Montreal Clubs - Pride Weekend (August 13 -16, 2009)

[eeyore]

Campus - I dropped in each day around 7:00 pm in order to catch the end of the 3-9 shift. I had a nice dance with Chris who used to dance and tend bar at Taboo during its Halcyon days. He is as buff, toned and pleasant as ever. He now dances during the afternoon 3-9 shift and then tends bar during the late shift. He goes by Chris when dancing and Mario when tending bar. When I asked him why the two identities he said that Chris is much more sensual and passionate while Mario is more subdued and passive. We had pleasant conversation time before and after the dance. He definitely went out of his way to make the whole encounter into a very pleasant host/date experience.

 

On the previous night I had a not so pleasant experience. The Campus has started the practice of running a different (and softer) song track in the back room area – I presume to make the song counts easier and the song time lengths more consistent. The problem is that the stage songs blare into the backroom songs, making the whole song count process very difficult. When it comes to most of the fast dance rock music I’m basically tone deaf anyway. Two audible soundtracks playing at once render it impossible for me to keep track of anything. It has become my standard policy to tell the dancer in advance how many songs I would like, thus transferring responsibility for the song count to him (leaving me free to concentrate on other worldly issues…). I clearly specified in advance that I wanted three dances (and held up three fingers), to which he agreed. Well that didn’t stop him from playing games. When it seemed like we were going over what would normally be a three-song time span I asked him how we were doing on the song count. He said we were up to seven. HELLO???; NO WAY. When I reminded him we had clearly agreed on three songs he mumbled something about his English being poor and therefore he didn’t understand. He stated I should have known that we went over three songs in any event. Funny, his English was flawless during our chat time at the bar. I finally paid him for four dances and told him he could sue me for the rest. Case closed. He understood that so I guess he turned his English back on. I was so turned of by the experience that I left the place for the night. The pathetic thing is that he gives a very warm/sensual dance and would have had my repeat business if he had not try to pull a cheap hustle.

 

This is the first time I’ve been so blatantly mistreated at the Campus and in fairness I think he is the exception rather than the rule. I guess the moral of the story is: be aware that some dancers are mathematically challenged (irrespective of their English). It would be a lot easier if the dancer would set an alarm timer (most cell phones have them now) to coincide with the dance number equivalent. In any case, running a separate song track in the lap dance area just adds more confusion to an already confusing accounting process.

 

In any event, this one bad apple notwithstanding, I had a very pleasant time with the rest of the boys at the Campus.

 

Stock Bar – The place has been well reviewed by better experts than me. Since it was Pride weekend I guess you know the place was packed – standing room only for the most part although it thinned out some later in the evening (or I should say very early in the morning I guess). I normally don’t stay that late but as the crowd started thinning and seats became available I started having such a good time I lost track of time. I didn’t realize it was nearly so late until I got back to the hotel. The patron crowd covered the full gamut from beautiful drop dead to die for boys all the way to old donkey queen me. I had just as much fun watching the younger patrons sitting up front interact and flirt as I did watching the dancers. My Karma must have been good that night since shortly after I took my seat the curtain behind the bar opened and the shower show started (smoking hot!) – I had somehow unwittingly managed to stumble into a front row seat for this special show at just the right time! For an incurable voyeur like me, well it was pure heaven.

 

I also had a wonderful time and multiple sessions with Diego, also a Taboo expatriate. He said he is originally from Rio, Brazil. I’ve never been to South America but what they say about Latin lovers must be true. He was wonderfully sensual, interactive and passionate in the backroom (and he doesn’t have trouble counting). We also had pleasant chitchat time pre and post dance. He will move to Fort Lauderdale from January through March and will dance at the Boardwalk. I put Florida on my travel itinerary this winter…

 

I also had a pleasant dance with Dario from Spain. He was a little mechanical in the back but his torso was so smoking hot and flawless I didn’t care. He had no problem counting either.

 

JP's Cabaret – JP’s is what used to be Adonis, now under new ownership. On Saturday night there were two dancers who worked the outside handing out brochures about the recent opening and talking it up to potential patrons. I had a nice conversation with one of them.

 

The inside has been rearranged. The slots have been removed from the entry way and the dance booths have been moved upstairs. There is now a second bar where the old booths used to be. It seems to give the place a little more room. The upstairs booths still looked like a work in progress, or at least I hope so since they could use some finish work. One nice touch is that the booths have adjustable rheostat lighting allowing you to dim the lighting to suit your taste. My dancer, Max, said some clients prefer full bright, others totally dark. I opted for in between. The booths were fully curtained.

 

There is a five-dollar cover. I saw only one female patron in the place the nights I was there, but it was Pride weekend. There were mainly muscle boys there but also some more toned downed smooth, defined athletic types. No twinks.

 

I had a pleasant time with Maxime/Max, a blond, fairly tall, boy-next-door type. He self identifies as ‘mostly straight’ but that doesn’t stop him from playing the good host and creating a true ‘boy friend’ experience during the time you spend with him. He enjoyed chit chatting both before and after our dance and made me feel like I was there with a friendly date. He didn’t have a problem counting either….

 

Taboo – Much had been reported about its demise lately. The place was about half full on Thursday night with not too much happening, full on Friday night, and standing room only on Saturday night. This was right in the thick of Pride weekend so my observation is probably atypical. The only night I spent much time there was on Sunday night when things started thinning out again. There were some cute boys there, however I still had the same problem there that I have always had in the past: you make eye contact and smile at a ‘premium boy’ only to watch him rush over to a table of regulars where he then spends the rest of the night. I guess they know where their bread is buttered but they never went in the back and I left spending only my beverage money. The waiter seemed to be the only one making much money that night. Nevertheless, I still maintain that when it comes to working the stage pole, nobody does it like a Taboo boy.

