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#LIAISON GAY BAR LAS VEGAS FULL#
Coming almost full circle, in October of last year it was announced that Krave's new home would be very close to its original location, back on the Strip in the building that formerly housed Club Utopia, Empire Ballroom, Boulevard Theater, and - briefly in 2013 - a previous gay club called the Affair, and is now the Tommy Wind Theater.Īll was quiet until May, when it closed yet again, but this time ostensibly for a remodel. That plan evidently came to nothing, but then founder Sia Amiri stepped back into the fray, repurchasing his club's (now slightly tarnished) name, digital entities and guest databases, while re-hiring former valued employees from the club's former incarnations. Or did it? At first downtown redevelopment impresario Tony Hsieh, a minority shareholder in Krave Massive - hinted that he would buy the club.
#LIAISON GAY BAR LAS VEGAS LICENSE#
In October of the same year, both Krave and its sister property, Drink 'n Drag, were denied the tavern license essential to their operation - right on the eve of the Las Vegas PRIDE festivities - which spelled the end. Krave Massive opened late - very late, in June - after failing to hit a promised New Year's debut, then was unceremoniously shut down less than three months later due to permitting issues, as rumors of Murphy's shady personal history (including prison time) and financial improprieties began to surface. That downtown entertainment disaster zone might better be named Necropolis, for the number of businesses that have languished within its echoing bowels (see Today's News 9/2/13), but in this instance it seems less the fault of the challenged location and more a case of gross mismanagement and possible criminality. Krave closed at the Miracle Mile, then found temporary refuge in the Rio's (appropriately confused) Crown Theater (now King's Room), while construction was in progress on the five-room Krave Massive venue in Neonopolis. Then, in 2012, founder Sia Amiri sold his interest to his business partner Kelly Murphy, who announced grandiose plans for the "world's largest gay club" downtown. The club, which had a great reputation for being friendly and inclusive, operated there happily enough for the next eight years, with highlights including an impromptu performance by Lady Gaga, following a headlining show up the street at MGM Grand. To the best of our knowledge, when it debuted in the Miracle Mile Shops at Planet Hollywood in 2004, Krave was the first fully-fledged gay club on the Las Vegas Strip, and located in a major resort-casino mall, if not actually on casino property. Still, when it comes to gay bars and clubs, they have traditionally been relegated to certain acknowledged "zones," including the famous "Fruit Loop" located close to McCarran International Airport, Commercial Center on E. Last year saw the debut of the Las Vegas Gay Visitors Bureau and now, in addition to Blue Moon, described by Ga圜 as a "frisky clothing-optional men-only resort", Las Vegas has Paris, Luxor, Mirage, Caesars Palace, Bally's, Tropicana, Encore, Mandalay "Gay", Stratosphere, Rumor, and Artisan, to name a few major resorts, all catering to LGBT visitors with specific programs and incentives, often including specialized microsites like, and amenities ranging from national-event hosting, to pool parties, to commitment ceremonies, to room packages, to nightlife options, to specialized concierge services, and more. But true? Not anymore."įriess goes on to describe how much the city had finally evolved, LGBT-wise, over the preceding decade, since he'd first arrived in town, with the advent of Las Vegas as a high-end dining and retail mecca, iconic gay-friendly headliners like Cher, Bette, and Elton in residence, Cirque's risqué Zumanity show headlining at New York-New York, and several major hotels catching on to the potential of a neglected and financially attractive market and finally promoting actively to LGBT travelers. "For the past year, virtually every time I told a friend I was working on a gay guidebook to Las Vegas, the sarcastic response was a variation of: 'Boy, that'll be a short book.' As former Las Vegas-based writer Steve Friess wrote in his introduction to Huntington Press' 2007 publication Gay Vegas: While gay entertainers and drag queens are a long-established and integral part of this city's entertainment history, in terms of Las Vegas having a mainstream entertainment scene for the LGBT community, both local and visiting, that has only emerged in recent years.