The Waikato Times' ‘Barfly' has given Hamilton's newest LGBT bar/nightclub a favourable review. ‘Venom' has been open in Victoria Street since mid-December - and despite the expected downturn over the holidays, it's been going exceptionally well, their barman tells the Times. “As with most gay bars, it's a late-happening place and at 10.30pm there are only half a dozen punters in. The crowd grows quite quickly though and showed no signs of slowing down late into the night,” says the write-up. “On Saturday night, Mr Gay Waikato was wearing his sash over his bare torso as he shook his booty around the outside area.” Several glittering mirrorballs, a pool table, rainbow flags, DJ booth, and a shiny steel pole in the middle of the dancefloor add to the ‘glam' décor, the newspaper's ‘Barfly' reveals. “The owners - a mix of Hamiltonians and Aucklanders - did most of the work themselves, transforming the bar from heavy metal to disco balls, and they've done a good job of it.” “The music is stereotypically gay, fast-paced techno tunes… the DJ spends his time before taking to the decks shooting a few pool balls and hugging new arrivals. Behind the bar, a couple of exuberant barmen serve up drinks with style and a smile. The review concludes sagely: “Of course gay bars are not the sole domain of people who are gay, and an uneducated guess put at least some of the punters into the heterosexual camp. “But everyone, whatever their inclination, gets treated the same and everyone has a good time.” Ref: Waikato Times (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 16th January 2007 - 12:00pm