gaypartyblog.com gay nightlife scene

I don’t want to go into a history lesson here so I’ll just say that, since the wall came down in 1990, when we talk about Berlin now we talk about both East and West Berlin combined. However the city still has various ‘districts’ and they are each as diverse as each other, but the news is that gay people are generally accepted in most of them and you can often see gay couples walking hand in hand and enjoying a relatively accepting society. This is particularly true in districts such as Kreuzberg, Schoneberg, Mitte and Friedrichshain. However if you travel to the eastern districts of the city there is a certain right wing element there which means you have to be more cautions and probably less public in your affections.

If you are visiting Berlin and are a bit of a culture vulture then you’ll be pleased to know there are many museums and galleries, plus the cathedrals and other architectural sites to visit. Including the Gay Museum which also has an archive of mainly English language and gay related books that you can browse, on site. schwulesmuseum.de is their website is you want to take a look.

But that might be jumping straight in; first you’ll need somewhere to base yourself for your visit. out-in-berlin.com/hotels.shtml has a comprehensive list of places to stay. This site is in German and English and you can easily follow the links to the individual hotels where you will find locations and prices to suit you. Staying with that site you’ll see lots of information about things to do after dark. There are many gay cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs in Berlin though no one area where you find them all together – as you might in say Soho, London or Canal Street Manchester, UK. That means there is no gay ‘ghetto’ and, some people think, this adds to the individuality of the city as each business does its own thing and each district has its own vibe.

Check out the Mitte (central) area of e city as this is where the trendy and the young hang out at the new and sleek Sony centre – free wi-fi, open air and crowded with hip tourists. The Maritim ProArte is a recommended hotel in this district, it features original artwork on each of its 11 floors and the nightlife of Schoneberg and Kreuzberg is only five minutes away by cab. In these areas you will find some of the oldest and most notorious of Berlin’s clubs, such as SO36 and Eldorado. There’s a saying that cameras are not allowed in many of Berlin’s clubs for a reason and you can probably guess what that reason is!

But it’s not all sex clubs in Berlin, there are other, dance and chill out places too. It’s just that you might have to go searching for them. One of the biggest party nights in the city can be found at Club Weekend (week-end-berlin.de for up to date opening times) but it takes place in what looks like an office building. As gaytravelnews.com says, these wild clubs are ‘often hidden in plain sight.’

And staying with that site there’s some very handy tips on having a good time listed there. Such as: The various nights and dates of certain events can change and you need to be ‘in’ to know where and when the party will be. Remember out-in-berlin.com which will have the details on the nightlife or nachtleben as the Germans call it. Also don’t forget the gay museum schwulesmuseum.de and the various cultural events that the city hosts including the Love Parade, a giant street party – see loveparade.net. And as for getting there LTU offers non-stop flights from NY, LA and Las Vegas, see www.ltu.com/world.

As usual that’s only a quick dip into a huge city that is teaming with varied night (and day) life and loads of gay things to do and see. Check those websites, there are many more too if you use your search engine and keyword ‘gay Berlin’ for example. But one thing is for sure: if you are planning a European vacation then Berlin needs to be on your itinerary.

Upcoming circuit events in Berlin include the Hustlaball held October 19 at the Kit Kat Club.  Gay pride comes around the end of every June with half a million people attending between Ku’damm and the Siegessäule.

Now here is an interesting challenge. You’ve seen a site that features wild sex parties where loads of sexy bois turn up, have a drink and then shag everything that moves or does not move. Great stuff to watch but how do you actually go about throwing one of these events?

I have to admit that I never have, but I did speak to some people I know who have organized such an event and I have managed to put together some background on how these guys do it. I also get tons of emails requesting pics for these type of parties so I admit it does spark some interest.

First of all you need to know what you are doing; you need to now the law both national and local as it pertains to where you are. This is particularly important if you are going to film the event and put it on a website. Secondly you need money as this is going to cost you a fair amount: the venue (and you need a gay-orgy friendly one) with charge, the bar will cost you, if you are filming then you have the crew and the cast to consider and then there is the publicity.

Publicity: how do you find 200 gay guys who are willing to have an orgy and be filmed? Well, advertising in local colleges works surprisingly well and you’d be amazed at how many straight guys turn up too. The local press woks the same – plus you have the internet and maybe your own website too.

