Montreal post Pride weekend: August 2010

[+ newatthis]

Had a great time in Montreal the week following Pride weekend. Ste. Cathérine was full of people every afternoon and evening. The major renovations at Place des Arts are halfway done; I spent a pleasant hour sitting and watching the new fountains. (The complete redevelopment of the area will finish in 2012; at that time, it looks like Ste. Cathérine will be a pedestrian mall all the way from de Bleury through the Village, at least in summer.)

 

 

I can confirm the recent reports by eeyore and others: Taboo has come alive again. I was there one weekend and two weekday nights, and each time there were quite a few clients and many attractive dancers – more than 10 on each of the week nights. Surprisingly, Taboo (on those nights, anyway) is no longer primarily a twink bar. Many dancers would have fit comfortably at Campus in the afternoon, and I saw none of the little, slender types that used to be the specialty of the house. Gorgeous Hugo was barman/waiter a couple of nights – he has cropped his hair and wears a couple of days' growth of beard, a new and attractive look for him. One night he was shirtless, with his jeans slung just above his pubes and his ass-crack showing; I don't know how the dancers got any business while he was in the room. The back room no longer seems to be policed at all.

 

 

Now that JP's has no cover, I stopped by during one of the twink afternoons when they open at 3. I was greeted at the bar by Tyler, a former Taboo/Adonis dancer who took a year off to work in Calgary, of all places. Although he still wears glitter, he has matured considerably and was fun to talk with. He showed me around, and I was very impressed with the quality of the physical space. The dance area downstairs has been spruced up with new and attractive tables and chairs, and the layout has been rationalized. The DJ, Olivier, is a hunk. The spacious and comfortable lap dance booths upstairs are the most comfortable I've seen in any strip club in Montreal or Fort Lauderdale. Tyler and I gave them a little try out. JP's still offers $10 open curtain dances; there are supposedly rules against touching with the curtains open. When we got back downstairs, I checked out the other dancers – they were all presentable and friendly.

I stopped back at JP's that same evening, since it was not a ladies' night. There were a reasonable number of clients and a few dancers who looked interesting. There was also Ray. As soon as I spotted him, I grabbed Tyler and told him he had to sit with me until the Ray threat passed.

I certainly found the dancers at Taboo much more interesting that those at JP's, but summer afternoons, JP's is a reasonable alternative if Campus is dead.

 

 

I spent time at Campus every afternoon. None of my June favorites was working this visit, and the number of clients and dancers was on the low side most days – one day there was certainly more action at Taboo than at Campus. The exceptions were Pride weekend itself and Thursday, when a well-known big spender from NYC was in town – a lot of dancers showed up that afternoon for the chance to sit at his table and collect his $40 onstage tips.

 

 

I got to Stock only on Monday evening. The place was packed; it was hard to find an empty table. I wasn't particularly attracted to any of the dancers on stage in the first half hour and was drowsy, so didn't stay very late.

[eeyore]

Thanks for the follow up report. I'm glad to hear that the pleasant time I was able to spend at Taboo was not just a one-off event weekend anomaly. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going through the fall and winter.

[+ newatthis]

Thanks for the follow up report. I'm glad to hear that the pleasant time I was able to spend at Taboo was not just a one-off event weekend anomaly. Hopefully they can keep the momentum going through the fall and winter.

Unfortunately, that doesn't seem likely. Several people I talked to, both dancers and local civilians, were strongly of the opinion that all the clubs are struggling to make a go of it outside the very short tourist season.