“Club One” Savannah, Georgia

Ratchet Level: Medium Price: $10 Music: Techno/EDM Club was TRASH. Let me give some background info so my readers have a better understanding of the situation and level of disappointment. Savannah is a college town with 3 different schools in close proximity. Savannah State University and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) being the most popular colleges in the area, the third I don’t know. Trust me these schools have two entirely different crowds of students. Outside of that there is an open container policy in Savannah (for those who don’t know that means you can walk around and publicly drink alcohol). That’s how you know it’s lit. Downtown Savannah is packed with bars and restaurants. People flood all of them and even just hangout outside. The hotels are in the same area so there is a flood of tourist. With all that being said downtown has a variety of places. Not all of them have cover charges so people typically go there. Before heading to Club One I heard from many fellow LGBT soldiers at Fort Stewart that it was whack and they tend to avoid it. The only gay club in the area is avoided by the gay soldiers? That’s odd to me being military. Coming from Colorado Springs we always drive up to Denver for Tracks or Charlie’s. So now this would be a personal investigation to find out why. I arrived around midnight. I made sure my hotel was in central downtown so I literally just walked a few blocks. (Shoutout to local drag queen Chi Chi putting me on the list! You looked amazing) there was a $10 cover at the door plus tax (which is odd unless the cover is $11 or I was charged additional for using a card). I brought two local friends with me. The first room is just where you pay. There is an outdated television there (not a good look) as well as a counter that sells gay flags and things of that nature. There are three doors. One leads upstairs to where the drag queens perform. I went upstairs but there was no performance going on so I did not get a chance to see the room. I was told it was a cash only bar up there though. One of the doors leads to the basement/bottom floor where there is a bar, tables, and DJ booth. This room was being used for karaoke. Everything in the bottom room was completely out of date even having a cigarette machine. We were about to do some karaoke, but the mood was off so we just left. The middle door leads to the main room. There is a disco ball, small stages (with a go-go dancer), and just a dance floor. One side of the bar just had people talking and the other side was dancing. The music was very cliché gay stereotype. The crowd was about 75% white women and the rest 25% white gays. In such a popular college town I was expecting the club to be more creative and modern. Instead it’s very outdated in need of a major makeover. I stayed maybe 15 minutes before I left. The other bars downtown like “Treehouse” and “The Bar Bar” were poppin. Savannah is a place to bar hop and hit up different spots. I’m am completely unsure how Club One has survived so long. It seems so dated compared to other gay club as well as the bars in the same area. After partying at 5 different bars I came back to see if the party vibe changed. It did not, it was actually worse. I did use the restroom which was dirty. I may party here once more to see if things improve. For now it’s a complete no from me. Sorry LGBT Savannah.

Part 2:

February 2019 I came back! I arrived at 8pm for the RuPaul's Drag Race Allstars 4 watch party in the basement. The basement has a bar and multiple televisions. All the tvs had it and gays gathered to watch at separate tables with $1 jello shots. I was disappointed with the watch party and here's why. "Tracks" in Denver, CO also has a watch party. Their event in Denver is hosted by drag queens and aired on a jumbo-tron. During the commercial break the drag queens play games with the crowd for prizes and there are quick performances in between. I recommend Club One mimicking this if possible. This will get the crowd to interact more. This was a Friday night and people were arriving early to pre-game for the 1030 Drag show. I stuck around for the drag show this time. The top floor has a stage, a lot of seating, cash bar, and restroom. The vibe was completely different. The show was almost sold out and featured a variety of drag queens. The crowd was very interactive and tipped well. I was drunk, but I had a really good time. The club should advertise this more and can honestly do without the main floor and basement. Nothing from my previous critique was different. Until next time Savannah.