X-Bar

By Terri-Ann Malgieri

Cue the strobes, blast the music, and open the door. It’s 10 p.m. and X-Bar in downtown Syracuse is open. Housed on 205 North West St., the club is a bustling little gem of fun, spirits, and acceptance where anything goes from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. It is easily accessible by the Warehouse bus route from campus, so the 18-and-over crowd can get there without paying the price.

Stephanie Massa spent the night at X-Bar. “You can just be you,” she said. “No one will give you shit. If you’re straight, the gay guys love you. If you’re gay, they love you more.”

Following the 11 p.m. drag show, Madonna’s classic “Like A Virgin” begins to play and regulars know what time it is. A tall blonde, affectionately known as Nikki Fenmore, invites everyone who is new or celebrating a birthday — some bashful and others very willing — to come up on stage to share their affinities for sausage and/or clams. To officially welcome them to X-Bar, Fenmore tells them all to turn around, and in a wicked loud cheer, the crowd erupts with a “Fuck you!”

“It’s a good crowd,” said Rob, a regular bouncer at the bar. “We don’t have problems and everyone feels safe coming here.” With a minimum admittance of 18 and over, or 21 to drink, X-Bar has a variety of activities to lure in customers. For those of drinking age, the two-for-one drinks at the bar all night long will tempt your taste buds. If you’re in the younger crowd, the beats of DJ James will hype you up for an evening of sweat-filled dancing.

Don’t think you’re leaving X-Bar without a good story — or, in my case, a black eye from a flailing elbow. Sometimes the dancing can be a little overzealous, but that just goes to show that the fun is everlasting.