Swipe a computerized pass at the door and walk past the velvet rope.
Present a club-issued plastic credit card to the bartender.
Sway to bubbly beats created by wireless sensors that convert thoughts and chemical impulses into music.
Strap on your anti-gravity dancing shoes – tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 2099.
Good times will be here to stay in the next millennium if your idea of fun is putting on a pair of goggles and tuning into a “psychedelic, holographic, three-dimensional” nightclub where you can get down with the imaginary partner of your choice.
“You could dance with Cindy Crawford,” said Manhattan club promoter Mark Baker. “You’ll be able to have sex with your favorite film star.”
When asked to envision the future of night life, New York’s club personalities and other night crawlers described something along the lines of Studio 54 meets “The Matrix.”
Come nighttime, our great-great-grandkids will be stepping out into a brave new world of imaginary friends.
Actually, they might not have to step out at all, thanks to a trend that’s already beginning: e-clubs, bars and restaurants that are Webcasted into the bedroom, said Jon Gabel, CEO and co-creator of scenetrack.com, an online magazine and “online community.”
Never mind Hollywood – fashion magazines and nightclubs will be ruled by space-age divas and computer-generated pop stars, predicted one downtown night-life personality.
“The talent won’t exist in reality,” said Paul Lombardi, otherwise known as DJ Jane Doe, a Lower East Side spinner.
Some things, of course, will never change.
“People have been dancing for 10,000 years,” said Manhattan night-life impresario Peter Gatien, “and that’s going to continue.”
Today’s cocktail waitresses and bartenders may want to start looking for new jobs, said Marcus Linial, owner of Shine and The Cocktail Room clubs.
“Want a Bloody Mary?” asked Linial. “You are going to press a button and that Bloody Mary will be served.”
Forget the tips. Or any cash at all, for that matter.
“You won’t need any money,” said Chris Paciello, co-owner of Miami Beach’s Liquid, Bar Room and Joia. “You have a card, an account, and you are billed monthly.”