[Cooper]

Mtl

 

Eeyore, Thanks for the update on the 4 Montreal strip bars. Sounds like you had a good and busy time.

 

Counting of songs is an age old problem, but at Campus, it's trying to distinguish one song playing in the back from the one on stage. I too had that problem.

 

It was good to read some positive feed back on Taboo. From recent reports it didn't sound like the bar was going to survive.

 

So, which Stock dancer/dancers did you get to see perform in the "shower show"?

 

Thanks again for taking the time to post your report. Btw, which hotel did you stay at and how were the rates? Someone told me that the hotels had increased their prices during Pride Week.

 

Coop

[eeyore]

Btw, which hotel did you stay at and how were the rates? Someone told me that the hotels had increased their prices during Pride Week.

 

Well it wasn’t too bad. I stayed at the Hotel Gouverneur like I usually do. I took advantage of the ‘Suite, Suite’ summer package - if you stay two consecutive nights you get the third night 50 percent off. So it came to 169 +169 + 84.5 = 422.50 CAD plus taxes (75.71 CAD) for a total of 498.21 CAD for three nights in a Superior room (which is the middle tier of rooms: standard, superior, business). I managed to accumulate 14 Gouverneur club stickers over the years (and before I figured out that the rate of the day is always cheaper than the Gouverneur club rate…), which I traded in for a free night on Sunday for a total of four nights. They also throw in two vouchers for the full breakfast buffet for the first two days. The ‘Suite, Suite’ package is good until Sept. 10. (http://www.gouverneur.com/index.php?lang=en). Secure parking is an additional 16.50CAD/night if applicable to your travel.

 

I think all of the standard rooms were sold out in advance of the weekend. The hotel finally did completely sell out but I think that was only because there was a fire at one of the other hotels and they were taking in the overflow from that. Last summer they offered an even better deal: stay two nights, then the third was 50 percent off and the fourth night was free. I guess the local economy must be improving. There certainly was no recession in Montreal on Pride weekend.

 

If you book an event weekend you are better off requesting a room on the east side (Campus/Stock side) in order to avoid the noise from the park on the west side. The loud music has to stop after 10:00pm (I think) but if you want to take a beauty nap in the afternoon (or order in for some afternoon entertainment…), the loud music emanating from the park will make things unpleasant. The east rooms all end in odd numbers (e.g. 2417). I know that most of the members here usually get better rates and deals through Priceline, Hotwire, etc., ending up usually at the Hyatt or the Delta, but as the realtors say: ‘location, location, location…’

 

 

So, which Stock dancer/dancers did you get to see perform in the "shower show"?

 

I do not know the names of the dancers but they were two very hot looking guys (no ‘Eddie, Eddie, Eddie’ was not one of them, although he was there and performed on main stage show). For a hopelessly incurable voyeur like me it was heaven. The main stage also had ‘theme’ shows on Saturday night – like two hotties coming out dressed as medieval monks holding candles. Things would progress erotically from there… It was a really fun night.

[Luv2play]

I was at Campus last evening with Newatthis and Oliver and had a better experience with a dancer and counting songs. I had been told about the new system of music by Newatthis before going back with a dancer but thought I would be able to hear only one sound track. Like Eeyore the booth we found ourselves in mixed the two sound systems together and it was impossible to know when songs were beginning or ending. My dancer explained that the back booths were better but we were forced to take one at the side which is closer to the front of the club and hence the two sound systems interacting.

 

My dancer showed me his watch and said we would count each song as 4 minutes. I thought this was fair as he said he would keep track of the time as I was otherwise distracted. After two songs I was very distracted so indicated that we needed another song to finish things off in a satisfactory way for me. It was all very pleasant and he chatted with me at the bar briefly afterwards, as he had done before but for a longer period. All in all, very pleasant.

 

I think the other two Hoovillians had a good time with their dancers and afterwards we went off for a pleasant dinner in the Village to get caught up with things of mutual interest. A very pleasant evening from my viewpoint and a nice break from the cottage where I had been cutting down trees all week.

[+ newatthis]

the weeks after pride in the Montreal clubs

 

Sharing the Campus experience, and dinner afterwards, with luv2play is always a high point of my Montreal visits. Have enjoyed Oliver's company the whole week as well, and overlapped with Mtlover for the first 3 days. All of them are wonderful company and helped make this a great trip so far (one day to go).

 

I hope to supplement eeyore's opening post when I return home. For the moment, let me just say that his experience at Taboo may not have been atypically good because of pride weekend -- the place has a way to go, but it's definitely on the upswing.

[+ Oliver]

... was at Campus last evening with Newatthis and Oliver ... A very pleasant evening from my viewpoint ...

 

Indeed, a very pleasant evening with Newatthis and Luv2play! I had not previously ventured back with a dancer at Campus the first three days of our stay, as I was not sufficiently moved to do so. That definitely changed yesterday! Sonny had not been there before. Beautiful face and form, Spanish/Portuguese background, and very nice moves. He knew I was concerned about song numbers and was most explicit in counting. Consequently I had no qualms with spending “a few” with him. Of course, that he was decidedly hot had nothing to do with that!

 

A thoroughly enjoyable time with New and Luv, renewing acquaintance and catching up on our lives.