Pony tends not to have much use for culture that’s mainstream or polished instead, it serves as a safe space for the queerest of Seattle’s queer community. As rents rise and heterosexuals flock for a taste of the enclave’s queer excellence, Pony has maintained the grungy aesthetic and tight-knit community that once defined every dive on the Hill. It’s a testament to Pony’s magic that the bar has managed to survive Capitol Hill’s ongoing facelift and gayborhood dilution. Met personal celeb luminaries there: Allen Cummings, Lady Miss Kier, David Sedaris, and so many more.” “Glass Candy, Joey Arias, Justin Vivian Bond, Zebulon Gone, Ononos. “I’ve seen intimate secret performances by artists there,” recalls couturier and tastemaker Jordan Christianson. Afterwards, he says, she sent the bar a cake shaped like a penis.
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DJ King of Pants remembers when the singer Peaches dropped by and he offered her a stack of physique pictorial zines that he’d produced, which she gleefully stuffed down her leotard. Pony’s reputation has been known to attract celebrity fans, though with varying reactions. Walking into a bar that was dark and loud and dirty and the lighting is so perfect and it was amped up for the party.” “My first night ever going there was Depeche Mode Hero Worship,” says Timmy Roghaar, a bartender and go-go dancer and social media manager and drag queen and bouncer (and so on). Other frequent highlights include The World’s Tiniest Tea Dance, as well as Hero Worship nights dedicated to particular artists. Pony’s also been an off-brand Wal-Mart, festooned with plastic bags and local artists selling wares on the patio. On another occasion, they transformed the venue into a replica of Mortville, the fantasy shantytown from the John Waters film Desperate Living, complete with a Queen Carlotta. “I remember saying, ‘it’s going to be hard to get that into a gallery, so why don’t we turn Pony into a gallery?’” “My coworker Ben was making extreme drawings of guys getting fisted,” says Rawkson. That’s allowed employees and regulars alike to take risks, experiment, and transform the space again and again. “It got to be such a fun, crazy space because it was doomed,” as DJ King of Pants puts it. From bars to bathhouses, queer Seattle institutions have vanished, replaced by shiny new waffle shops and residents with disposable income.Īfter a successful debut in its now-demolished first incarnation, Pony moved up the street to an implausibly small, oddly triangular shack bounded by construction sites, bringing with it the same sense of apocalyptic abandon. Seattle is tumescently swelling like the Incredible Hulk through a redevelopment bubble right now, and the old gayborhood of Capitol Hill has struggled to retain a shred of the queerness that it attracted in past decades. “It’s a party whether there’s hundreds of people or two people here.”Īt first, Pony was destined to be a temporary pop-up bar in a space slated for demolition. $4 bloody mary’s on Sundays sealed the deal! Also a great place to drink outside when the weather is nice in their Bush Gardens! Wild Rose 1021 E Pike St Seattle, WA 98122įor a club with a more lounge type feel to it, Q is the place to go! This club is great for dancing or socializing, with a very chic city feel to it.“It’s cramped, it’s electrifying, it’s such a variety of fun weirdos,” says DJ King of Pants, who holds court in a booth festooned with papier-mâché cocks, near a tiny area that could be whimsically described as a dance floor. We fell in love with Taco Tuesdays, where you can get cheap beers all night and $1 tacos. Wild Rose is our lesbian pick of the week! This bar restaurant is where the lesbians go in Seattle. A grungy dive bar that somehow works for everybody, and is the best place to drink in Seattle on a Sunday! Double well drinks are $4.50, regular well drinks, half that! Don’t judge this bar by its cover, The Cuff was a blast! The Cuff Complex 1533 13th Ave Seattle, WA 98122
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Happy hours all week and our favorite bar tenders in Seattle landed The Cuff Complex on our list this week. Neighbours gets our pick for best music and drag show, but watch out, drinks ain’t cheap! Neighbours 1509 Broadway Seattle, WA 98122 For the kids, it becomes 18+ after 2 AM, which is genius if you think about it. Seattle’s largest and longest running gay club, Neighbours, has not only one of the biggest dance floors in the city, but is home to some of the city’s most notorious drag queens. Although they charge a cover, drinks are cheap and the boys are mostly hot! R Place 619 E Pine St, Seattle, WA 98122 This diverse bar in Capital Hill has lots of space to hang out, and a great dance floor. The name says it all, R Placeis an open, fun, and hot gay bar in downtown Seattle.
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Butch Queen - Image courtesy Nark Magazine