Some of the Urge crew, with co-owners Paul Heard and Alan Granville left and centre Auckland's gay men's bar Urge will celebrate 14 years of business with one of its trademark parties this Saturday night. The K' Rd venue was opened on November 29, 1997, by Larry Quickenden, Philip Stack and Peter Taylor. Current owners Paul Heard and Alan Granville took over the reins in 2005. "There have been plenty of bars, gay and straight, who have come and gone in the last 14 years and there have been times when we nearly had to shut the doors ourselves in these tough financial times. But we have continued on to try and offer a different aspect to the scene," Granville says. "Trying to stay relevant as times and attitudes have changed has also been a challenge. "We've had some amazing highs, and a couple of lows, but it’s still a real pleasure to be part of the Auckland gay scene. Our staff, DJs and customers over the years have been bloody fantastic." This weekend DJ Mauri, who has been at the bar for nearly the entire 14 years, will be behind the decks with DJ Ant, another mainstay of Urge over the years.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 21st November 2011 - 2:50pm