Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series on DeKalb nightlife. This week will feature the various dance clubs in DeKalb. Next week will feature sports bars and live entertainment spots in town.

Tucked away in the vast corn country known as DeKalb is a social mecca so diverse and distinctive that most students may forget that they’re 60 miles away from downtown Chicago.

DeKalb’s nightlife encompasses everything from high-energy dance clubs to live bands which are ready and waiting to offer NIU students the very best in music, dancing and entertainment.

“If you can’t party with us, you can’t party.” is the slogan for McCabe’s social center located on 323 E. Licoln Highway.

In business since 1933, McCabe’s is not only the largest bar in DeKalb, it’s also the largest melting pot of customers in the area, said McCabe’s owner Glenn Goering.

“We try to accomodate everyone’s needs,” Goering said. McCabe’s offers a dance floor “with the most extensive light show in DeKalb”, dart machines, pool tables, video games, 12 televisions, DeKalb’s largest big screen TV (nine by 12 feet), a beer garden, and more.

Goering explained that most people come to McCabe’s to dance. “This is a party bar… I like to get the audience involved with our promotions. Sometimes on weekends we’ll have contests on the dance floor like limbo, hula hoop, and musical chairs,” Goering said.

About the service Goering commented, “Our bartenders are the best in the business due to personal, professional training and the staff’s primary job is to make sure everyone receives the best service and drinks in a friendly environment.”

In addition to the bar McCabe’s also provides a mobile disc jockey service and a bartending school.

To all NIU students Glenn sends his personal invitation, “come down and party with us.”

Located further down Lincoln Highway is another of DeKalb’s premiere dance clubs, Amnesia. With 700 square feet of marble dance floor and state of the art audio and light shows, Amnesia is described as “a high-energy nightclub/dance bar” by Manager Mike Carpenter.

“We have a definite, crowd-drawing atmosphere. We’re always having some type of promotional activity,” Carpenter said.

The Amnesia Club Dancers perform rehearsed routines for patrons and Wednesday through Saturday nights feature disc jockeys from Chicago, Carpenter said, adding that “they’re more experienced DJs than any others around.”

DeKalb’s Amnesia nightclub has been in business since January 1990 and offers Monday Pool Tournament Nights, Tuesday Ladies Nights, Wednesday High-Energy Alternative Nights, and a newly installed beer garden, he said.

Priding itself on decor, Amnesia’s dance floors are constructed of 19th century Italian marble, all the walls are hand-painted, and the club houses an 1896 Brunswick bar, Carpenter said.

NIU Senior Karin Ort said one of her favorite bars in DeKalb is Amnesia. “They play great music to dance to, create ambience with the light shows, and they have diverse crowds.”

At 1212 W. Lincoln Highway adjacent to the Days Inn of DeKalb is DeKalb’s Paradise Club. Lounge Manager James Parker desribes the club as “the best of both worlds. It’s classy. It’s not the typical college bar. It combines a dance nightclub atmosphere with a sit-down lounge.”

Parker said the club’s best feature is it’s unique atmosphere and superior staff. “I don’t lose employees from firing or quiting. They know that the Paradise Club is a special nightclub and they stay working until they graduate.”

Paradise club features a dance floor, pool tables, a six foot TV screen, dart machines and pinball along with popular Thursday draft specials and Saturday party pail specials.

Parker said he thinks students are beginning to realize what the Paradise Club has to offer. “The Paradise Club is becoming one of the first stops of the night, but students are enjoying themselves so much that they end up staying until close… We keep getting busier and busier all the time,” Parker said.

NIU Senior Susan Dykstra said one of her favorite bars to visit in DeKalb is the Paradise Club. “It’s a dance bar, but also it’s relaxed at the same time,” she said.

Ort also added that another of her favorite clubs in DeKalb is the Paradise Club. She said she enjoys the music they play and the atmosphere.

Located in the Greek row area of at 1027 Hillcrest is another main dance bar in DeKalb, The Jungle. Owner Lido Nebomiachi said “People like The Jungle because of its number one location, competitive prices, friendly service, and it has plenty of parking space.”

The Jungle, in its eighth year of business, is the only bar in DeKalb with two floors and two different dance floors, Nebomiachi said, “with a lot of light displays and very good music. We also offer a big screen TV, dart games, pool tables, and foosball games.”

Nebomiachi said one of The Jungle’s best specials is Thursday and Friday night 50 cent watermelon shots. Another feature Nebomiachi stressed about The Jungle is the convienence of a liquor store next door.

The Jungle features Tuesday reggae and blues nights, Wednesday rock ‘n’ roll nights with free pizza at midnight, and Thursday, Friday, Saturday dance nights, Nebomiachi said.