- Junior Vasquez classic live set from Guest House
- A night at Twilo - The full set of Junior Vasquez Live at Twilo - April 4, 1999
- Junior Vasquez live at Roseland Ballroom - November 1, 2008
- Jonathan Peters live at the Capitale ballroom - June 30, 2008
Bars & Lounges
Clubs & Parties
Places of Interest
Restaurants
Club (re)openings?
We learned from the New York Daily News that club M2 which was home to the long running Alegria party (mainly under its former Crobar incarnation) is set to re-open, after it pays a fine for its alleged poor enforcement of New York’s smoking ban. For now, no venue change has been announced for the highly anticipated 10th anniversary event of Alegria set to take place this labor day weekend at the Nokia Theatre. By all accounts, the Nokia theatre worked out very well for the gay pride event, except when patrons had to face their walk of shame as the exited the venue in the broad daylight of a busy summer monday afternoon, smack dab in the middle of the hordes of tourists and workers that pack Times Square at this time of the day.
Meanwhile, the rumor mill has begun spreading the news that Manchester’s famous nightclub Sankey’s is set to open an outpost in New York, towards the beginning of 2011. It sounds like a little bit of a longshot, but this would be a fantastic addition to New York’s club scene, as Sankey’s is famous in the U.K. for being a true underground clubbing institution, bringing in top notch house, tech and trance DJ’s. Let’s hope this will actually materialize and fare better than the newly launched and already forgotten club Amnesia.
And as we’re looking ahead, let’s not forget about the much anticipated opening of the first “straight-friendly” urban resort coming in the spring of 2011 to 42nd street, with non other than John Blair at the helm.
Boys Night at the musical “Falling For Eve”
The musical Falling For Eve is having its boys night on Thursday, July 8th at 8 PM at the York Theatre (619 Lexington Avenue).
Falling for Eve offers a second look at the world’s first love story. Creation is going perfectly. Eve, curious about what lies beyond the Garden of Eden, and obsessed with the notion that something is forbidden, bites the infamous apple. Then Adam doesn’t. How exactly they’ll get together to create the human race is anybody’s guess. For more information visit http://www.yorktheatre.org.
Purchase a $40 ticket to Falling For Eve on Thursday, July 8th and receive a voucher for Free admission to the Post-Show Boys Night reception featuring white wine, cheese, snacks and sodas. Post-Show Boys Night Reception directly following the performance in the Music Room at The York Theatre Company – 619 Lexington Avenue (Corner of 54th St.)
Here’s how you can get you Boys Night Tickets for just $40 (regularly $67.50). Either visit http://www.yorktheatre.org and and mention code ADAMBOY, or call (212) 935-5820 and mention code ADAMBOY.
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New York’s gay pride weekend parties roundup
Pride weekend is less than 3 weeks away and the various club promotion teams have laid down their card on the table and set in motion the heavy promotional artillery.
By a fortunate coincidence, this year, every party happen one after the other, so we won’t be witnessing any kind of frontal competition which would have typically led to flaming wars and ego trips that was so typical of New York’s club scene from yesteryear.
First up, Desire “a masquerade” opens up the weekend’s festivities. Promoted by Chris Ryan, this event will be held at the magnificent Capitale ballroom. It is a superb venue, rarely used for dance parties, where Junior Vasquez actually held one of his most memorable parties in recent time for Pride 2007. Alyson Calagna and Hector Fonseca will man the wheels of steel for this party which also boasts a $500 cash prize for best costume, sexy dancers from around the world and a mesmerizing light show – all that for a modest $30 price tag at the door. It is by far the most affordable party option of the weekend, and we definitely recommend to check it out. The crowd will be fresh and well rested, and will include a varied mix of people that reaches beyond the core party boy crowd.
