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I didn’t want to like the Wet Bar. I mean, come on. I don’t care how plush the leather seats are, who with a straight face calls a bar an "ultra lounge?" And the tagline on the Web site, "the wetter … the better" is almost as icky as that of the sports bar under the same roof: "Eat. Drink. Score!"

It seemed like the male ownership team sat down for a meeting – "Hmm, what else can we do to make these places seem more like meat markets?"

MULTIMEDIA Video:  Wet Bar offers pleasant surprise

So when Deb (the videographer) and I walked in on a blustery afternoon last week, my prickles were on high alert. But, dammit, I was seduced. With no one there (the Wet Bar is open Thursday to Saturday), we could really see the space. It is clean and industrial. The furniture is sleek and modular -- easily rearranged to accommodate groups of customers and live performers. The Wet Bar shares the owners and real estate of the successful Sports Page (in the old Bananas space on Hanover Street in Portsmouth), but has an entrance of its own in the Vaughan Mall. If there’s a line to get in, you can always have a drink at the Sports Page until space is available (the bars usually tops out at around 100 heads).

It is a pet peeve of mine, having lived in New York City during my formative nightclub-going years, when bars in New England refer to themselves as Manhattan-style (our tour guide said this several times). It is usually an announcement of the ways in which its self-conscious attempt to be cool will fall pathetically short. But actually, the design and layout of the Wet Bar remind me of a very specific bar on the Lower East Side, in which I, with varying groups of friends, whiled away many, many hours and consumed many, many dainty drinks (among other things). Good memories.

There are tasteful oriental rugs to warm up the floor. The exposed brick walls have a worn look that is almost too perfect-looking, until you find out it really is a result of strenuous sandblasting. The previous club, Bananas, had painted the bricks white and covered them up with Sheetrock. Just one example of how the current owners have found a way to marry the old building’s bones with more contemporary design elements in a pleasing way.

The bar, of course, is wet. Most are. So why the name? According to our tour guide, there are several theories. In the original design plans, the owners were going to go with a water theme – fish tanks, fountains, etc., to celebrate the Seacoast location. But that changed – and now the name "Wet Bar" is meant to bring to mind the kind of comfortable bar you’d have in your own home. Your neighborhood living room, if you will. A living room in which you can get a plain old domestic brew or a specialty martini (there are many, many of these, including the "Birthday Partini," which I may have to order this Thursday – hint, hint).

I wondered about the age. Is the place all 22-year-olds – the girls going to the bathroom in groups and shrieking a lot and the guys puffing out their chests and trying to grind with total strangers? Nope. Phew. Apparently, while the Sports Page upstairs does draw a younger crowd, the Wet Bar has turned out to be a destination for a more mature clientele, which means you will be able to both hear your friend’s conversation and the live music.

There’s an attitude among the Portsmouth cognoscenti that can sometimes be anti-change, anti-new. The people who complain there aren’t enough live music venues are the same who don’t think a new place has enough cred to even recognize. But the owners of the Wet Bar are making a serious effort – they have live acts from Maine to New York booked through March. Check the Web site (ignore the tacky slogans) weekly for the updated schedule (www.sportspageportsmouth.com/wet_bar.htm). They don’t charge a cover and musicians love the space – they start on time and often play well past last call. What’s not to like?