Gay bars boston the machine
at Club Cafe and the line was 40 minutes long by midnight,” he said.Ĭlub Cafe owner Ribaud concurred, saying his bar business has benefited, but, as a gay man, he appreciates the decreasing need for gay bars when many restaurants and clubs, especially ones such as Anchovies and 28 Degrees in the South End, welcome all preferences. “Last Saturday, we were at capacity by 11 p.m. “Once gay marriage became legal, people were more comfortable mixing (in straight environments),” said Jim Clerkin, also known as “Gay Jim” the music director and producer for “Matty in the Morning” on WXKS-FM (Kiss-108).Ĭlerkin, who spins tunes at Machine in the Fenway every Friday night and at Club Cafe in the South End on Saturdays, said the narrowing of options has been a boon to his DJ business. If the Internet slowed the gay-bar scene, the law for same-sex marriage, enacted five years ago, brought it to a snail’s pace. “As long as it’s paying the bills and then some, what do I care?” “Our busiest nights are weekends,” he said. Still, the Eagle owner, who owns the entire building at 520 Tremont St., didn’t seemed fazed by the downturn. The owner, who did not want to give his name, blamed the economy in part, but noted that online dating also is a factor. It’s not as aggressive,” he said.Īt the Boston Eagle, which opened in 1980 and still serves $4 vodka tonics, business has slowed. Though Young met his fiance at a club in Manhattan, he said singles no longer cruise the bar scene. I would rather,” said Jonathan Young, a 23-year-old makeup artist who lives in the South End. Some credit online social networking Web sites. We want to be the stable kid on the block.”Įxplanations for the demise of so many gay bars depend on whom you ask.
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We’re not trying to be the new kid on the block. “We’re still here because we’re one of these places that made a conscious decision we would focus on attracting the mainstream.
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Ten years ago, Viggiano would have had more than a dozen options in Boston and Cambridge, but these days only a handful, such as Club Cafe or Fritz, run full-time operations. But the Boston University senior said the social scene has “hit a wall.” Viggiano, who describes himself as “a work-hard, play-hard kind of guy,” hits the bar scene twice a week with a regular group of pals. “It’s pretty limited when we talk about where we’re going to go,” said James Viggiano, 22, of Boston. That’s the question floating around Boston Pride Week, which began yesterday and culminates with the grand parade next Saturday.