Jun 26, 2009  |  By: Joe Rendeiro  | COMMENTS     

Popular gay venues around the District are livening up their summer lineups with a variety of themed events they hope will get people away from their computers and into the bars.

EFN Lounge owner William Gray is glad summer’s here, the first full operating season for the new venue.

“Well, you can definitely do themes that encourage less clothing,” Gray says with a laugh. “But honestly, why can’t each night have a theme? I think we, as bar and club owners, need to engage the market and start thinking outside the box to really get people out of the gay chat rooms and into the bars.”

Still the new kid on the block, EFN Lounge (1318 9th Street, N.W.) is branding itself as a “Cheers-esque” bar, using customer feedback to design entertaining parties. Its weekly lineup includes everything from a “Golden Girls” happy hour to “G-Spot,” a women’s night. Gray says his themed nights seem to be working.

“The summer crowds have been amazing,” Gray says. “I have been in this industry on the East Coast for close to 15 years and summer is notoriously a slower period. To my surprise, the community has been supporting us.”

Douglas Schantz, co-owner of Nellie’s Sports Bar, has also seen an increased interest in themed nights this summer.

“It’s actually picked up … it’s kind of strange,” Schantz says. “The themed nights have really been gaining in popularity.”

Nellie’s (900 U St., N.W.), which regularly hosts Drag Bingo and Smart Ass trivia nights, recently added “Pokerface” night to its schedule. Every Monday night at 8, guests are invited to play Texas Hold-em poker for free.

“It was really by popular demand,” Schantz says. “Honestly, from the first night we opened, a lot of people were asking for a card night.”

Gray says designing interesting events at one club helps drive people to other clubs.

“Themes and fresh ideas are key to filling our venues,” he says, “and quite frankly if someone comes to EFN Lounge for an event, they will end up at Town later on.  It is a win-win for the community.”

Other venues are also getting in on the action this summer. Halo (1435 P St., N.W.) has begun hosting ’80s night on Thursdays and Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) has a new monthly dance party also on Thursdays called “WTF?” According to Town owner Ed Bailey, the first party, slated for Thursday, will feature a bear, marylin MANson, Lady Blah Blah and a bucket of chicken.

“We are defining it as ‘the party where anything can happen, anything,’” Bailey said in an e-mail. “If your reaction to this description is ‘What the f...?’ then you get the point.”

Local gay DJ Tommy Cornelis, who runs dj-tmy.blogspot.com, says the event already has a great lineup of DJs and bands. Cornelis has DJed for Duplex Diner, Nellie’s and Homo-Hotel Happy Hour with co-DJ Bradley Shurman.

“DJing for a gay audience can be frustrating when it sometimes seems like they just want to hear the Lady Gaga album on repeat, not that I don’t love Lady Gaga,” Cornelis says.

Cornelis is working on his own summer project, a hip-hop night called “Aural Pleasure” at Dahlak Restaurant (1771 U St., N.W.), starting in July.

“Much like how Mixtape has grown and attracted the indie dance crowd, I want to find those inner-hip hop fiends and give them a night to have fun and dance to music other than Beyonce and Britney Spears,” Cornelis says.

New gay-themed events aren’t restricted to gay bars. Jin Lounge (2017 14th St., N.W.) recently began hosting “Tonic,” a new LGBT party, on Thursdays. And Policy, a restaurant located on 1904 14th St., N.W., has “Ruby Slipper Drag Brunch” every Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“We were looking for some kind of gay party to host, because this is such a gay neighborhood where we’re located and we wanted to reach out to that clientele,” says Policy owner Omar Miskinyar.

The brunch, which costs $23.99, features drag performances by local entertainers, such as Shi-Queeta-Lee, who performs as Tina Turner. Lee says the brunch attracts both gay and straight crowds.  

“I have a lot of straight friends, who want to see the shows, but don’t want to go to a gay bar,” Lee says. “But there’s a market for it. People like to see us portray these characters or icons.”

On its opening day, the drag brunch drew almost 100 guests.

“It went really great,” Miskinyar says. “We all had a great time.”

Cornelis is also excited to see a more energized gay crowd at the events.

“This summer, the crowds have been pretty insane,” Cornelis says. “I thought I would lose some people to the beach, but actually I think the crowds have been larger and there’s a lot more dancing going on. DJs sometimes complain that Washingtonians don’t dance enough, so I’m excited to see that pick up a bit.”