- While most
bars ,clubs , and pubs are shut down in the US because of thecoronavirus pandemic, people are finding innovative ways to createnightlife online. - Club Q, a queer and inclusive virtual space with parties every night of the week, is drawing in thouands of people from all over the world.
- In addition to live-streamed DJ sets and parties, bars are finding other ways to connect with their regulars virtually, such as trivia nights and cocktail classes.
- "People are hungry to do things that remind them of the 'before times,'" said one owner of a trivia company.
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Last Saturday night in New York City, I danced in my kitchen with 171 strangers. Gatherings of this many people have been illegal in New York state since March 16, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down most of the world — so it's lucky my fellow partiers are tuning in via Zoom as they quarantine in their own homes worldwide.
Party guests from London, Liverpool, Paris, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Serbia, Puerto Rico, Brussels, and elsewhere danced on-camera to an EDM DJ set in Club Quarantine, or Club Q, the hottest queer club on the internet, open seven nights a week.
During the party on Saturday, May 2, participants vaped, smoked, drank, danced, sang, and dressed up in wild, neon costumes — though in many cases, people wore almost nothing at all. One woman danced in underwear in front of a green screen background that displayed an assortment of sex toys.
While the coronavirus has shut down bars, pubs, and clubs for weeks, Club Q is one of the many efforts to keep nightlife alive online. "I think the world is only waking up to how we need each other, and how we're all valuable, and how we yearn [for] connection and we need it to survive," Andrés Sierra, one of the four co-founders of Club Q, all Toronto-based creatives, said. "And I hope that the world also kind of sees the value in art and how it's literally one of the only things that keeps us going."
Club Q has reached a massive audience since its first party on March 15. The virtual club's Instagram has 56,000 followers, and its guests, party hosts, and DJs have included stars like Charli XCX, Rebecca Black, and Mitch Grassi of Pentatonix.
There is no required cover charge upon entry, but guests are welcome to give donations to the club via PayPal. While the four creators of the club haven't pocketed anything from their new 24/7 job, according to co-founder Mingus New, they've been able to pay the performers, artists, and graphic designers who are helping keep the club running (in addition to Zoom bills and other overhead costs).
"That's really what keeps us going," New said of being able to give back to the creative community in a time of record unemployment.
Brick and mortar bars and clubs are also getting creative in the hopes of reopening once restrictions are lifted.
Club Q is a not-for-profit organization which was started for the purpose of finding ways to party online, but the 62,000 existing bars and nightclubs throughout the US and hundreds of thousands throughout the world are also seeking ways to innovate and keep their doors open.
The management team at Le Nocturne in Chicago was put in a tough spot when it was forced to shut down in March. The music-centric nightclub had only just opened last August. Without a set group of regulars already devoted to the spot, it couldn't ask for support with GoFundMe pages or other donation programs as many popular American bars and restaurants have done.
"Everyone's got their famous place — their favorite place to go to," Miguel Castro, the general manager at Le Nocturne said. "We were just trying to grow our following and our fan base."
Luckily, the club had already begun live-streaming music shows for free on YouTube and Facebook as a marketing move. Since March, the club has been airing live music and DJ performances four nights per week. Le Nocturne is not yet charging for their shows, but Castro said his team is looking into what the best platform would be.
"Human nature is to make the best of any bad situation," Castro said. "People are connecting via FaceTime, Zoom, and all those platforms. And I think that's great to see." Castro added that this might end up being beneficial for the club, as people from outside Chicago are finding their live-streams online.
Other bars are going different routes to engage with regulars online, from cocktail making classes to trivia nights.
While Club Q, Le Nocturne, and others offer a chance to party online, Serenata, a cocktail bar in DC, has gone a different route, offering virtual cocktail-making classes. For $50, locals can order cocktail kits for delivery or pickup, and join an hourlong Zoom lesson to learn how to put the drink together. Friday night's session was Cinco de Mayo themed and featured three of the bar's cocktails, including a margarita.
"We wanted to connect with our guests. We wanted to offer our experience," said Daniella Senior, co-founder of the bar, told me. In addition to virtual classes, Serenata is hosting a fundraiser to support its employees.
Aeronaut Brewing Company in Somerville, Massachusetts, has been hosting events such as "cat mixers" and open mic nights through Zoom, but the brewery's popular trivia nights are drawing crowds online, too. "We wanted to keep doing events, stay engaged with our community — and this was the first thing that we thought of trying because it had such a loyal audience and we had a Facebook group and we had different ways of connecting with those people," Ronn Friedlander, co-founder of Aeronaut Brewing Company in Boston, said. Friedlander added that the "format" of trivia is easy to translate onto a digital platform.
Local bar or pub trivia nights tend to have cult followings, allowing for a smooth transition to these digital variations. Shannon Donaldson, who runs the Portland, Oregon-based trivia company ShanRocks Triviology, said she has been really happy her regulars and newcomers alike are logging on. "The attendance has been really great," said Donaldson, who recently hired an assistant to help score and keep track of points. "People are hungry to do things that remind them of the 'before times,'" she said.
Virtual innovations are making nightlife more accessible for people with disabilities.
Sierra and New said Club Q has received a lot of feedback from people with disabilities who say this is the first time they've been able to participate in the party scene.
Barriers to entry to concerts, clubs, and bars "emerge long before disabled clubbers even arrive," writer Alex Taylor wrote for Mixmag.
"This is bigger than us. It's something that is needed because it's bridging gaps that were never even recognized before," Sierra said.
While increasing accessibility wasn't part of the founders' impetus, New said virtual nightlife offers a world of opportunity for the disabled community moving forward. "It's unfortunate that it took a pandemic for us to kind of realize how important this space is," New said. "Our eyes have been opened and we have talked a lot about what this will look like after the pandemic."
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