Nashville Gay Bars Doomed?

So, I’ve heard that Illusions has closed. (I’m rather shocked it didn’t close over a year ago.) It’s a real shame because, at least in the summer, it was a really great place to go. It was a great, quiet location and cheap booze flowed freely. I met a lot of great people there. Out of every bar/club in Nashville, Illusions was the place for me to go. (When I still went out.) I’m sad that it didn’t make it, but I’m not surprised either.

That seems to be happening to a lot of our local GLBT places to hang out, doesn’t it? The Chute, The Cab, The Jungle, Lucky’s Garage, Illusions, and I think that coffee shop on Church Street have all closed, or are close to be closed. What’s going on?! Is Nashville’s gay community so bad that it won’t even support it’s own businesses? Puh-leese! Let’s not get that dramatic…

It’s Not Necessarily A Support Issue
I keep seeing comments in the “She Said What?!” section of Out & About that are basically accusing the Nashvegas community of not supporting the GLBT bars. I think that’s a bit of an unfair accusation. There are a lot of factors that determine how well, or poorly, a bar/club may succeed or fail. I think I have a few reasons why some of the bars/clubs have gone down the tubes…

This isn’t exactly the best economy situation our country has been in. Gas of course is up, but everything else is slowly catching up to it. People are struggling with their homes, jobs, and just getting by. If you’re strapped for cash, do you go out every week and plunk down $100 for a bar tab? (Didn’t think so.) The winter months especially are hard for bars, since people don’t go out as much. If a bar is already struggling in the summer, the winter months aren’t going to help at all.

Then, look into the bar’s actually management and financial situation. Illusions especially had a long history of poor management, and lack of funds to keep even the most basic of upkeep in check. Lucky’s, from what I’ve heard, made some poor promotional choices, that put them in the hole. A lot of people in the business will tell you opening a bar and getting it to really succeed over time is no simple thing. If you don’t have the capital to suffer through the bad times, or poor management to handle that capital, you’re going to fail.

Finally, I’m seeing more and more acceptance in regular ’straight’ bars. That’s a good thing though, isn’t it? I mean, eventually, that’s what we’d want it to be anyways. No, I don’t think the ‘gay bar’ is going anywhere anytime soon, but isn’t nice to be able to go somewhere with your straight friends and just have a good time? I don’t go to gay bars for the sake that it’s a gay bar. I go there to enjoy myself. If I can enjoy myself somewhere else that’s more competitive, I’ll do so.

Please Consider The Following Before Opening A New Bar…
Not to down the remaining bars or anything, but they just don’t fit me. Geno’s would probably come close, but it was awfully cramped before all the other bars closed. (And I hate to think what it’s like now.) If someone’s thinking about opening a new bar, please consider the following:

The location shouldn’t be on Church Street. Look, it would be nice to have our own ‘district,’ but face the facts that Church Street isn’t exactly the ideal location to do so. As it is with the remaining clubs, parking is still a nightmare at times. I’d really like to see a bar that is similar to Illusions: In the ‘urban’ part of Metro but has greenery and a large patio, has a parking lot that will accommodate most of it’s guests, and isn’t in a crime-ridden part of town. (I don’t think that’s too much to ask for, right?)

Parking needs to be adequate, and safe. I despised parking in B.F.E. to go to Tribe, Lucky’s or any of the other bars that were in that cluster. If you don’t get there early, you have to park in rather dark, questionable area. (Hell, I’ve even seen break-ins right behind Blue-Jean’s.) Please, please please, make sure parking is not an issue!

Prices need to be reasonable. I think that’s a no-brainer. Illusions may not have been the best-looking bar, but damned if it didn’t have awesome drink prices. If there’s a ‘cover’ fee, fine, but the bar had better make it worth my while by offering cheaper drinks or some real entertainment. Remember, there are gay people in Nashville that are low-middle class, too. $5 (plus tip) for a drink is far too much when I can continue to buy a bottle of liquor myself for $15.

Break up the stale entertainment ‘formula.’ A bar can’t succeed alone anymore with some fancy decorations and a drag show. More and more, bars are going to have to stand-out and do something unique to truly gain some business. Again referencing Illusions, they had a very large out door patio with volley ball in the back that always drew people to go out and watch. (I’ve often thought myself having a smaller, gay-version of Dave & Busters would be kind of fun and interesting.) Tribe suceeded way back when they first started because they were unique: They were clean (which at the time shocked the hell outta me), stylish, and basically turned the place into a music video bar.