The mirrorball has stopped spinning for yet another local LGBT night spot. On Saturday, June 25, Share announced through multiple avenues that it would close its doors after that night’s party.
Its Facebook post that evening read: “All good things must come to an end... Tonight Share Nightclub is saying goodbye to our Las Vegas friends and family. We hope you can join us as we close this chapter on Las Vegas nightlife. We are so thankful for our customers and staff that have stood by us for years! Please come by for a last drink - We would love to see your faces before we go.” Share has since taken down its Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, though its website remains.
Owner and California residential/hospitality developer Chris Rosas elaborated that same night to GayVegas.com. “It is time for Share Nightclub to end and a new nightclub to be born. A new venue that would have gaming and a larger stage and better lights and sound. Something bigger and better for Las Vegas. … I am NOT going anywhere and am going to build something bigger and better." He also said that business had sagged since he took it over last September from founding proprietor Michael Crisp, though another staffer had recently told me that attendance had significantly improved in recent weeks.
Share opened in 2011 in the former Minxx Gentleman’s Club & Lounge space on Wynn Road. As such, the building’s license allowed the then-new LGBT nightclub to feature lapdances by go-go strippers (though not fully nude, as the space served alcohol) on its second level. High-energy dance parties with both local and national talent comprised the lower level, though last month, Share introduced a seated, pre-party cabaret series with nationally renowned LGBT performers. Comedian and former Will & Grace star Leslie Jordan originally had a two-night stand booked June 24 & 25, but it was suddenly cancelled early last week.
Share had undergone some changes since being turned over to Rosas, who had previously told the Weekly that a larger revamp was in the cards for 2016. While the club deserves the benefit of the doubt, and many nightlife Vegas spots have closed and later reopened as something new, gay revelers have become far too accustomed to disappointment. In fact, Share's closure on Saturday leaves the beleaguered scene—which serves one of the largest LGBT tourist markets in the US—with a single mainstream dance club, the decade-old Piranha.
Earlier this year, Rendezvous, also a nightclub/adult cabaret-style venue, opened after a few misstarts and shuttered a few months later. In 2015, Victor Drai and Bally’s ended its eight-month LGBT nightlife experiment by closing Liaison Nightclub, and eastside hangouts Club Unity and Pride 702 Club both came and went. Two years before that, former gay party HQ Krave imploded spectacularly after owner Kelly Murphy moved it to Downtown’s Neonopolis—and took down beloved and adjacent spot Drink & Drag with it—with founding/returning owner Sia Amiri unable to revive the brand at Tommy Wind Theater on the Strip. Meanwhile, Piranha owner Paul San Filipo has yet to finish the newest incarnation of pioneering discotheque Gipsy, which was previously remodeled as SBLV for TV show Bar Rescue and quickly locked up nearly three years ago.
However, revelers are not without options. Besides Piranha, regularly programmed DJs and/or dance parties can be found at Freezone, Goodtimes, Phoenix, Charlie’s, Las Vegas Eagle and Badlands. Latino nightclub El Dorado, which used to be the Backdoor before it was damaged by a fire, currently features Thursday and Sunday gay-oriented parties. And speaking of those two days, Downtown club Oddfellows boasts a weekly Thursgays event, while Temptation continues to reign at Luxor’s north pool on Sunday afternoons.
