Auckland gay men’s bar Urge will mark its 15th birthday on Saturday. The intimate K’ Rd venue was opened in late November 1997 by Larry Quickenden, Peter Taylor and Philip Stack, before current owners Paul Heard and Alan Granville took over in 2005. Thousands of bears, cubs and other wildlife have crossed its door over the years and Granville says it’s a testament to the venue that people keep coming back. “We may only be a small bar but I think we have cast a pretty big shadow over the years. I love it when I see guys in all parts of the world posting pictures of themselves online wearing Urge t-shirts,” he says. “The hospitality game gets a bit tougher every year but we still strive to offer guys a little piece of gay maledom.” On Saturday the bar will be offering champagne to early arrivals, as well as music from Urge veterans DJs Mauri and Antony.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Thursday, 22nd November 2012 - 2:38pm