Below Bar re-opening as gay bar tonight

Below Bar is re-opening tonight as a gay bar with Rockstar Aaron at the decks. Bill Ward has revamped his two-year-old, subterranean spot at 1422 Larimer Street -- from changing out some furniture to adding a lot of mirrors -- and turned it into a gay bar at the request...

By Jon Solomon

April 29, 2010

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Below Bar is re-opening tonight as a gay bar with Rockstar Aaron at the decks. Bill Ward has revamped his two-year-old, subterranean spot at 1422 Larimer Street -- from changing out some furniture to adding a lot of mirrors -- and turned it into a gay bar at the request of some gay staffers and promoters.

"Finally, this makes sense now," Ward says. "Downtown needs it. I don't think there's ever been a club in LoDo that's been gay. Actually, I know for a fact there hasn't been. If anything, there might have been a gay night, but not a gay club.

"Down on Larimer, we're in a prime location," he goes on. "We're in the heat of everything. To have something that the Denver gay men want to frequent down in Larimer is kind of rare. So hopefully we'll be able to bring a lot of people down here, and have an option for these guys in the future."

Initially, the club will be open Thursdays through Saturdays; another night might be added in a month or so. Ward says that Rockstar Aaron will be the resident DJ on Thursdays, with rotating DJs on Fridays and possibly two well-known local DJs on Saturdays.

The entrance is in the alley between 14th and 15th and Larimer and Lawrence streets, behind Comedy Works. Just look for the trail of glitter.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Westword has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.