Audio By Carbonatix
Aside from eating brunch every Sunday at Rosie’s, I’m still new to the nightlife scene in Wilton Manors, so traveling to Bill’s Filling Station on Saturday night was like visiting a foreign land. It’s easy to imagine the male gay bar scene to be covered in glitter with half-naked boys running around in neon and grinding to house music. Well, Bill’s Filling Station is just the opposite. Low-key and laid-back, it’s more of a neighborhood, no-frills kind of joint. After entering and walking through a narrow, dimly lit hallway, it’s revealed that the bar is a lot bigger than you would expect. (That’s what she said?) There are flat-screen TVs broadcasting the latest sports events and a pool table in the back, and most of the crowd is mid-30s and up, all dressed casually. A large portion of the patrons are sipping on beers; there isn’t a Tartini or pink cocktail in sight.
It is a special evening for the crowd at Bill’s, as burlesque queen Betty Pickle and her gender-bending entourage take over the venue with the new vaudeville-style show, “Boylesque.” (View slide show here.)
The room is dark and smoky. I maneuver my way through the packed crowd of men to the back bar, where it appears slightly roomier. Like an alcoholic guardian angel, a sign promoting $5 Svedka cocktails appears in front of me. So I wait for the hard-bodied bartender in suspenders to notice me. I wait. And I wait. And I wait. Oh right, these men don’t care about my low-cut shirt or batting eyelashes. I enlist my male partner in crime for drink duty. In under a minute, he turns back to me with my fruity cocktail.
“All right, it’s official. You’re going to the bar for drinks tonight,” I tell him.
Amazonian, fiery redhead Betty Pickle takes the stage in a sky-blue rhinestone skin, tight mermaid gown. She’s known for spewing verbal gems from her crimson-red lips, but unfortunately, tonight the microphone is muffling her voice.
“I think we’re having some testicle difficulties,” she says.
Mark Holt and his partner, Fernando Espinar, AKA “
