Area 51

About this place Area 51

Area 51 at 451 S 400 West is Salt Lake City's answer to the queer alternative bar — the club that plays industrial, goth, darkwave, and alternative music for the segment of the LGBTQ+ community that finds mainstream gay clubs too pop-oriented. The bar has been running long enough to have become a Salt Lake City institution, outlasting various cycles of nightlife fashion by maintaining a consistent identity and a loyal community. In a city where the dominant cultural reference points are either the LDS mainstream or the outdoor recreation culture of the mountains, Area 51 represents a deliberately counter-cultural position — the dark room in a bright city, the alternative scene in a place defined by conformity pressures. The queer intersection with alternative music culture in Salt Lake City is significant: many LGBTQ+ people navigating conservative family and community environments have found in alternative culture the language to articulate their difference. Area 51 has been the venue for that community for years.