Sound + vision

You know you're in a different kind of Minneapolis nightclub when a violinist -- yes, a guy playing a violin -- suddenly appears in the crowd and begins playing along to the DJ's chest-pounding house beats. With a futuristic-looking electric violin, no less.

But clubgoers have come to expect this kind of peculiar flair from Johann Sfaellos, the club maestro who's been out of the scene for more than a year. After cutting ties with Visage last summer, and selling the Lounge the year before that, Sfaellos spent most of the past 12 months in Colombia, Turkey and his home country of Greece.

Now he's back with Soundbar, and a new bag of tricks.

The club is a couple doors down from Visage, along 3rd Avenue N., that short one-way street on the other side of 394. The space had been vacant for a while, after housing a tattoo parlor and some underground parties.

For some time, Sfaellos has had an idea for a club that'd be all about images, with video screens wrapping around the room -- a la Imax, but on a more intimate scale.

All he needed was a midsize room with a central column that wouldn't get in the way.

"When I saw [the space], I knew right away that this was the one that would work," he said.

Here's all the cool new stuff Sfaellos is offering:

First, the visuals. They're bananas. He's going for something that hasn't been done in Minneapolis: The music, lighting and images all interact for one full-on experience -- or "sensory overload," as he describes it. LED lighting along the walls and under the tables will move with the beat of the music. It also will adapt to the colors of images cast onto the walls from seven projectors. And the screen images -- everything from kung-fu flicks to music videos to nature scenes -- will cut and jump to the beat.

How does this all happen? Sfaellos' tech guy tried explaining it to me -- something about MIDI interfaces, LED nodes and multiple servers -- but that just hurt my brain. "Basically," he said, "it's an experience that includes the audio, the video and the lighting working together." Got it.

The second cool thing: the club has made paying your tab sort of fun (if that's possible). Now, when you pay with plastic, you'll no longer have to wait for the bartender to run your card and then sign a receipt that's gotten all wet and gross on the countertop. Instead, the bartender or server will bring you a handheld device that looks like a thick TV remote. With it in hand, you'll swipe your card and type in the tip yourself, and out prints your receipt. (No cords, either, it's all wi-fi.)

Sfaellos said these little devices are used all over Europe, but Soundbar is the first place in Minnesota to utilize them. A local Web company, Evolve, is helping to introduce the doohickeys (made by VeriFone in San Jose) into more Minnesota bars and restaurants. Genius.

And third: Regular VIP guests no longer have to show cards to get in for free (which is what you get for being a VIP). Instead, Soundbar is equipped with a fingerprint recognition system. VIPs simply scan their fingertip at the front door and off they go. How do you become a VIP? Simply become a regular at the club.

Then there's the music. The music is a mix, but in the main room, it's dominated by house beats. Funk, hip-hop and R&B will always be in the small front room. Live instrumentalists also will play every weekend. Besides the violinist, you can expect a sax player and some percussionists.

But will people come for house music in a club scene that has moved away from the electronic sound for Top 40?

"It's a small crowd, but they have no place to go, so they can come here," Sfaellos said. He's looking for clubbers with a "more specific taste in music."

Sfaellos opened quietly in October without any advertising, hoping to get feedback from friends as the club went along. Before last weekend's grand opening, he had splashed a darker color of paint on the main room, which had been all-white (it's "eggplant purple" now). And he's covered the front room with a local artist's work. A different artist will be featured each month. (Right now it's Victor Yepez.)

Touches like these have always given Sfaellos' clubs a more mature feeling -- something that's missing in downtown's superclubs, which are all about going crazy.

"It's not all about dancing," Sfaellos said. "It's about listening to cool music. And watching great visuals and having great conversation."

Cheers to that.

thorgen@startribune.com • 612-673-7909