My Wife and I will be attending our first GenCon this year! Most of my questions have been worked out through forums/youtube/etc... but I dont see alot of people talking about GenCon festivities after everything's locked up for the night.
Is there a good place to grab a beer and find a pick up group? Late night EDM partys/clubs? Live Music/Performance Art/Comedy? I saw one year there was even a burlesque show?
Are these type of events for the more "adult" crowd pretty easy to find or is everyone generally in bed by 10? :)
Thanks Everyone!
Oh no, everyone is not in bed by 10pm, but then again, a lot of them are staying up all night gaming. You'll see quite a few Entertainment events (ENT) in the listing when they go live, and I could fill a book with places to grab a beer downtown, but top pics would be the Ram, Scotty's, Yard House, and any of the hotel bars.
Some years there have been more than one Burlesque show. :) The Glitter Guild have been there in the past - http://theglitterguild.com/
Beer & Pickup Group; I doubt you could find a Gen Con hotel that doesn't have people gaming in the lobby/foyer late into the night. Same goes for the hallways in the Convention Centre. For the 'beer' part, I know the little bar in the lobby at the JW had a solid supply of gamers almost all the time, so I'd hope there will be other hotels & bars doing the same thing.
EDM/Club; I am Old and Boring. I cannot help you. Sorry.
Live Music, Comedy, etc; There's a listing of the 2015 Entertainment Events marimaccadmin mentioned a few posts upthread. Should give you an idea of the sort of thing that happens at the Con. http://gencon.eventdb.us/category.php?EventType=ENT
Hope you have a fantastic time at your first Gen Con!
Thank you all for the replies! It's great to know that there will be gaming & hangout options for night owls. Also, I looked at the 2015 event list and WOW that's ALOT more possibilities than I imagined. Can't wait!!!
Downtown Indy has a ton of places to wet your whistle and game.
Music wise the Slippey Noodle is a fantastic blues bar with two stages. The Rathskellar has live music in their outdoor beer garden. Claughdaugh also may have limited live music. There's no stage, but I've seen small acts performing in front.
Not on expert on the clubs, but I don't believe Gencon has infiltrated that sector yet. I've seen lines to get into them and they are pretty obviously not Gencon people lining up to get in. If there was an actual hip EDM club downtown, well that would be the cat's meow.
Yeah, its actually pretty cool. Gen Con offers events around the clock, so all night long. Some of the late events are even adult themed and some offer alcohol. So there is always plenty to do. Theres also some good places to grab a drink and food. Scotties, The Ram, Tilted Kilt, The Claddagh.
There is usually a late night comedy event called Whose Line Is It Anyways - Be As Naughty As You Want To Be. Thats uaully a fun one.
For unmentioned night events: Damsels of Dorkington is a fun improv group worth checking out for their late night shows.
Aside from Burlesque shows, Cosplay Deviants is a group that sponsors a fun late night game show and another event that is a huge party.
Everything else has been mentioned. If you're bored at night, it's your own fault ;-)
Nightlife?? Between 8am playtest sessions and gaming to 1am, when is there time? I know "we will sleep after the Con" - but you have to sleep at least some to make it to Monday...
Realistically - the hardest this is always deciding what not to do - not finding something to do.
To echo what has been said above, Gen Con runs 24/7 for the whole con. Yes, the exhibit hall is only open from 10 to 6, but there are events all the rest of the time. (granted 1am to 8am is probably a light period). There are many "entertainment" events / shows at night - burlesque, comedy, puppets, videos and films. Gen Con Dance is Saturday at the Union Station.
Like games from a specific company - check their websites - may game companies will do events in the evening. For several years Steve Jackson took over a bar and turned it in to Muchkin Tavern. Colts Tavern has also hosted many company events.
Follow a gaming podcast - they may be having a meet up - last several years the Secret Cabal gaming podcast has had meet ups in a hotel bar. Also several of the podcasts do live recorded shows which are official events (Dice Tower, D6 Generation).
Bars - every bar downtown will be full go gamers. Scotty's and the Ram are the best known - but any bar downtown - you will find gamers to hand with.
