Music and sports fans check out the newly opened Level 10 on a Saturday night.

Adam Cole and Abe Baah enjoy the scene on the opening weekend at Level 10.

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Brian Coakley and Thalen Washington celebrate the music and nightlife at Level 10

This past weekend I decided to head down to Western Plaza to check out the newly opened Level 10. I gathered the troops for an adventure into the unknown just a little past 10 on Saturday night.

Level 10 sits just on the edge of The Shops of Western Plaza in a part of the building previously filled by a Corky's BBQ. The venue is billed as a "sports bar by day and a rock club by night" that seeks to provide a different experience than "the typical bar and sport atmosphere in our area."

I was intrigued to find out just how true this claim was. Seeing as how Knoxville is saturated with this type of experience, I set my sights fairly low.

Level 10 follows through with its promise of providing two types of venue. The bar sits off to the right with a few tables scattered around. There are multiple large flat-screen TVs on nearly every wall, providing a chance to catch just about any sporting event from any seat in the house.

The stage provides enough space for a band to set up and have some fun while still giving the crowd plenty of room to move around. Level 10 also has a large outdoor patio where smokers are welcome and provides a nice place to get away from the music.

There weren't any specials while we were at Level 10, but their regular prices weren't too bad. A 16-ounce Long Island Ice Tea cost $5.50, while most well drinks were a fair $4. I stuck with Samuel Adams Oktoberfest during the evening, which cost only $3 a pint.

Level 10 does offer a happy hour earlier in the evening that features $2 pints, $5 pitchers and $2.50 well drinks 5-8 p.m. during the week and 2-5 p.m. on Sunday.

Level 10 prides itself on the quality of its food, particularly its wings. Of course, we had to try them. An order of 20 wings cost us $17.95 and it was well worth it. We ordered the Teriyaki Hot and the delicious Mild flavors and thoroughly enjoyed them. These were actually some of the more tender wings I've had. Our server explained that this was due to the wings being baked rather than fried.

We also tried the potato skins and chips & salsa. While both were good, they paled in comparison to the wings.

The crowd at Level 10 was the most surprising aspect of the evening to me.

I expected to see a large variation of age groups represented during the opening evening, but as it turned out we were probably the youngest people there. The crowd was still diverse, but the 20-somethings were noticeably absent.

I had a great time at Level 10 and, while it didn't revolutionize the sports-bar world, it did do everything a little bit better than most.