You can’t always be in the mood for sweaty club kids, crazy messed up drag queens and high energy art school music beats. Sometimes you just want a laid back sipping drink surrounded by some pretty ladies. So I commend the Fez Ballroom for creating just such a space with their new “Gimlets and Garters” night starting tonight.
That said, some of the particulars seem a bit bizarre to me. The Fez’s website calls it a monthly Happy Hour from 6-10p which just seems like an oxymoron to me, being only once a month and staunchly within the dinner/early-going-out hour. It also seems to feel the need to explicitly state an age range. The bottom of the bracket, 21, is apparent, as it is a drinking social hour, but why the 45 year old upper limit? It might be somewhat nice to know that this is geared more at a younger crowd and that you should be going to Vitis Enoteca for the over 37 crowd (ok, I think this restaurant isn’t even in business anymore let alone the over 37 mingling night I seemed to vaguely remember, but that’s exactly my point) but I’ve found that most gay scenes are fairly young anyway, so I wouldn’t think it’d be necessary to specify. Besides, the nights that have become very inclusive of a broad range of ages are actually some of the most successful. I love that genderqueer punks with bike locks in their back pockets mix with lesbians in mom jeans at Holocene’s monthly Doubledown.
So while I’m always ecstatic to have another chill space for girlies I’m sketpical of this one as it comes off sounding pompous and exclusive. In Portland where any of the old-money recent-seven-sisters-school-graduates are looking to get away from that culture (if they weren’t they would have stayed in Boston or moved to New York) I just don’t think this snooty-ness will fly.
