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October 16, 09 Save your money, and your time; you wont get either back after being in this place!
I had the misfortune of going to this place last night. Although it did not seem as dirty as what I see written here, I do have to say that this place has the most IGNORANT bar staff I have ever met jere in Halifax. The old guy on the bar was just beyond reproach. I happen to be here on business till Sunday, and some people recommended going there for the show, and the cheap drinks. They should have said for the cheap show and drinks. No wonder it is a no-talent show. The drag queen hosting it was hideous, and the contestants were not even fit for a gong show tryout. But they support themselves,and their attitudes were all just beyond belief. I support the arts, and love a good drag show, but such a mockery of the memory of someone so fine as LuLu LaRude?, is wasted on someone trying to immitate her, and instead makes a terrible impression of a fine artist. Hate to say it but the hostess last night was downright awful. I seen LuLu perform on many grand occasions in Edmonton and Calgary and for various comedic benefits, but I never seen someone do such a poor imitation as what I witnessed last night. Perhaps people were dressed for a Halloween Show that I was not aware the bar was hosting last night.
Are the door staff still Hell's Angel's or I should say wannabees. A lot of attitude in the bar for a business that has no reason to have any, you are not that great nor special....I should have sensed something was going to be amiss the minute I seen the bartender making fun of the entertainment that was happening, but I decided to stay and see what it was about. Now I wish I had listened to the others, and went elsewhere.
To the bartender...rather than stand at the bar and bemoan the fact you are not making any tips off the bunch of customers you have and about how poorly you are paid, why don't you change you attitude, stop calling yourself god, and be thankful there was a (very small) handful of customers there! Good tips come with good service and attitude, and you need to improve both....
God rest the memory of LuLu for who she was, as this talentless group paid her no respect at all, and she must be furious in her eternity for what they have done to her memory, or how others must perceive her to be, for those that never had the honor to have met her. I seen her original show when it first was starting out somewhere up on another street by the Toolbox Bar, but to see what it has become is heart wrenching, actually just wrenching period to have to sit through.
July 13, 09
I did not even know this site existed till I seen it being talked about on Gay.com. Not that that is a site you can take its word on anything, but they were talking about the event on the weekend where a customer got stabbed. It is my understanding from the news that this might have ben a random event? I hope this was not a member of our community, but just a random act of violence that had the unfortunate event of happening at a place that members of our community might frequent.
Say what you want about this bar, and to each their own, but going into any bar has its' own risques, and this bar just happens to have more of it lately in the last few years than some others in the city. Given its' history, and how it started, can anyone really be suprised? People think it is cool to hang around a bar that has a past of a history of thugs and gangs, and everyone wants in on the action to be able to say they are part of the crowd. I don't blame the customers as most of them are really there for a good time, and I can't blame the security staff though (Safety guys???) as none of this stuff can be controlled until it happens, and for the most part it never happens inside the bar where the safety staff is most concerned.
I can't say the bar is as clean as MENZ, but then again MENZ has not been around as long as this bar, and if Reflections does show its' age, remember it has been around since 1996. people move on
We all have our own opinions on what we like and don't, but remember this bar has never claimed itself to be part of the community, just one that supports an alternative no labels type of lifestyle. Also since the bar staff has not changed all that much in so many years, their attitudes towards the customers becomes known to others especially all the negative stuff I hear, and it keeps people away. I seen very few people in the crowd that I knew, and I was suprise and how few people were there that I actually knew. The hottest successful bars have the friendliest staff, and the best looking staff, and promotions that really appeal to the masses. and that is something this bar misses in my opinion having looked at their calendar. Also just because the bar comes out and supports a community for a week does not make it a gay bar. Anyone can hang a flag and claim to be gay friendly, but the members of the community know who truly supports them day in and day out, and not just when there is a buck to be made by exploiting them. And what's with a Thursday night during Pride and they have a str8 band from the 80's that only had two hits playing before a gay themed talent show. Can they really think a bunch of performers want to come in and mingle with a bunch of drunk straights after an event like a band playing. Get real, that sounds like a disaster waiting to happen. Also, the rest of the event line up does not seem all that spectacular but thankfully there are many other events to attend in the city that seem more fun and better hype about.
I moved away many years ago, and I don't look back for a second. The bar was fun years ago, and I enjoyed my past for the most part, and it is just what you make of it that counts. I live in Ottawa now, but it too has its same problems and so does Hull, which is across the river. The bars change, the customers change, and so does the community. You just have to take it all in stride, and make choices for yourself, not for others.
I am here till after the Pride is over but I doubt I will be making another trip down to this bar. I was down on Saturday night (11th) after the MENZ bar, and it is just not the same. Downtown is just not as safe as it used to be even when I lived down there, but at least Halifax has alternatives to go to, and like I said above, I will make choices to attended events and places that please me, not just because they claim to support a community for one week of the year. This is the first time my partner has ever been this far east and I wanted to show him a part of my past. Times were different back then, and Rumours was still in business. And the music was far better back in the old days, and not quite to loud.
