Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE, RI -- He's back.

Barry Blair, the nightclub impresario who kept the mirror ball spinning and the dance beat booming for nearly 30 years in Warwick, is returning to Rhode Island's nightclub scene after a four-year hiatus.

Blair, who for more than 25 years ran Barry's nightclub in Warwick, recently announced that he is teaming up with the owners of Tazza Caffe on Westminster Street, to create "Barry's reunion dance parties" every Saturday night throughout the summer.

Yes that means well-groomed doormen, the trademark Barry's burgers, dance music with accompanying big-screen videos, flashing lights, and Blair --- still the eternal perfectionist --- on hand to make sure everyone has a good time.

"When I first walked away from the business my mind needed a rest," who was just 18 when he opened Barry's in 1979. He was last in the limelight last fall when he stood in the nightclub parking lot at 1473 Warwick Avenue and watched wrecking crews take down the gabled building that had seen generations of dance club cool evolve from disco polyester to the beat of hip hop.

He hadn't really planned a return to the nightclub scene, he said, but was sitting around a table at Tazza with good friend, filmmaker Michael Corrente and some other companions this spring when the subject of a Saturday night dance fundraiser Corrente was planning came up.

Blair said he found himself offering to orchestrate "Barry's reunion nights" at Tazza on summer Saturdays, with some of the cover charge going to changing rotation of charities. Tazza owner Michael Corso and managing partner Darren MacDonald were more than interested.

I just think it's going to be a lot fun," Blair said. "So many people met at Barry's, got married had kids and maybe even have since gotten divorced. I think it's going to be a great chance for people to bump into friends they haven't seen for years."

 Tags  Providence

Comments

kathy said:

"BARRYS,BARRYS,BARRYS" Get the hairspray out. The few times i went there, i did have a good time. Good Luck, it sounds like fun.

Link | June 13, 2009 8:09 AM
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Joyce said:

Besides friends and family, the one place I miss the most is Barry's. It was the ONLY place in Rhode Island, that adult singles could go. that had class, and great music and our favorite bartender Sol, who always watched out for me...I wish you the best of luck, and makes me wish I never moved to Florida...

Link | June 17, 2009 4:00 PM
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