Beer Garden - last several years Sun King brewery has produced officail Gen Con beer and had a beer garden on Gerogia Street co located with food trucks. Beer and good food truck food - a nice combo.
BEER!!! Beer itself is a topic by itself. Indy (like much of the country) has seen a craft brew explosion. Most is only available in the area. Every bar downtown (even in the hotels) has some selection of local craft beer available. Several have a very wide selection. Sun King, Tow Yard, and Two Deep are close by (Tow Yard is an easy walk) the other two are farther. Tomlinson Tap Room in the Indy City Market is all Indy craft beer and has hosted gaming group meet ups in the past. My guess is that there will be 3 beers brewed specially for the con Sun King (official), Ram, and Scotty's.
EDM/Dance: Okay, as a regular "old guy at the club," the place you're probably gonna want to check out is 247 Sky Bar on S. Meridian; they've had Gen Con-themed events before. Also, check to see if they've chosen to reopen the Ugly Monkey, which was a total dive that turned into a goth/industrial/electronic event for the span of the convention. Good luck.
For beer, I'd also recommend a Brewery Tour. They'll be on the GenCon event list under the SPA section usually. A little green bus picks you up from the convention center and takes you to local breweries where you can sample many local brews and take home growlers (make sure you have room in your hotel fridge!). I've been going for years and always have a blast.
Last year the "Advanced Dungeon & Deviants" party had an EDM DJ, don't know about this year.
I just wanted to add, that my gf and I found a few places if you want to get away from the crowds for a bit while at the con:
1. Nicky Blaines - really neat, classic cocktail and cigar bar right up the street on the corner across from the big soldiers monument in the center of town. Slight cover charge to get in, but the cocktails were yummy and reasonable, and the small plates were nice too. A 'in the downstairs' kind of place, lots of comfy leather sofas and chairs, a great place to relax after a long day at the con. Only reservation - place is very smoky as it is a cigar bar. Just be aware.
Here's the link: http://nickyblaines.com/
2. Brugge Brasserie - excellent belgian style beer, with a small but definitely well executed menu to match. Stopped here for lunch on Wend last year, and wish we could have stayed longer for sure, as the whole Broad Ripple area where it is located seemed to be a happening place with other breweries, resturants, vintage stores, etc.
Link: http://bruggebrasserie.com/
3. New Day Craft Cider - stopped here just before heading out on Sunday last year, and this was a excellent find! Realy nice variety of sweet and dry ciders and even mead. Located just south of downtown in Fountain Square, in cool little food/arts urban renewal area. Will defintely try to hit here again for some goodies to bring home!
http://www.newdaycraft.com/
The GenCon dance at Union Station looks pretty lively. How's that usually turn out? Going over the locations you all mention above it looks like we'll be taking over the entire core of downtown indy! haha
I completely underestimated how many cool things there would be to get into afterhours!
We do in fact take over the entire downtown Indy.
Keep in mind that there are a lot of off-books events as well.
If you wander the Convention Hall late at night, there are many assorted games of Werewolf and random board games.
Cards Against Humanity had a variety show (Concert Against Humanity) last year at a local concert venue, which Gen Con promoted through the newsletter.
I saw many pick-up games in hotel lobbies and lounges. There are lots of unofficial social events in the local bars too. Just keep your ears open and you'll catch wind.
Like others said, Gen Con runs 24 hours a day for nearly the entire 4 days.
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EDM I guess might depend on your taste of what you want to dance to and the price of drinks at a club, there is the Saturday Night Gen Con Dance every year and Cosplay Deviant's host a ticketed event that cost $ (about the same as a cover for a club really, or VIP ticket)
Last year the 'Beer Garden area' on Georgia street had performers every night I think at various time, there's defintely performer's in the ICC at various times doing everything from singing and playing music to belly dancing, there was a "Who's Line was It anyway?" show I tried last year that was fun.
And as previously mentioned there are two burlesque shows.
Staying up late is entirely up to you and what events come out this year, I would advise to try and get enough sleep. If you fall asleep during a game and start drooling or faceplant it's not fun to realize you felll asleep when you wake up and everyone is looking at you.