Paul’s, The D and the soundtrack to Chapman’s Thursday nights
Photo Courtesy of The District Lounge
On any given off-night at Paul’s Cocktails, Orange locals sit and chat jovially at barstools, pool sharks pull cues off the wall and there’s room to walk freely. All of that changes, however, on Thursdays — known as “college night” around the Old Towne Orange bars.
It’s not every day you walk into a dive bar expecting classic rock and instead get hit with Don Toliver. On a Thursday at Paul’s, you’re just as likely to get either.
Paul’s sits next to The District Lounge (more commonly known as “The D”) on Chapman Ave., right off of The Circle. Thursday after Thursday, both bars are flooded with Chapman students. A lot of students aren’t likely to pay attention to the music in either bar — and even less likely to remember it the next morning. But while we’ve been partying, the music has quietly underscored the past years.
Paul’s, in part because of its cheaper college night drink specials and generally shorter line, is a popular first stop for students on a Thursday. It has a slightly less intimidating vibe: lights on and better for talking, in part due to the shuffled playlist humming through the speakers.
Despite its lack of a live DJ, Paul’s does have a digital jukebox that lets patrons pay to control the music. Though the jukebox offers a rare chance for musical autonomy in a college bar, students mostly walk right past it.
In any given hour on a Thursday night at Paul’s, here’s a sample of what you might hear:
“Turn My Swag On” by Soulja Boy
“Empire State of Mind” by JAŸ-Z featuring Alicia Keys
“Sexyback” by Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland
“Money in the Grave” by Drake featuring Rick Ross
“Before He Cheats” by Carrie Underwood
“Just A Lil Bit” by 50 Cent
“We Are Young” by fun. featuring Janelle Monáe
“Flashing Lights” by Kanye West
“When it Rains it Pours” by Luke Combs
“E85” by Don Toliver
This lineup soundtracks many of our Thursdays while we talk, dance and laugh with friends, classmates and the many faces that have become familiar over our years here.
Slowly but surely, many Thursday-night bargoers eventually make the short trek next door from Paul’s to The D, which curates a slightly different vibe inside: lights are off as a live DJ spins, signed bras hang from the chandeliers and drinks are about double the price. Considered by many to be the better bar for dancing, the music is almost shockingly similar to the Paul's playlist, though slightly more hip-hop heavy and with significantly less country.
“Crank That (Soulja Boy)” by Soulja Boy
“I Love It” by Icona Pop featuring Charli xcx
“Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee
“DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” by USHER featuring Pitbull
“Tití Me Preguntó” by Bad Bunny
“The Fate of Ophelia” by Taylor Swift
“100 Shots” by Young Dolph
“I Write Sins Not Tragedies” by Panic! At The Disco
“Asshole” by Mike Sherm
“Pursuit of Happiness (Nightmare)” by Kid Cudi, MGMT, Ratatat
The DJ occasionally takes song requests, though he’s not always privy to input. The D has also been known to feature student DJs, often on the earlier side of Thursday nights, giving them a platform to connect with their classmates in a very different way from typical interactions in Beckman.
Despite their drastically different vibes, the two bars aren’t so different at their core; both are places Chapman students come together, where the weekend starts on a Thursday night. Whether it’s been a hard week spent hunkered down in the library or you’ve already been to Karaoke Tuesday at The D, one thing is true: the music gets us through.
Many 21 and older Chapman students integrate these Thursday night outings into their schedules the way they would a standing dinner plan or regular office hours with a favorite professor. When else will you see a classmate from your FFC waiting for the bathroom in Paul’s, or your ex-situationship in line outside The D?
Thursdays don’t just mean going for a drink or being subjected to listening to the Billboard Hot 100 — for many students, it means a chance to reunite with friends they don’t always see throughout the week and reveling in an experience that is just so authentically college.
The music in these bars is a time capsule spanning generations, and our college years are no exception. While everyone has their preferences on which is the “better” bar for dancing, talking or drinking, the music proves there just might be something for everyone.
At the end of the day — or, more accurately, the end of a Thursday night — the music barely even matters, and maybe that’s the point. What matters is that somehow, these slightly sticky rooms in which you have to shout to hear your friends have become the backdrop of some of our favorite memories we’ve made at Chapman.
The music shaping these bars is subconsciously shaping friendships, memories and the Chapman experience itself. The specific songs are incidental; the experience is not.