“When those two big bars closed and there were no venues, that’s when people started working with different bars,” says Kearney. These closings sent shockwaves through the community and scrambled the nature of drag. The landscape of the city, though, changed forever in 2004, with the Armory closing that year and Backstreet following suit. You had your own home turf, and that is where you worked.” “But you would never see Motion (from the Armory) at Backstreet or Shawnna go to the Armory. “They were not competitors, but were similar,” says Kearney. An HBO special on the performer gave Brown and Backstreet even more visibility.Īs prolific - and as near to each other as they were - the two bars strived to keep their own identity. That place was always packed,” says Kearney. “Celebrities used to go to that show, such as Janet Jackson. Meanwhile, Backstreet, literally next door on Peachtree Street and open 24/7, was thriving with its wildly popular (and naughty) Charlie Brown’s Cabaret, which started in 1991 and also featured Shawnna Brooks. Tony Kearney, also known as Atlanta drag performer Wild Cherry Sucret, was an Armorette from 2000 - 2010, but even he didn’t make it in on his first try.
The troupe knew how to entertain a crowd and competition to become an Armorette was fierce. The Armory would hold events with its legendary Armorettes, who began their 41-year-career in 1979.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, the Armory and Backstreet became the main hubs for drag. Numbers, The Cove, The Answer, Chuck’s Rose Room, Hollywood Hots, The Onyx Bar and the lesbian bar, Tallulah’s, were also known for drag acts. Other early bars of note included Weekends and Illusions, where a young RuPaul got his start, often performing with Lady Bunny, who was RuPaul’s roommate for a while. Another performer who made noise during this time was Diamond Lil. Its chief competitor during that time was the Locker Room, where Lily White was the headliner. Manning Harris, an Atlanta writer, has vivid recollections of going there frequently, enjoying the performers in a packed house. It presented entertainers such as Rachel Wells and Lavita Allen. Acknowledged as one of the first Atlanta bars that featured drag is Sweet Gum Head, a premiere drag bar during the 1970s on Cheshire Bridge Road. While it’s impossible to list every local establishment that has hosted drag over the years, many have stood out. The journey to get to that point, though, has taken some time. The success of RuPaul’s Drag Race has made the art form even more mainstream and made a city heralded for its drag excellence even more loaded with visible talent. In Atlanta these days, it’s fairly easy to find a gay bar that has some sort of drag show or competition at least once a week.