warehouse where it started and leased space to Bar Charlotte and Have A Nice Day Cafe on the back side of the building, on an alley between Sixth and Seventh streets.
They started Cosmos Cafe in 1997 at the corner of the warehouse diagonally across from where Bank of America opened the 46-story Hearst Tower in 2002.
In 1998, the bank completed Seventh Street Station - a 10-story parking deck that includes ground-level tenants Reid’s Fine Foods, LaVecchia’s Seafood Grille and Brixx Pizza.
Other projects brought additional office workers, residents and cultural attractions to the area north of The Square, creating more opportunities for entertainment and dining.
ImaginOn, the combination children’s library and Children’s Theatre, is under construction and due to open a block away at Sixth and Brevard streets in fall 2005.
And Charlotte’s new arena is to open in fall 2005 on East Trade Street, roughly two blocks to the south of Mythos.
To newcomers accustomed to big-city life, the evolution of our nightlife and entertainment district might not seem like much of an accomplishment.
But to give you an idea how far we’ve come, city leaders had to create an artificial nightlife district - the Street of Champions - from empty buildings on South Tryon during the 1994 NCAA Men’s Final Four basketball tournament.
Nightclubs come and go as patrons switch allegiances, which makes Mythos’ longevity even more unusual.
Georgoulias believes one key to its success is the owners’ continual tweaking and enhancing in an effort to offer clubbers “something new and better.”
In 1998, for example, they invested $350,000 to upgrade the sound system.
Said Newman: “My perception is Gus and Andy are shrewd and thoughtful business people they’ve managed to reinvent themselves and keep it fresh.”
The club has evolved beyond music and dance, hosting DJ events, fashion shows, theme parties and charitable events.
Looking at their events calendar for 8 p.m. Tuesday, I wonder if this is right: Playboy’s 50th anniversary party?
That’s correct, Georgoulias said. It’s part of a 50-state tour. The magazine picks a club in one city in each state for the event.
Tickets cost $65. Guests will see a retro Playboy club, 10 Playmates and magazine founder Hugh Hefner’s bed.
Hmmm. Sounds like the alternative nightclub is still diversifying.
More Mythos nostalgia
We’ll be here all week, friends. Come back to CharlotteFive.com for more reports from The Charlotte Observer’s archives as we ramp up to the Mythos reunion:
Monday: “New club a sleek addition to uptown’s nightlife,” published Dec. 24, 1993.
Tuesday: “Boogie Knight rides uptown,” published September 13, 1999.
Thursday: “Mythos opened door for uptown nightlife. Club’s closing marks the end of an era in city’s cultural evolution,” published June 13, 2004.