So, you have the film crew, the venue and the whole thing is set up what next? Well sadly these things don’t happen spontaneously though they may appear to on the websites that feature them. If you are making a porn video in the USA (and this rule should apply to any country really – to protect yourself) you need to get the actors to do two things: One, they must prove their age and you must make copies of it in case anyone questions the legality of your models, (they must be over 18). Secondly you must get them to sign the legal disclaimer stating their age and your right to use them and their filmed/photographed material publicly since they will be nude.

So, all that preparation done and you are ready to roll. Now you just have to hope that your guys turn up, lose their inhibitions and have a wild time. There is some more backstage work still to be done. Some guys need persuading, others simply need to be introduced to each other, you should keep an eye out for illegal drugs as you don’t want that kind of thing filmed on your website and you should make a general introduction to the guys before the party starts: put them at their ease. After that, I am told, things usually take care of themselves and the kind of guys willing to do a wild gay college party won’t have any trouble in getting naked and wild when the time comes.

If you want any inspiration on how these things turn out here are a few sites to view:

Guysgocrazy is my favorite and features all male orgies in high quality filming from three cameras per party.

Wild-gay-college-parties.com is highly recommended for its exclusive content, video-making and bonus site access. Gaycollegesexparties.com like many of the gay party sites this one carries a link where you can apply to join a party. Go along and get first hand experience of how it all works if you can. Even if you don’t end up making a video of your own party at least you will have had some fun!

You’re too young to remember the actual Studio 54 I’m sure, but you may have heard of it and wanted to know what was so special about it. Why does the name, no the legend, live on all these years later? What was Studio 54?

To understand it completely you have to travel back to April 16th 1977 and to put that into perspective: that was the year that first saw VISA on credit cards, rings were discovered around Uranus (I’m not joking), the first spacewalk took place and Sarah Michelle Gellar was only 12 days old. Meanwhile over on 254 W. 54th Street, New York, two friends, Steve Rubell and Ian Shrager opened their doors for the first time and thereby started the legend of Studio 54.

In simple terms it was a night club; but a glittering one. They had tried owning and running steakhouses in the city but soon decided that there was more money to be made in alcohol, hence the idea of a club. With Rubell’s drive – he was always the loud and gregarious one, they bought and renovated the old TV studio, transformed it into the club, hung an illuminated man-in-the-moon over the dance floor and the rest, as they say is history.

Some of the first guests no doubt helped the club on its rise to fame and thanks to the likes of Andy Warhol and Liza Minelli it soon became the place to be. And I mean the place. Within months everyone around the world knew its name and this wasn’t just because the glittery and famous went there. It somehow came to symbolise everything that represented the era at the time, the so called ‘Me’ era. Everything was about hedonism and having a wild time, parties and fun, dancing and sex. Straight sex, gay sex, bi-sex sex… Rubell encouraged everything, not necessarily at the club but he threw the doors open to gay and straight people alike. And he insisted on certain things and had a manner about him which enhanced his reputation: you had to fit in, you had to look right and it was not uncommon for him, as he walked and viewed his dance floor, to tell people to go home and change; he even didn’t let some people in simply because they were ‘too ugly’.

He knew how to keep the public coming through the doors though. Realising that to make money you have to spend it, he lavished gifts on his famous guests. He threw a huge musical spectacular for Bianca Jagger’s 30th birthday for example and presented Andy Warhol with a dustbin full of dollar bills – the famous loved it and the general public loved to come and see the famous loving it. One thing fed off another and it’s reported that the club made over $7 million in the first year.

But, as they say, all good things must come to and end. In December 1979, just 32 months after opening, Studio 54 was closed down. The Internal Revenue Services raided it, finding bags of money simply lying around, and checked the records. Shrager had been very detailed in his record keeping and had noted every gift that had been given to the celebrities, including gifts of drugs and ‘poppers’. The two were sentenced to three and a half years each in gaol, but served only 13 months due to striking a deal with the prosecutors. Once free they went back to the club business with the Palladium and from there into the hotel business. Studio 54 didn’t reopen.

But still the question remains: why the legend? Why do we still remember Studio 54 all these years later? It was a quick blast of hedonism and the ‘anything goes’ culture of the days but so were many other places and things. Maybe that’s the point: Studio 54 was a mystery and a legend from the day it first opened its doors to the day it closed them some 1000 days later. And it still is. Now when you see a Studio 54 party you will know what it is all about.