The Hop West - Asheville

I have to say that the music was great, but I had a really unfortunate experience as the only person of color there last night (aside from one male backup singer). I was accused of stealing a CD from the artist's table—though I can't recall the artist's name, she was a young woman playing guitar and singing about birds. I assured the lady that I hadn’t taken anything, but she continued to press me about a missing CD. In an effort to prove my innocence, I lifted my shirt to show that I was wearing tight jeans and had nothing to conceal. Eventually, she realized that it was just my cell phone in my back pocket. This whole situation really put a damper on my night.

The Mothlight is quite a unique venue—small, intimate, and a bit grungy. Four of us attended an event called "Everything is Terrible" on a Friday night, where we watched an unconventional compilation of thousands of 2-second clips pieced together to create an incoherent story that mocked religion and religious education. It was a ticketed event, and before we even entered, people approached us asking to buy tickets, which made me feel oddly judged and a little annoyed. We didn’t realize the event was sold out, and by the time we arrived around 9 pm, the place was already dark and packed, leaving only standing room. The beer prices were relatively cheap, and I appreciated the eclectic atmosphere and the wide variety of shows and events they offer. Overall, it was a cool experience!

Oh man, this place is awesome, awesome, awesome. Shout out to the incredible bartender who, without even being asked, offered to set aside the last Truly (alcoholic spritzer that's surprisingly delicious, for the uninformed) for me after I ordered my first one. I mean, how sweet is that? Besides the wonderful staff, the venue is pretty epic on its own. It's beautiful, it has so much character, and the acoustics are spot-on. I saw mewithoutYou earlier in the week and I've seen them many, many, many times; this was undoubtedly the place they've sounded the best. Great area for merch, great area in the back for relaxing/game-playing, great bar. I only wish this place was in Charlotte instead of Asheville!

The staff was friendly, the acoustics were really good, I loved the layout, there is a good sized dance floor. I'm giving only 3 stars for one reason it was unbelievably dark. I mean, I love a good, dark dive bar but this was the darkest bar I've ever been in. I was roaming around looking for my friends and I literally couldn't see well enough to find them. I counted maybe 6 dimly lit bulbs in the entire front of the venue, and all but one were suspended over the bar. Even with that, the guy next to me couldn't see the beer taps that were 6 feet in front of him. It's a bad feeling to be unable to see at all in a bar packed full of people. That being said, if they would just fix the lighting (as in, provide even a tangible level of it) it would be a really awesome place.

We had a great time at The Mothlight during storytelling night. Several patrons shared short stories about their personal experiences, and there were definitely some hilarious moments. Each storyteller received scores from three different judging teams. The venue isn’t very large, but it’s comfortably sized. It was quite crowded, and even though we arrived 15 minutes early, we had to stand due to the full house. There were plenty of bartenders available, so we didn’t have to wait long for service. The lighting made it difficult to capture good photos, but I gave it a shot anyway. The audience was diverse, mostly younger individuals, but there were also attendees in their 50s and older. Parking was easy; we found a spot in the church lot across the street. The staff at the entrance were friendly and accommodating. We didn’t stay for the whole show, so I’m not sure who won the storytelling, but we thoroughly enjoyed our time there!