Bar Bar Finally Has (Legal) Live Music Again, Adds Monthly Drag Shows

"I'm better than I've been in about a year," laughs Richard Granville, a bartender at Carioca Cafe, the beloved dive bar at 2060 Champa Street better known as Bar Bar. He has a lot to be happy about: On Thursday, May 4, the city granted Bar Bar its cabaret license, and the venue will not only be hosting live music again, but it will also be adding monthly drag shows to its bill.

Bar Bar had never had a cabaret license, despite hosting live music for years. But last summer, an undercover cop was allowed entry with an under-21 ID, and was also allowed to purchase alcohol. That led to an investigation, with Bar Bar ultimately reaching a settlement with the city and closing for fourteen days; when it reopened, there was no live music.

Bar Bar then applied for a legal license.

Once he learned that application had been approved and the license issued, Granville, who got his bartending job after playing a gig at Bar Bar and soon took over booking, brought music back to the venue as soon as he could.

"We had a few acoustic acts Thursday night; I got in there a bit last-minute," he says. "Friday we were just kind of testing out PA stuff, and one of my bands brought in a drummer and just played as a three-piece, just house-band style."

The PA system "needs some work," Granville adds. "We've got to buy some new PA gear. That's not unusual, though. We figured we'd probably have to replace a couple of things."

While Bar Bar has historically held punk or rock shows, the venue isn't sticking to just one genre, says Granville, who plays in punk bands Poison Politix and Drink Drank Punk. "We've hosted folk and all myriad of electronic music DJs, jazz, blues," he adds. "I'll get hip-hop in there. Pretty much everything."

The concerts are donation-based, with all proceeds going to the performers. Granville is booking shows for Thursdays through Saturdays at the moment, but says he'd like to expand to Sundays and weekdays. People can find out about upcoming shows through the venue's Facebook event pages or by following Bar Bar on Instagram.

Granville is also bringing drag shows into the dive bar. "We agreed to a trial run for the next three last Saturdays of the month," he says. The first Haus Cäbaret, presented by Alice Glamoure, is booked for Saturday, May 27, from 9 p.m. to midnight.

Granville hopes that the concerts and drag shows will keep the bar afloat while it struggles to pay its bills. Although it had set up a GoFundMe to bring in money while live music was silenced, the effort didn't gain much traction. "It definitely has fallen short of our hopes," Granville says. "We are still really struggling on bills and just trying to pay minimally what we can so that the electricity doesn't get cut off, because then we can't really do anything. There is a bit of debt over our heads that we're trying to figure out how to climb out from under and get stock built back up and actually have more than a couple of different drinks to offer. But hopefully, these first few shows can help with that. And the GoFundMe is still open."

In the meantime, Granville is looking forward to Bar Bar's upcoming shows. On Thursday, May 11, Great Lumbering Beast will play from 6 to 9 p.m., and on Friday, May 12, members of Drink Drank Punk (including Granville) will play rock and blues; the full band will play the next night.

"I'm just pumped to be able to get back at it," he says. "I know I got my work cut out for me, especially over this next month or two. But we finally, finally crossed this hurdle."

Contribute to Bar Bar's GoFundMe here.