Next up is Matinee at Governor’s Island. This event is shaping up to be the most anticipated party of the weekend, because it brings for the first time in New York the wold famous brand of clubbing Matinée, known across Europe for its extravagant affairs patronized by the hottest studs and discerning heteros. In addition, this party will take place outdoors, Saturday evening from 6 PM to 12 PM on Governor’s Island, with the grandiose backdrop of the sun setting over New York’s skyline. Pre-sale tickets are reasonably priced at $44 dollars (almost as much in fees…) – so it definitely looks like a great option to occupy your Saturday while not totally obliterating your ability to attend the parade the next day. The DJ’s are supposed to be huge in Europe, but frankly we don’t know about that, and we don’t really care for this one. Everything else should be absolutely fabulous, with the novelty effect sure to bring out la crème de la crème to this event.
That same night, Peter Rauhofer’s camp will try to reiterate the coup the pulled last year with their still talked about 12 hour dance extravaganza at Roseland. Only last year, they had invited Offer Nissim to headline the event, whose name alone can draw hordes of gays from around the globe. For this year’s Menhattan party at Roseland, the line-up includes Marco Da Silva, Ana Paula, Peter Rauhofer and Stéphane Grondin – some great talent from the Star 69 stable of DJ’s. But starting right after Matinée’s big event the same night, will it be enough to fill up Ro
seland until noon the next day? You can find out by purchasing your $90 advanced ticket and letting us know via the comments on this blog post…
If you had a good time on Saturday and you’re not satiated yet by Sunday – you can do it all over again! Of course, Sunday is the day of the march, and we highly encourage you to bask in the incredible atmosphere of Christopher Street and the West Village as the marchers reach the end of their journey.
At 4 PM begin the annual Pier Dance festivities. It’s one of our favorite parties in New York, and the proceed benefit Heritage of Pride, the not for profit organization behind New York’s Pride festival. The line up this year includes DJ Steven Oliveri (whom we know nothing about) and the U.K. duo extrordinaire The Freemasons, who will spin their euphoric blend of funky house and stylish grooves on the fabulous setting of Pier 54, by the Hudson River. For us, this is a must do party on our road-map .
But for many in New York, the highlight will be what comes after. The world famous Alegria party takes over the Nokia Theatre in Times Square for a 12 hour dance marathon spearheaded by DJ Pagano from London and Chus & Ceballos from Madrid. We’re a little but torn about the change of venue imposed by the closing of M2 by the city of New York, but with 
the anticipation building up, there’s a growing chance we’ll end up there after all. Be aware that advanced tickets are $100 after 6/15, though.
And lastly – as usual, comes Junior Vasquez who is throwing his annual post-Pride after-after-party on Monday from 9 AM to 9 PM, although this year the event has been slightly scaled down and will be held at Club Love (which is a great, underground venue, probably better suited for other circumstances). The die hard Junior heads will unmistakeably honor the longstanding tradition that are Junior’s closing Pride parties. The no less legendary New York house music production duo Razor & Guido will be opening for Junior in the morning.
So, there you have it: 4 days, 6 parties, over 50 hours of dancing to duly celebrate the 31st anniversary of the Stonewall Riots that took place right here on Sheridan Square. As you dance yourself into bliss that, have a thought for the men and women that came before us and who paved the way to make our society a little more accepting of our lifestyle. Happy Pride!
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what’s new in the Pines for the 2010 Fire Island season?
And so we’re back from another memorable Memorial Day Weekend spent in Fire Island, where we got to witness first hands the changes brought upon the peaceful community by the new owner of the harbor’s commercial properties.
We first checked in at the last available Bay Room, for a rate that seemed at least as high as the years before ($360/night with tax for a standard room with shared bathroom). For that price however, we did get unlimited access to the gym, which had been moved to the back of the hotel building – although the gym attendant had not apparently been made aware of this new benefit that hotel guests could now enjoy (given the limited attention span of the said gentleman, one could even suggest that any island visitor could enjoy free access to the hotel’s gym…).
