Can somebody explain to us how nightlife works in Boston? So, the train thingy shuts down before the bars close? And the bars have last call around 130am? And everybody is ugly?
Hey, weâre just repeating what weâve heard. We literally have no idea how Bostonâs homosexuals get down.
Like New York City, Boston is in the throws of its own cyclical wave of gay nightlife evolution. (Read: Everything is closing.) A promoter named Chris Harris says without a huge dedicated gay venue in the B, heâs taken to throwing parties at the House of Blues. And itâs being taken over by straights?
Today itâs not uncommon for hordes of single women, bachelorette parties or even straight couples to venture into Harrisâ club night. âHouse music has taken its own turn,â he said. âItâs still alive and well in the gay community, but it also drives a lot of straight guys and girls to the gay clubs as well. A lot of guys feel more comfortable bringing their girlfriend to a gay night and not have any worries. And we get a lot of single girls, too, for the same reason. Itâs really diverse now.â
Just a fair warning: Theyâll be coming for your gentrified neighborhoods next. Oh, the South End has already gone breeder? And the heteros donât find anything funny about taking over a place called the Back Bay?
How about we take this to the next level?
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Mark
Don’t hate because we live in a more evolved, utopian world of nondiscrimination than you New Yorkers đ
fredo777
Guy on the right kinda reminds me of Jesse James.
Alejandro
I think this is the first hot barechested picture I’ve seen on Queerty. I often think I’m defective because I don’t find any of the eye candy photos you post hot in any way. But these guys . . . I want one of them for my very own. Droooooooooool
ionos
“And everybody is ugly?”
– they can’t help it, they are all Irish. đ
Cam
Boston used to have a pretty massive gay scene, and as for the train shutting down most of the city is pretty walkable. What probably is happening is all the people that were part of it maybe paried, up, got a bit older and don’t go out as much etc… Damron still lists some high numbers for the city…but in looking through it, a lot of things in the “Nightclub” section did look like one off events like “Dyke Night” or “Boston Guerrilla Queer Bar” one night a month…
Accommodations (35)
Bars (15)
Nightclubs (15)
Cafes (9)
Restaurants (21)
Entertainment & Recreation (14)
Bookstores (3)
Joe
On a serious note, I got tired of the all attitude.
and everybody travels in packs now a days.
and they surround themselves in these so called force field of friends, that you don’t dare try to penetrate for fear of the friends getting in your face over the fact that we may find someone attractive in the wolf pack.
My age group likes the chicken, chicken likes the chicken, over weight like the buffed. Buffed like the blow up Dolls,
there’s no in between.
The days of 1 on 1 cruising in dance bars are part of our history now I’m afraid now, thanks mostly to the Internet.
The Internet has changed how we socialize now. You cruise on line to get laid, or You have an arsenal of Fck Buddys you can email over at anytime. and then you actually go out into the bars and clubs and act wild and crazy with your friends.
I live in Mass. I use to live in the S.End back in the gay glory days.Its sad how its changed now.
I live in the Burbs now and don’t even bother going into the city anymore. also take in account we don’t have to be confined to hide from the public eye in our own clubs, bars, restaurants anymore.
Its great, I sit at the local restaurant bars, and watch the str8 married guy wink at me all night, or the next day, you have tons of requests from the females on facebook, who thought you were witty and charming and want to be your friends now….LOL
J
Dude on the right is a total beefcake. Boston’s full of hot stuff…maybe you were cruising the wrong areas for tail there Queerty.
I have a HUGE crush on the stud on the right. OMG…no standing for a moment đ
hardmannyc
Boston will always have a constant flow of students, which will keep its nightlife going for a long, long time. Your one quote has nothing to do with gay nightlife, only that Harris’ parties are also attracting straights. So? So did Junior at the old Sound Factory. So does Victor at Pasha?
Total invented nonissue.
PADude
I don’t know, I don’t care, but I’ll sure as hell make some nightlife with the guy in the glasses on the left. Or the stud in the center.
@Alejandro: Ditto. Most of those guys don’t do anything for me. These do.
Pat
I mean yeah the T shutting down at 12 sucks, but you deal with it. It effects anyone going out in Boston, not just us gays. And plus, it makes for some very hot cab rides.
You just need to know where to go most nights. There’s not a whole lot of just plain gay clubs, but I don’t mind. Its more interesting in my opinion. And if the straights want to come, then who cares? I have all straight guy friends, and it makes it a LOT easier to get them to come with me if there promises to be lots of drunk girls looking to dance and let loose.
kevinvancouver
im all for the diversification thing but until I can walk into any old redneck bar in full ass drag with my queeny friends free from threats of bodily harm and verbal abuse they can stay where they are .. I work and live in a straight world I prefer the company of my fag friends in a fag bar simple no?
Henry Holland
Chest hair on the guys in a Queerty picture? Dudes that look like actual humans, not wax figures?
Whatever is the world coming to?
Dude on the right, please.
J. Clarence
Yeah, the prominence of gay bars in Boston is on the decline, as it was before I went there for college but so what. There are many other areas in Bean Town that gays can get together. Plus with PTown so close by a lot of gay folk escape to there if they need their fix.
