Burda, Burda, Burda!

I wasn’t really shocked by the news, but I was a little surprised to hear that WETbar will be closing its doors at the end of September with plans to reopen the following month at a later date as a straight club.  This information hasn’t been officially released yet, so consider yourself the first (well, probably fifth) to know.

I was initially alerted to this information through a MySpace update from a friend who works there that simply stated “… is soooo sad for WETbar.”  That got me thinking… then I stumbled across this article on OutAtlanta411.com after following a link from Nicole Paige Brooks.

In hindsight, there were a few “red flag” moments at WETbar this year that kinda indicated that this might happen.  They started hosting straight-themed parties more often and on weekends (previously they hosted things like this, but during the week when they normally aren’t very busy).  Rob Beck at SoVo actually noted this in an article he wrote in February 2008 (read the full version of “Courting a wider base: WETbar broadens appeal to reflect changing scene“).  Around the same time my friend Carolyn B. reviewed “Swerve” on Yelp.com as a club formerlly known as WETbar.  Apparently she (along with many of her friends) was under the impression the club had already been transformed into a straight bar.  As a matter of fact, tranceaddict already has Swerve’s “Last Dance” party listed on their website (view the full post here). Hmm…

So, how do I feel about this?  How should I feel about this?  I’m not sure.  I feel connected to WETbar, especially in its current form as I was close friends with the club’s Operating Partner during its takeover and renovation a few years ago (when they extended WETbar into the former Blu space).  Our friendship allowed me to have an insider’s view of the club and since then I’ve always been interested in its success.

At Deborah Cox’s most recent live performance a few weeks ago I posted several Tweets regarding the make-up of the crowd.  Overall I liked the feeling that having a more mixed crowd was bringing.  It was almost how Backstreet used to feel.  Everyone was friendly and just there to have a good time.  Honestly, I was kind of looking forward to WETbar becoming more mixed.  I guess it’s still possible once it reopens as a straight club, but I have a feeling that my gay betheren are going to feel “some sort of way” about that.

I hope that’s not the case because we really don’t have anyone to blame but ourselves.  Afterall, money talks and apparently Atlanta’s GLBT community wasn’t speaking as loudly as the straight folks.  It’s true that most weekends only saw mediocre crowds with the gay themed nights, but when Liquified held their events the place was PACKED!

Oh well. That’s life. I’m anxious to see how this news is received once it becomes official in the next few days.  Stay tuned for additional discussions.  Your comments are welcome here also.

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In case you’re not familiar, WETbar is located at 960 Spring St., NW, Atlanta, GA 30309.