Montreal is losing a major player in the music/queer/bar scene, as the St. Laurent nightlife hub Royal Phoenix has just announced it will be closing for good.

Royal Phoenix (called Phoenix by many, or just RP by me) gave a pretty big hint earlier today when they invited folks to attend their "Party de Clôture" earlier today. We figured this was just a odd marketing ploy, until we saw RP's status update confirming the bar's closing.

You can read the entire status on Royal Phoenix's FB page, but as a brief lowdown it's basically a big "thank you" to all the Montrealers who helped make the bar flourish since its opening in 2011.

The RP team also points out that the Phoenix 1 food truck will still be rolling on the streets to serve naanwiches to hungry folks, which is a small consolation, but good to hear nonetheless.

Help Royal Phoenix go out with a bang and attend their closing party on July 5th. Get at the FB event page here.

It seems a bit strange that a bar as popular and culturally "cool" as RP would randomly close, which only makes us wonder, what's next for the bar's owners, operators, and staff? Perhaps bigger and better things are in the future.

For more on all things Montreal, follow Michael on Twitter @MDAlimonte