I don't do drag any more, but I am a long ago queen, just checking out the scene from Bayshore ON
Well, here is just another reason to avoid this bar!!!! I have to add my worthless opinion, but....inless you have shoes to match your kevlar vest, well, stay away. Another customer exiting the bar last night (Friday night/Saturday Morning at 3:45am) at closing time was stabbed. Not fatally, but how soon before one is. This place is at your own risk. Funny how their own security could not catch the customer going in with his knife, until he left for the evening and stabbed someone outside after a night of partying. This is not the bar we all knew back when. It has had its' share of problems in the past, but it shows things have not changed in the present nor the future. I was there last night after enjoying a night of Sonny D's muzak at MENZ bar, and although other people told me this was a dangerous bar, I decided since it was open till 4am, WTH. What a sight to greet you on the way out the door...lots of blood on the sidewalk, and the police all around. This is truly the most ignorant bartending staff I have ever met at all the bars.
This is the best security staff in Halifax by far, and also the friendliest, but this is not the first time, actually the sixth according to others, this has happened in 2 years. BTW ironically they call their staff the "Safety" crew. You would think the yellow shirts just make them larger targets... what a bunch of BS that this is the best place to dance and party. Sure if you are used to the hood....
Customer safety is obviously at your own risk!!!! Beware.
BTW, $10 ($9 plus you have to tip a $1 to get your coat hung up??? according to the girl working there) to watch a guy playing CD's according to the old guy at the dance floor bar, at least he got one thing right as we watched.
chose your venue carefully. MENZ bar has never had these type of problems, and they are right in the hood!!!!! Think twice, live once.
RP from Mississauga, we are just visiting. And our visit to this bar was a once in only event while we are back touring the old home town, and we will never be back no could we say we would ever want to. Obviously my friends that recommended have not been their lately since they have moved away. This place is worse now than back in the 90's. We are here till Pride is over, and this has been the most disappointing part of our trip so far, outside of the staff of this bar, the gay community down here is awesome, but this bar does suck. MENZ bar rocks, and this bar could learn a few things from them, if their egos let them.
Even in TO there are not problems like this. Say what you want about Woodies when it was the "in" bar to go to if you were "out" , but at least your were always safe. The StonewallTavern never even had to go through this shit, ...WTF is with Halifax and the staff at this bar???????
OMG!!!! I could not agree with you more on this one. $9 for a Saturday night of squalor conditions is not worth it. The smell of sweat, puke, and piss hits you the minute you go in thru the door.
I too was in town on for the long weekend, and happened to go down and then to go see the show and see who was around. Did not recognize many, as I have been away for 6 years now, but god it has changed!
I miss the days of when Wade ran the bar, it was still a bar, and not a dive. Him and Ryan,really knew how to do things, and they ran promotions that appealled to the masses, at least the bar still runs the same things they started. They were fun times, but I doubt they are still as fun.
I miss [[WadeSwinimer?||Wade]] and [[RyanGomez?||Ryan]], and Bev, and Marie!!!! I don't even know if any of them are still even around Halifax.
Anyway, the bar runs because people support it. Not the kind of crowd you would want to mingle with on a regular basis, but there are still other reasons the bar is running and its not because of the people that work there by any means.
Sunday nights used to be fun years ago when they had some really great drag shows by Dita and LuLu, and I even remember seeing Daphne (?) Marie I think her character name was. They were entertaining shows like you would expect to see in the Cabaret's in NYC, and Miami. I think the last one I seen before I moved away was One Fish, Two Fish, and I remember a great Lavern and Shirley number. God the place was packed. At least 300 to 400 people there. Sure was not like that on Sunday. Too bad the bartender was in such a bad mood on Sunday night though. He was a real downer. IT would not hurt him to smile and be nice to the custoemrs. Why no happy if it is advertised for 7 nights a week. Apparently Sunday night was a special event, but I digress, and beg to differ.
You make a good point that you can't go back in time, but at least you can keep the memories, and remember you were once part of something entertaining and great. It just makes you appreciate the good ole days all the more. By the way, where is the bartender Terri now? She was awesome, and so was "Chunk". The staff now can't compare.
I hear the bar is closing soon as the building owner has got his approval to build on top of it. I always thought that the bar owned the building, but I learned they only have ever rented the space. I hear from others that they are gutting the building perhaps as early as this fall when the Discovery Center move out. It will be a shame to see Relfections go, because of all the great memories from times in the past, but in a way it has run its course. The community seems more happy going to other places, and they feel safer too, and people say the other venues at least give back to the community. I visited them early on Saturday evening, and wish I had of stayed there.
