Lina LecaroDefying the flighty fickle tendencies of Hollywood nightlife for nearly 10 years, the second story club at Ivar and Hollywood Blvd. originally known as Cinespace has found unique ways to stay in the game. Last weekend we attended an invite only Details magazine event there that doubled as an unveiling of its latest incarnation, Room 86. We also talked with the club's co-owner Kimberly Roussel about what's ahead for the space.
Steve Aoki's Dim Mak Tuesdays has, of course, been the venue's biggest success story, prompting them to re-dub the back room Dim Mak Studios last year. The front of the building meanwhile, became home to Paul & Andre, a temporary pop up concept from New York DJ Paul Sevigny (Chloe's bro) and Andre Saravia, which featured a separate entrance on Cosmo street. That ended just last month.
Credit: Mark the Cobrasnake
Room 86, from Cinespace's Kim and Errol Roussel and David Dickerson also owners of Kitchen 24 (the all night eaterie around the corner on Cahuenga, and soon to open #2 in West Hollywood) has a lot going on. Johnny Valenti is in charge of programming and new weekly parties include Mondays with Black Banditz and Rick Rude. Tuesdays launch next week with Chris Masterson (actor Danny Masterson's younger brother) and the Table Manners crew. Thursdays will feature Adam 12 (the guy who DJs for Obama) and his old school hip-hop night AFEX ; 9th Wonder has just been confirmed to DJ on Dec. 8. (More on Adam 12's move below.) Rock Fridays will include secret shows that are yet to be announced. Sevigny, meanwhile, is also doing another pop-up over the Standard Hotel on Sunset called Smoke & Mirrors — formerly the Purple Room.
Dim Mak Studios will continue with its hipster-heavy Tuesday night parties and — starting this past Sunday — have added Dubstep party innovators SMOG. Another innovation to the back room is the monthly deep house Saturday party from Sam Gagliani and Adam Auburn called “Soul & Tonic” which has already brought in DJs including Miguel Migs and Mark Farina. The next, features Quentin Harris and Marques Wyatt on the decks, this Saturday, November 12.
Adam 12 at AFEX; Credit: Lina Lecaro
AFEX and Adam 12's move in particular comes as a surprise, as he only just announced his club's switch to Los Globos recently. It has bounced around a lot the past year, and raised some eyebrows when it got swanky at SBE's Colony this Summer. Globos was to be a return to the gathering's no frills roots, but apparently the crowd was still a bit too Hollywood for Echo Park. According Globos' Alexis Rivera, “it was a great party, but just not a good fit.”
If anything illustrates the Hollywood club scene's incestuous nature, it's the latest addition at Globos: Franki Chan — Aoki's original partner for Tuesday nights at Cinespace back in the day — debuted a new Wednesday weekly called Champagne at L.G. last night. Of course, Chan's well known Check Yo Ponytail party was created in part as a way for Chan to go head to head against Aoki after their dissolved partnership. The revamped Check Yo Ponytail party, CY2 pushed some notable musical boundaries by joining forces with The Echo.
More Globos updates below.
Globos gals.; Credit: Lina Lecaro
More Los Globos updates: Look out for a Thursday weekly from Dublab called Se Habla Everything. There will be rotating events on Fridays, such as a flamboyant fete called Fade To Mind featuring Kingdom, Total Freedom, and NGUZUNGUZU plus guests. And then there will be rotating Saturday monthlies from A Club Called Rhonda, Mad Decent, Mustache Monthly, and Cureation, which used to be downtown. Rivera says in-house Latin nights will continue as promised. So far, it looks like Globos' goal of meshing Latin and hipster culture together is proving successful.
Room 86 and Dim Mak Studios seem headed down the right path as well. So many clubs along the Walk of Fame/shame are clones right now: same gals in spandexed slutwear, same banger hip-hop sounds inside, same beefy bouncers taking their jobs a little too seriously and a bottle-service-is-best-mindset. Roussel and company have never really fallen into that trap.
“We're a music-centered club, built around DJs rather than promoters,” she says, adding that her venue's latest look is a modern speakeasy style. “Our unique music programming and the fact that you can't buy your way in makes for a cool clientele here and a more relaxed atmosphere. It's set us apart from other Hollywood clubs and will continue to do so.”
See our LinA In LA party picks for weekly club recommendations.
Room 86 holds its official grand opening event this Monday., Nov. 14 and has a sneak peek pre-opening party tomorrow, Nov. 11, with a “secret guest musical performance.”
Room 86,670 Cosmo St., Hollywood.
Dim Mak Studios, 6356 Hollywood Blvd.,
Los Globos,3040 West Sunset. Echo Park
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