Goodbye, Kamp: We hardly knew ya!

When Kamp – The Fifth Estate’s weekly gay night - started up back in February, we were excited. Finally, a high-energy alternative to the buzz-kill gay scene at Excelsior and Ginger’s. But after a few months of trying to grow Kamp, organizer Jace Meagher departed The Fifth Estate. As of last week he has effectively left Kamp without a head counselor, which is closing the door on yet another Park Slope gay night.

Meagher’s departure wouldn’t have closed Kamp if Kamp was a success to begin with. But no matter how hard they tried, Kamp never really caught on. It’s hard to pinpoint the reason why. The word didn’t seem to get out beyond a few tweets, listings, and a couple of press releases. The name of the bar is nowhere to be found on the outside of the building. DJ Shuffaluffagus spent a lot of time spinning to a room of people who rarely wanted to dance. The crowd never grew beyond a dozen or so regulars. Most of the singles there spent more time on Grindr than they did talking to other people. All an all, Kamp never lived up to its premise.

But ultimately, I’d pinpoint Kamp’s failure to Park Slope itself. There’s not much of a singles scene here anyway, let alone a single gay scene. Kamp offered something different than the other bars out there – mainly, a place to dance. But perhaps Park Slope just doesn’t want to dance?  Or perhaps all the single folks are used to going to Manhattan for that scene? 

So here’s what I want to know. Will anyone miss Kamp? And anyone have any suggestions for what they could have done to improve? And what do you think of Park Slope’s gay scene? Let us hear it!