I was sorry to hear of LuLu's passing, but I will always remember her character for being a superb performer, giving those on Sunday something to work towards.
BTW, the bar is closed on Tuesday now??? I was hoping to give it one last shot before heading out tomorrow, but oh well, Best not to fly with a hangover.
Mark G, Orillia ON.
I was there on Saturday, April 11, 2009, and what a waste of money!!!!
If your idea of going out for a night of fun is paying almost $10 to go into a dive that is painted black, smells like an outhouse, and the mens bathroom is used at your own risk if you are not affraid of catching something. Then Reflections Cabaret might appeal to you.
The door charges are outragous, the security staff are still talked about as members now of the Nomads are still biker gang related, most of the bartenders are all so arogant that you would think them having to serve you is interupting their fun, especially the really old guy on the back bar. Then they stand there and actually expect you to tip them after you have waited for minutes on end for service because they are too busy yaking with their friends about Britney's concert they seen,and uless you are under 20, don't expect fast service from the really old bartender.
The bar's promotions are so out of touch with the community it is not even funny. Their promotion calendar is the same calendar of events they were running 10 years ago when the bar was actually a place to go to, and it was clean and had decent staff. So unless your idea of fun, in the future, is going to watch some "drag"show that drags on and on, and listening to the cackles of them being so high and drunk on the microphone between every number, or going and having to sit through an upcoming endless night of nothing but Michael or Janet Jackson music, or worse yet an entire night devoted to Madonna because it is her birthday; then honestly save your money for a bar that is more in tune with the current and the hip, and also one where you don't have to worry about being shot or stabbed in there. The customers talk openly about the bar still being run by the Angels, but the two security guys I seen were talking about the Nomads. Maybe they were just talking. Everyone seems to try and be a big shot down there, customers and staff alike. Everyone is part of a gang, some are bikers, and some are from the neighbourhoods. Who cares, just keep your business to yourselves, and keep the bar safe for those that do just want to come there and dance, and who are not into drugs. And in the mens washroom, 3 and 4 people coming out of the stalls all rubbing their noses; really now. Are you that stupid that you think the rest of us don't know what you have been doing in there....
What you have to pay for the cost of drinks is outragous. Better str8 bars are far cheaper. Tips are for people that earn it, and beware of the attitudes of the bar staff. If you don't tip, you don't get served again according to what the guy said working the bar by the beer fridges, and they have their favorite customers that just have to step up to be served, it is obvious. The service is the most terrible, and they make comments outloud if you don't tip and walk away....it was disgusting! And the fighting in the bar, that is just uncalled for. I hear it is all gang related, and given the look of some of the clients, that is not all that suprising. Thank god for the bartender at the front of the bar with all the mirors. You deserve to work someplace better.
There are better things to do with your time and money. Support bars and places that support the community, not just those that use it for their own personal greed.
Oh, and if the drag things in the bar were any indication of what is appearing on Sunday's show, then it should be run out of town......they are hidious, and not attractive at all. Especially the one with the really bad teeth. Yuk!!!!
Thank god I live out of town, but it was one trip that I had really been looking forward to, that was a huge disappointment to me and my friends once we got there. I now know why none of the old crowd goes their any more, it is really a shame to such a bar that was once the the best thing going this side of Montréal now to be in such a derelect condition. Thank god it is closing soon when the new building is built above it.
This was just a very sad experience, and if it was not for the so called "happy hour", we would not have stayed, although we kept being told to just give it chance it will get better as the night goes on....it never did.
Reflections has several cleaners. The bar is old, but the smell on Wednesday wasn't the cleaners or the bars fault. Indie dance kids are smelly and dirty kids. It's a known fact. Goto the Seahorse on any given indie dance night and you'll experience the same thing.
Hi., Haven't a long time. The times that I went I usually left early with the headache from the loud music. By the time I got home I could smell cigarettes off my cloths. I am not sure if it was that and the fog made my head buzz after. Then to work the next day people talked as my eyes being a little pink . Anyway thats my 2 cent worth.
Does anyone seriously think Reflections is the only bar in the city that has a bad smell once in a while? The Palace bathroom smells like dirty cock (big surprise LMAO), and the first (and after this incident, the only time) i went to the Marquee, there was shit on the floor FLOATING in pissy pukey water on the guys bathroom floor. I do agree that the bathroom at Reflections smells sometimes but holy shit people, put in a resume, do the job yourself, EVERY DAY and you'll understand just how fucking hard it is to KEEP it clean, LMAO. By the way, the remark about indie kids smelling bad.........sorry people, but it is true, I hate casting aspersions but this one is dead on. They're pretty fucking messy too, i lived with 8 of them in a 2 bedroom apartment and i was the ONLY ONE cleaning up. Bottles filled with piss because they were too lazy to go to the bathroom...