Bar Review - The light at the end of the clubbing tunnel

I've been on the Atlanta club scene since 1996. I remember when 559 was the place to get crunk. I was in Buckhead during its heyday. I was hanging in the streets when Cobalt died. I watched as Club ESSO had the lights turned out. And I've seen little bitty Kaya blossom into such a lovely Vision.

On Friday nights, Vision is the place to be for the 25-and-over crowd. It's an attractive spot, both inside and out. From outside, the building appears to be made of glass and is lit with blue lights. Inside, the club is lit like no other around. Most nightclubs are so dark that when you wake up with your hangover the next morning, you're scared to call the digits you got from that "hot girl" the night before. At Vision, this is not a problem: The house lights are brought down, with a mixture of neon blue and some other fluorescents. You can actually see what people look like. What a novel idea.

The entire club just has a sexy feel to it. The dress code here is strictly enforced: No jeans, ball caps, sneakers or athletic gear are permitted. Gentlemen should wear a shirt with a collar and hard sole shoes. Ladies, dress sexy and you'll be fine.

The bar area is pimped out. The surface is a hypnotic blue, it's fully stocked with top shelf liquors, and they have a ready supply of bubbly chilling in the fridge for all those ballers out there. There is a noticeable lack of beer varieties, but besides that, everything else is cool.

The club has two huge dancefloors, three lounge areas and several VIP sections. Frank Ski — host of the "Frank Ski Morning Show" on WVEE-FM (103.3) — can pack both dancefloors, make people at the bar start swaying from side to side, and folks in the lounge area get their groove on. Being that this party was for the 25-plus crowd, or as Ski would put it, "for all my grown and sexy people," they had to take it back with some old school hip-hop joints mixed in with some '80s R&B bangers, such as "Candy Girl" by New Edition, "Before I Let Go" by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, and of course, you know we had to have some old-school Michael Jackson in there.

I have to give Ski all the props in the world, that brother can throw a party.

Vision Nightclub & Lounge, 1068 Peachtree St. 404-874-4460. Thurs.-Sun., 9 p.m.-3 a.m., Fri. 5-8 p.m. (happy hour).