Ken M.
Yelp
Having experienced all iterations of local honky tonks since Gilley's at New Frontier (1999-2007), the country dancing culture at the current Stoney's North Forty is a break from the two-step tradition. Now that the smoke has cleared since it opened one year ago--in fall 2023--the winner is Generation Z. This club now caters almost exclusively to this crowd, which has created its own brand of country dancing where two-step has been eliminated. To be more specific: partner dancing that moves progressively around the perimeter of the dance floor in a counterclockwise direction. Instead, they only do line dancing and country swing, with a DJ who is happy to oblige.
Two dance lessons are offered each night, at 7:30 and 8:30 p.m., from Tuesday through Saturday. The schedule is available on the website for a full month out. All are line dance lessons, except for the second lesson on Tuesdays, which is partner dancing. Currently, all of these partner dancing lessons are for country swing. None are for two-step or cowboy cha-cha, which have long been staples of country dancing in Las Vegas--and across the country. So, the business has doubled-down on the exclusive preference of its Gen Z crowd for line dancing and country swing.
The absence of progressive partner dancing at North Forty is an anomaly among the honky tonks in town, where two-step and cowboy cha-cha are still alive. While the origins of country two-step trace back to the early 1800s, it became especially popular with the 1980 movie, Urban Cowboy, which featured the original Gilley's that the one in Las Vegas is named after. That tradition has been lost on the Gen Z target demographic of North Forty. Progressive country dances (i.e., two-step, triple two-step, cowboy cha-cha) are not on their radar--there is almost no concept of it in their world.
In conventional country nightlife, the DJ announces when a round of two-step dances is coming up next, or what the next line dance is. At North Forty, a song with a two-step rhythm is played occasionally, but the DJ doesn't announce it as such. Instead, the Gen Z crowd dances country swing to it, leaving no room on the perimeter for anyone who might want to two-step. This is the culture that has been created here, which has displaced nearly 100% of folks from preceding generations in country dancing, who used to come here.
Now that North Forty is one-year-old, time will tell how long it can hold on to this Gen Z business model with its one-track mind for line dancing and country swing. How transferrable is this limited skillset to other honky tonks? What happens if any of these kids travel to a honky tonk--in the real world--where country swing and line dancing aren't the only styles? Will they be puzzled every time the DJ announces a set of two-step songs and the patrons dance accordingly, or will they put their blinders on and dance country swing in the middle of the dance floor--like a bull in a china shop?
It will also be interesting to see how this Gen Z business model will hold up during a recession, given such a narrow customer demographic.
To be optimistic, maybe this Gen Z anomaly will one day discover the progressive country partner dancing (two-step, cowboy cha-cha) of their predecessors and add it to their repertoire. As it stands, folks from preceding generations are more versatile than them, because we can do all of it: two-step and cowboy cha-cha, in addition to country swing and line dancing.
In closing, I'll mention two more pet peeves which are always in my reviews for this place.
Both locations of Stoney's have no local craft beers. For example, no Atomic Duck IPA or Zombie Duck Hunter IPA, which are local favorites. None from Big Dog's Draft House, which is just down the street from North Forty. They do offer two bottled craft beers. Shiner Bock is mediocre, but 805 is stellar. Currently, the price is $10 each.
There is a steady stream of one-star (competitor) and five-star (shill) Yelp reviews for this business that are obviously fake (and not caught by the automated Yelp filter). A telltale sign of this phenomenon is when the average rating for a listing is approximately three, which is the number you get by taking the average of one and five.
