Ponsonby Road's ‘most sophisticated gay bar' Witch has closed, after one last busy Friday night. “We decided Friday night would be our last night. We've stopped trading,” confirms co-owner Vaughan Aaronjohn. As resident DJ Karl Moser says, “It's all over but no fat lady sang at all.” Aaronjohn and his partner Peter Lamb opened the bar in September last year, calling it “A place where you can feel good about going to.” Witch bartender Cat Lynden sent an ‘S.O.S.' email out to friends last week, titled “Witch bar in trouble!” “I work at the beautiful Witch bar on Ponsonby Road and need your help,” read the email. “The bar is at real risk of having to close its doors due to dwindling trade. We really don't want the Auckland scene to lose this gorgeous hangout. We only just managed to open this week and desperately need people through the door or won't make it much longer. We're going to put on a huge last chance bash on Friday 16th March - spread the word as loud as you can... USE IT OR LOSE IT!” The local community responded and rallied around to make Friday a successful night for Witch. “We had a great night, I wish it had been like that a lot more,” says Aaronjohn, but the decision to close had to be made. “If we had a more finances, we could have been a bigger go of it, but it got to the point where we just had to make a decision… and rather than completely lose our lives, we thought we'd end it now. “It's a little frustrating, but no-one really can be held accountable for it. You can't expect people to come along and support it just because it's a gay business.” Aaronjohn and Lamb say they may revisit the concept of a gay wine/cocktail bar in the future. Ref: GayNZ.com (m)