The “y’allternative” bar opened at the end of August, bringing a head-scratching combination of top 40 country and nu-metal to the former Squeezebox location at 2806 N. St Mary’s St.
Now, Neon Moon’s management team — which also operates Hildebrand Avenue goth, post-punk and darkwave nightclub Cream — is pivoting to do what it does best. The St. Mary’s club will be rebranded Cream II sometime in early December, and management has already started repainting the building.
“There’s already three country bars on that same street, and most of our friends are into the alternative scene,” said Neon Moon and Cream’s owner, who declined to be named. “Let’s do what we know how to do.”
As the cheekily self-described “oldest honky tonk on the St. Mary’s Strip,” the Lonesome Rose is holding down the hootnannies at the other end of the nightlife corridor. Another country bar, High Horse, is directly across the street from Neon Moon.
“I feel they’re just doing it better,” Cream’s owner said. “Let them do their thing.”
He also acknowledged that country isn’t really his bag.
“We’re not 100%, so why are we doing this?” he asked, rhetorically. “We do goth very well. We do industrial very well.” The owner said there will be less competition on the Strip for Cream’s blend of goth, post-punk, darkwave and techno.
“Other bars dabble in alternative, post-punk and goth for just one night,” he added.
He touted Cream’s flagship club at 527 W. Hildebrand as a destination for goths who want to be surrounded by their own people. The bartenders, staff and promoters at the St. Mary’s satellite will remain the same, rotating between locations.
“The promoters we’re working with now are a little edgier and fun. It’s going to be a little more like CBGB’s,” the owner also said.
The rebrand is the latest development in a tumultuous year for the Cream team, which also had to abandon a project that would have brought a multi-level version of the club to St. Paul Square.
Cream also has plans to open up another club on Hildebrand called Sinners. However, the owner said that plan is on the back burner until Cream II launches on the Strip.
“We have the property,” he said about Sinners. “I personally want the St. Mary’s project going, and then I’ll circle back to Sinners.”
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This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2024.