On a recent Saturday night, it was crowded in Thurst Lounge. Music boomed from two dance floors with separate DJs in the new nightclub on 2204 14th St. NW in Washington, D.C.
In December, Thurst opened its doors with co-owners Shaun Mykals and Brandon Burke at the helm. The duo built their reputation on “Thursday Bliss,” an open-mic night originally hosted at the legendary jazz establishment Bohemian Caverns. They quickly outgrew the space.
Of their newest venture, Burke said the name pays homage to the unique Black experience in D.C. and the “traditional spelling [of thirst] when it comes to quenching the thirst for communities for the Black gay experience; but also we wanted to pay homage to our roots as the creators of Thursday Bliss. So we use ‘u’ to do that — and then not to mention, we’re off of the U street corridor in D.C.”
The pair describe Thurst as “a love letter” to the community, an idea that originated because “we wanted to have a permanent space for our event because we had created such a good following, and people seem to really enjoy what we do,” said Mykals, an independent recording artist and vocal instructor by trade.
When Thursday Bliss had to end amid the pandemic, Burke and Mykals reevaluated. “[The pandemic] gave us the time to sit down and think … I think we were kind of waiting for someone else to kind of start a space,” said Burke.
“If that’s what you want to see — if that’s what you want to happen, who better to take the reins?” said Burke, who spent his formative years in the DMV as a Baltimore native, a Hampton University graduate, and now a D.C. resident.
Thurst’s official grand opening is slated for this spring though doors are already open to the public on weekends starting at 2 p.m. It is currently the only Black-owned gay bar in D.C., but its launch continues a revered legacy, filling a void left since The ClubHouse closed in 1990.
The…
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