Neil’s Lounge in Indio, Calif. is a hit with post-Coachella visitors.
On Friday night, deep in the Coachella Valley, the crowd is going mental for a singer currently wailing into the microphone, ensconced by dazzling blue lights and a set design evoking an Old Western saloon.
Only this isn’t one of the high-profile stages of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival: This is Neil’s Lounge, a no-frills dive bar a stone’s throw from the big-name acts where happy (mostly) nobodies get rowdy singing karaoke seven nights a week.
Even when the festival winds down, those snaking their way through the post-Coachella traffic crawl can keep the party going at Neil's by simply stopping by to belt out a tune or two like Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn,” always a fan favorite. That's assuming, of course, that the dust kicked up at Empire Polo Club grounds hasn’t fully rendered you speechless.
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If you’ve had one too many tipples or can’t find a ride, the Neil’s van will safely drop you off at home (or back at your themed hotel), too.
Located on Highway 111, Neil’s Lounge has been a fixture for decades in the Indio region. The big draw for this tin-ceilinged haunt is the nightly karaoke and cheap drinks, but it’s also a popular spot to watch sports or play pool. Here, cowboys and people who just got off work wearing crisp nine-to-five collared shirts co-mingle with festival goers — and occasionally a celebrity even pops by. Lady Gaga has been spotted in the past.
The bar has been a go-to lounge since the 1940s, when it was known as the Jolly Jug; it became Neil’s Lounge in 1976. Owner Jacqueline Leon-Babington took over in 2004 from the bar’s namesake, according to the Desert Sun, when he wasn’t in great health, and in 2009 a fire knocked out the bar for a full year. It's been more than a decade since that revamp and reopening, and the down-home spirit remains intact. Cattle skulls and saddles line the wall, along with dive bar mainstays like Texas-shaped neon Budweiser signs.
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Around 12:30 a.m. on Friday, while the last of Coachella's day one headliners left the stage, a couple at Neil's looked longingly into one another’s eyes while dueting “Dust in the Wind” as clacking pool balls in the distance provided an off-kilter beat. The bar and outside patio were already packed, with stools and tables taken up by a mix of friends in stylish festival wear and locals hanging out with boozy seltzers, soaking up the vibe.
A new singer stands, the song changes, and the endless karaoke cascade washes over Neil's for yet another night. At one point, the mere opening notes of “Bohemian Rhapsody” caused the entire bar to shriek. It’s the kind of place where, no matter how off-key you are, at least one person will clap for you. A few might even sing along, hopping on stage to offer true backup vocals. One guy seated on the patio had his acoustic guitar in tow and was busting out his own kind of karaoke towards the parking lot.
The scene at Neil’s apparently can get even rowdier during non-Coachella times — one local told me this was somehow a “mellow night” for this beloved “s—t dive bar.” The bartender nodded in agreement. So it goes for the liveliest little karaoke bar in the desert.
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Paula Mejía is a Colombian American writer and editor from Houston, Texas. She is a contributing culture editor at SFGATE, and was formerly the arts editor at the Los Angeles Times and a Senior Editor at Texas Monthly. Her writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times, GQ, Rolling Stone and more. A co-founding editor of “Turning the Tables,” NPR Music’s Gracie Award–winning series about centering women and nonbinary artists in the musical canon, she is also the author of a 33⅓ series installment on the Jesus and Mary Chain’s 1985 album Psychocandy. She teaches graduate arts writing at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and lives in Los Angeles.
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