GiB#2 | Afterizing Beirut

So you’re desperately wondering what to do next when the club or bar you're at turns on the annoying extra light on you, it's too early, and you haven't had enough yet. If you’d been lucky that day, you’d be in a club or even in a random bar that occasionally stayed up late that night (behind closed doors, so never mind the license). Better yet, you could've had the best of both worlds by going out with your straight/mixed friends while still going home with the guy you want to spend the rest of the night with.

But no luck tonight Mr Alright is not around, you’re still on a roll, and it’s too early for munchees.

Well that’s bad news because unfortunately, it seems to me that there are less options today for after parties than there were a few years back. As far as dedicated after-hours I only know of Wonderbar facing Basement and Electro Mécanique in Mar Mikhael still left. Many others have closed down, and most of them have been short-lived. For some of the recent ones, Silicon near Freeway and Black Diamond in Monot closed down less than two years after opening, and word has it EM is closing down soon. But these were also examples of low-budget clubs that thought they could afford cheap decor while still securing a loyal crowd, when every other new club in Beirut has cost over six figures. Granted, the concept could be viable, for all what is expected from these clubs is good electro music with deep sound, and to secure a safe haven with 0 chance of a brutal kick-down from the alphabet soup the crowd's had.

Good thing the two main late-night clubs popular with GiBs, Acid and B018, are still standing, and stay up till 6. But at Acid (only weekends), chances are by that time the atmosphere will be that of an end-of-party. The mass of regulars does not tend to stay that late after their favorite part, the Arabic special that plays around 2 (my tourist friends too love it – how exotic!). So, the undisputed queen of late night Beirut remains the longstanding B018. There, almost every day of the week, the crowd builds up around 3am only to leave after sunrise when the day light enters into the tomb through its sliding rooftop, and the sound of electrobeats gives way to the morning prayer of the muezzin nearby. Trippy... Plus a good thing about the recently instated 25,000LL cover charge is that it has eased down the once-too-picky bouncers at the door, which works well for a last-minute boys night out.

As a general rule at these parties, the later you stay, the GiBber it gets. While the sex ratio is desperately not in favor of the straight guys to begin with, it is not uncommon for these parties to end up almost exclusively entre hommes, put aside the untiring fag hags. That’s when the cruising begins, as it hits the GiB that he’s about to go back home to deal with his horniness alone. Lucky the GiB whose over-substanced body is screaming “don’t touch me” anyway.

-- Recent update! A new after hours party in Beirut on Saturdays (well more like Sundays) called AFTER HOURS HOT SUNDAY from "961 clubbers" starting soon! From their info on facebook: Once every two weeks, different club each time, 6am to 6pm, 10$. Kicking it off with a party called "sex in the cave", you can't be any more suggestive. Could be lame though, let's wait and see. Maybe I'll see you there ;)
-- Another update: ElectroMecanique is now EM Chill, no longer afterhours, revamped. Looks pathetic from the outside, but will give it a try!