Arts & Entertainment
Night life newbies
Trade, Woof Den and Uproar target gay clientele
Trade (Washington Blade photo by Damien Salas)
The start of the new year has brought an unusual flurry of activity with three new gay bars — and a fourth slated to open soon — on the scene to spice up District nightlife.
Trade (1410 14th St., N.W) is one of the fresher faces on the block having opened in December. The bar holds typical nightlife hours open Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Owned by business trio Ed Bailey, John Guggenmos and Jim Boyle, the same owners as Town and Number Nine, their concept for the bar was something different. Its website bills it as a “dive bar.”
“We just tried to make something that’s a little bit different from what exists currently so that it can be appreciated in a new way hopefully,” Bailey says. “We tried to program it a little differently with not the same stuff that you can just hear at any old bar, not predictable music.”
Predicability is something Bailey thinks has become a problem on the gay bar scene and he hopes Trade will change that.
“We wanted to do something that we thought would resonate for those maybe who have found the current bars to not be as intriguing as they might want and try to give them something that seems different,” Bailey says.
Standing out is also something Steven Champagne, co-operating manager of Woof Den Sports Bar (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.), also aims for.
Champagne, who is gay, says he has noticed the gay bar scene can have unfriendly vibes. He says Woof Den will be more accepting.
“It’s that non-attitude, non-pretentious, non-clique feeling,” he says. “When you go to my place, everyone is welcome. Nobody should feel like they’re not welcome. I feel like what that’s what gay bars have lost these days.”
Woof Den, located downstairs from the Salty Dog Tavern, has only been open for two weeks but Champagne, who manages the bar with co-operator Hicham Moutawakil, says they have big plans for the spot. Bear happy hours on Sundays, a cop/military night on Wednesdays and a pool league night are all in the works. Its hours of operation are seven days a week, open at 4 p.m. every day.
Other bars settling in amongst the gay bar scene are Uproar Lounge & Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) and the soon-to-open Dirty Goose (913 U St., N.W.). Uproar, a bear bar, boasts a full food menu along with frequent happy hours including with local bear group Bear Nonsense. The bar has been tapped to host events for Human Rights Campaign such as Her HRC events. The bar also includes an open rooftop deck with seating available.
The Dirty Goose, which is marketing itself as a more upscale gay bar, will be located next to Nellies’s Sports Bar. The new bar’s website says its grand opening will be in spring of this year.
Celebrity News
Madonna announces release date for new album
‘Confessions II’ marks return to the dance floor
Pop icon Madonna on Wednesday announced that her 15th studio album will be released on July 3.
Titled “Confessions II,” the new album is a sequel to 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor,” an Abba and disco-infused hit.
The new album reunites Madonna with producer Stuart Price, who also helmed the original “Confessions” album. It’s her first album of new material since 2019’s “Madame X.”
“We must dance, celebrate, and pray with our bodies,” Madonna said in a press release. “These are things that we’ve been doing for thousands of years — they really are spiritual practices. After all, the dance floor is a ritualistic space. It’s a place where you connect — with your wounds, with your fragility. To rave is an art. It’s about pushing your limits and connecting to a community of like-minded people,” continued the statement. “Sound, light, and vibration reshape our perceptions. Pulling us into a trance-like state. The repetition of the bass, we don’t just hear it but we feel it. Altering our consciousness and dissolving ego and time.”
Denali (@denalifoxx) of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” performed at Pitchers DC on April 9 for the Thirst Trap Thursday drag show. Other performers included Cake Pop!, Brooke N Hymen, Stacy Monique-Max and Silver Ware Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
In an act of artistic defiance, Baltimore Center Stage stays focused on DEI
‘Maybe it’s a triple-down’
By LESLIE GRAY STREETER | I’m always tickled when people complain about artists “going political.” The inherent nature of art, of creation and free expression, is political. This becomes obvious when entire governments try to threaten it out of existence, like in 2025, when the brand-new presidential administration demanded organizations halt so-called diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programming or risk federal funding.
Baltimore Center Stage’s response? A resounding and hearty “Nah.” A year later, they’re still doubling down on diversity.
“Maybe it’s a triple-down,” said Ken-Matt Martin, the theater’s producing director, chuckling.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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