Boston is a pretty open city where you might pick up somebody at a “regular bar”, and people won’t look at you funny, and ultimately that has to be seen as a good thing. A city doesn’t need to have gay nightlife to be a safe place for gays to want to live there.
tavdy79
I rarely go out on the scene (once in the last 12 months) and when I go clubbing it’s never to a gay club. I’m a Londoner by birth and still live near the city, and the one and only time I went to Heaven (one of London’s biggest gay clubs) I had to ask a straight friend where it was. That’s like a San Fransisco queen not knowing where the Castro is.
It’s not that I don’t like being around other queers. The problem is that I don’t much care for the music: the clubs are almost always playing house or chart music, and I get bored after an hour, then irritated after another 30 minutes. There are loads of other types of music, and yet the one and only time I’ve ever heard anything other than house or chart in a gay club or bar was that night I went to Heaven – the night it was taken over by NANO records for a one-off psytrance/breaks night aimed at straights.
The Artist
Wow!!! Seems like Boston offers great diversity! PEACELUVNBWILD!
The Other Tom
Hmm… a party in which gay and bi and straight people all get together and dance and have a good time… ISN’T THAT THE EQUALITY AND MUTUAL ACCEPTANCE WE’RE ALL SUPPOSED TO BE FIGHTING FOR?
AP
Guy on the left is Oliver from the old Thought Not blog and he is not from Boston. I recognise the other two but not because I see them out at the bars, I think they also had blogs or were featured on Oliver’s.
cboy
1. Boston is not like New York City, except possibly the weather. 2. And it is in the throes, not throws, of its own cyclical wave of gay nightlife revolution. 3. Who cares?
Jeremy
I never been to Boston. I never got out of Illinois’ gay clubs. But if these three hairy studs are the examples of what Queerty called “everybody is ugly” then I would love to pack my shit, move to Boston and have non-stop gangbang with these “ugly people”. (and I’m not that sexual)
D_Nut
Aren’t these guys (in the photo) from NYC?
Ironic that in an article about Boston gay nightlife, that they show a bunch of New Yorkers…
beergoggles
The Alley is usually kickin for Friday happy hour and most weekends. I dunno about ur twinkie bars though. I go where the bears are.
D.B.
I lived in Boston for a few years — I now live in NYC, but actually just spent the past weekend in Boston visiting friends.
Yes, Boston’s gay scene is strange — it’s always in some state of decline from its peak probably a decade or so ago. Bars have closed, and the South End was gentrified by gays, then invaded by straights. I couldn’t even really say if there is a “gay neighborhood” left anywhere in Boston.
But despite these changes, gays in Boston thrive. It’s true that the city is very “integrated” — gays are welcome and very visible in most bars/clubs whether they are gay or straight. And the city is very open and welcoming overall — perhaps the city is moving past the need for a gay neighborhood or a strong gay bar scene?
And as for ugly, well, that’s a matter of taste. In my opinion, Boston’s gays do “masculine” better than NYC, but don’t do “stylish” or “fabulous” very well.
Ian
The bearded dude in the glasses on the left has to be the HOTTEST guy I have ever seen on Queerty!
Fitz
All I can say is “the Fen’s”. Whoa! memory city.
Colby
Those guys are New Yorkers and not Bostonians.
Andy Hart
Go to Providence! :o)
Fitz
@Andy Hart: WHY?? It’s so dead there!Is there a secret gay life there outside of the video booths and prospect park?
acoolerclimate
I live about 45 minutes straight west of Boston and it irritates the heck out of me that the T shuts down at midnight. I usually like to drive to the end of the green line, then take that in, so much easier than driving in and trying to find parking. But if I want to go out at night, forget it, I have to drive in.
So I usually don’t. Sorry Boston. If I have to drive the whole way, I’m heading the 45 minutes south to Providence. Much easier to drive in, much easier to park. A terrific downtown that is very easy to walk around, some fun things to do, and great nightlife. Anyone not been to Providence I highly recommend it.
And that guy on the left with the glasses is HOT!!! Crap.
RJ
Been in Boston a while myself. Those who live here recognize the trend: with groups like GQB running every month and a few steady, reliable clubs (Machine, Club Cafe, Paradise), there really doesn’t need to be dozens upon dozens of clubs, particularly in the summer time when this city shuts down (say goodbye to a few million college twinks).
In your visit, you’d notice that the clubs and the T shut down earlier. Yeah, final call is at 2AM and the T shuts down at 1AM on Friday, 1:30AM on Saturday. We know that here and get to the clubs/bars around 9PM, rather than 11PM.
Plenty of hot guys, the entire city is walking distance and feels much safer than NY. Just over a hop to P-Town and Providence. All in all, no complaints unless you want to start going home when the sun rises.
I’d much rather have my clubs close at 2AM and have a short and safe walk or taxi home then be out until 4AM. Perhaps that’s why brunch is so huge in Boston đ
Last time the boy and I went clubbing, we left to take the T home at 1AM. We were making out a bit much to the chagrin of an old lady with purple hair. A couple of straight guys actually egged us on just to piss her Depends.