What a difference a few years can make.
Not so long ago, yours truly would accompany some of my more colorful pals – dressed in full-on drag-queen finery – to the Longhorn, a slightly seedy gay bar where cheap-but-deadly $2 wells were enjoyed on the hidden back patio on summer weekends.
Fast forward to the present day, and Senger’s on the ‘Fax (3014 E. Colfax Ave.) has taken over the Longhorn location. Nothing but the layout remains, with brand-new booths and bars, and cocktails such as tart Ruby Red martinis and $10 glasses of Shiraz on the menu. The upstairs patio remains one of the best in the area, hidden from the bustle and noise of the street, and the addition of a film screen behind the horseshoe-shaped bar offers some quality mindless entertainment after a long day.
On Friday nights, catch DJ Musa spinning his blend of hip-hop and “Not 40,” as he calls it.
“Hip-hop and pop music are so rinsed out, so I try really hard to give people something different,” he said. He’ll throw in a few familiar tunes now and then to keep the crowds mingling on the dance floor, a skill he honed during his always-packed weekly Wednesday and Saturday residencies at Brix in Cherry Creek. Musa left his Friday gig at the downtown Brix location in favor of Senger’s.
“This is just a great new bar, plus I’ve known the owner since high school,” he said. “The downtown scene is a little bit too Mardis Gras. This is more sophisticated.”
Colfax, sophisticated? The association may still be foreign to some, but Musa – along with many East Colfax bar-crawlers – thinks the changes are for the better.
“With all the redevelopment, Colfax is going to be really nice in five more years,” Musa said. “Senger’s is going along with that vibe and attracting a good mixed crowd of men and women, and all different races. Every week it’s a new batch of people checking it out.”
If you haven’t yet, join the crowd and check it out yourself. Senger’s is open Monday-Thursday from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Friday, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 2 a.m.
DJ Dealer moves across the street
Denver’s gay community may have lost the Longhorn, but one of its favorite local talents is back at the turntables for a new weekly residency just across the street. DJ Dealer, half of the duo known as the Pound Boys, is taking up Wednesday nights at a surprising location – the RockBar. RockBar (3015 E. Colfax Ave.) is known as the place to go each weekend for head-banging, shot-drinking, noisy good times, but the weekday lineup ranges from new wave and goth on Monday nights to soul music on Tuesdays, and now DJ Dealer’s dance remixes during “RockBarbie” on Wednesday nights.
“This night is for the gays and the girls,” said Jerri Theil, a.k.a. Colfax Barbie, event promoter and part-owner of RockBar. “DJ Dealer used to do my tea dances on Sundays at La Rumba, and later it turned into Oxygen on Friday nights. But it was really cool because everyone got along. Gays, straights, and girls all loved it, and it was at a salsa bar. It really proved that we could mix things up.”
So far, it seems to be working at RockBar too. During the kickoff night on May 30, the event started slowly, but by 11 p.m. the bar was filling up with a well-dressed crowd, many of whom appeared to be gay couples and first-timers at RockBar.
Theil hopes that Wednesday’s RockBarbie will help attract not just gay men, but also more women to RockBar. “RockBar is such a guy bar,” she said. “Chicks want to get their groove on, and get out there and dance.”
For those who need a little liquid courage to get their groove on, the drink specials ought to help. Ladies get $2 “you-call-its” from 8 to 11 p.m., and everyone scores $2 Pink Ladies, $2.50 PBRs, and $3 Skyy vodka and Jim Beam drinks all night long.
Kat Valentine writes about nightlife Fridays in 7days. Reach her at kat@kingproduction.com or call 303-954-1568.
