Field Notes Set #2 (The Providence Eagle)

FIELD NOTES SET #2 (My attempt at the Providence Eagle)

This set of field notes is going to put together my 4 encounters with queer nightlife that I have had over the last month, which has made me VERY aware of just how fragmented the “queer” label means when it comes to going out in Providence.

I’ll start with the Eagle.  I went there with my friend, a slightly thicker/more-muscular dude who is still a little bit “twinky” in gayboy lexicon (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=twink).. The eagle is generally known in Providence as the go-to spot for leather, bare chested, hairy “bear” guys.  But my project is on Providence Queer Nightlife so I gave it a shot.

FAIL.  The bar was pretty packed on a Thursday night, but the bouncer didn’t need us to join the crowd.  He asked my friend for ID and didn’t even bother with me (my friend is 20 as well but more mature-looking I guess)..  I’ll describe the scene outside the Eagle since I couldn’t get in::

#1 ~ LEATHER.  More leather than hair.  If you go to the eagle, you strap on a leather vest, leather pants, boots, etc...it’s a dress code.  

#2 ~ lots of big boys cruising outside.  My friend got hit on by at least 3 of the dudes leaning up against the wall in the alleyway where the eagle is situated.

#3 ~ based on what I heard from the outside, the music in the Eagle is totall different than that of a club like Mirabar (where we’d end up, since it’s just 2 blocks west of the eagle!).  Sounded a lot more country-ish, rock-ish, and less expressly gay.  I associated it with a sports-bar aesthetic.  Guess I’ll never know for sure, but it was definitely not the prototypical “gay club” soundtrack Ash told me about in my interview with him.

I also didn’t see any men of color, but that was based on a very outward-looking-in impression of the Eagle that only encompassed a glimpse of the dudes cruising outside.  MEH so on to Mirabar (see my next post!)