From the gym, we could easily make our way to the new pool deck, which is probably one of the main highlights of the ongoing renovations. Never mind the rather cloudy appearance of the pool’s water, the pool deck now provides a new center of gravity for the less fortunate vacationers who don’t have a share or haven’t yet managed to get themselves invited to a house. As early as 1 PM, rotating DJ’s begin blasting the current Top 40 hits by the pool, drawing boys from across the island for an early afternoon poor man’s pool party. Fortunately, even though an open bar is of course out of question, drinks are still priced at a reasonable $10 (by the island’s standards). With our budget conscious mindset and our insatiable thirst, we opted to purchase liquor and party favors at the nearby stores and enjoyed the pool party from the comfortable, elevated viewpoint of the Hotel Ciel’s balcony.
Soon enough, it was time for Low Tea’s festivities to begin. The only notable difference is that the bar was moved to the middle of the Blue Whale’s deck, which makes for a better flow of people and faster drink service. Other than that, the music was the same fluffy and cheesy dancy pop tunes that the children seem to be into these days. Don’t expect to hear cutting edge house music or driving techno on Fire Island this season – on the contrary, the new owners have asserted their commitments to bring lighter music back, as if the soundtracks of the previous seasons was not cheesy enough. But whatever, after the 5th planter’s punch, we were almost ready to timidly start doing the Single Ladies choreography.
Moving on to High Tea, we were pleasantly surprised to find out that the upper deck previously known as Glo Lounge had its inner wall removed and was now one huge room, which made for a better flow of people and a more engaging dancing experience. In addition, there is now a staircase next to the main bar of the High Tea deck that goes down into the Pavilion club, where Middle Tea takes place. It makes it very easy to move from one room to the next, and god knows by that time we are prone to drifting around and moving along with the ebb and flow of the crowd. The Pavilion itself has benefited from some noticeable enhancements, such as a mesmerizing light show supported by gigantic screens hung all around the dance-floor where trippy visuals are projected.
Other than that, Bay Bar has been rechristened “Canteen”, but still doesn’t quite look from the outside like the sleek computer generated renderings of its future facade. The menu has changed but still offers the same kind of casual comfort food, only they are now served with no side. There is a good assortment of excellent and healthy, ready-to-eat salads and sandwiches. The logistics will probably need some adjustment, because it was cause for long lines and confusions.
Note that unfortunately Blue Whale is only open for dinner, which makes Canteen the only spot where to get breakfast or lunch, causing long lines to form there in the morning.
Overall, we liked the new Pool Deck and the enhancement to the Pavilion and the High Tea deck, but we were a slightly bit let down by the transformation of Bay Bar into Canteen. The atmosphere on the Island, however, is still incomparable and unique, and we can’t wait to be back soon for another summer in wonderland.
10% off your 3 night stay at Hotel Ciel in Fire Island
The new management of the only hotel of the Pines in Fire Island promised that the 2010 season will see the level of service greatly improved at Ciel. While it’s true that in past seasons, the rooms tended to exhibit a spartan level of comfort, it was always good enoug for us, since little time was spent in the room itself over the course of our stays. In addition, the location is absolutely unbeatable, and we even felt slightly priviledged to be able to sip on our planter’s bunch from a balcony overlooking the Low Tea festivities.
In any event, the suite, which can easily sleep 5 people for less than $500 a night on holiday weekends is a fairly good deal, all things considered.
And this year, the price of the room gives us access to the brand new gym and swimming pool, whereas last year, it cost an extra $25 per day to use these absolutely indispensible amenities. If you use the discount code MEMORIAL when checking out on the hotel Ciel’s website, you will get 10% off the price of your stay. Keep in mind however that there is a 3 night minimum stay required for Memorial Day weekend.
Alegrie Pride to be held at the Nokia Theatre
Following the prolonged closure of M2, it has been officially announced that the Gay Pride Alegria party will be held at the Nokia Theatre on Times Square. The venue is more of a concert hall, and features a several rows of seats in the back of the room, which will surely make for a cozy “chill out” / “recovery” area, as the night progresses. We’d love to go, if only for the spectacle of witnessing the party boys make use of the venue’s various amenities… but at $90 a pop in advance, we may opt to put our money in the Fire Island bank instead, although the line up featuring DJ Pagano from London and Chus & Ceballos from Madrid is admittedly fairly enticing.
The F*Word moves to Splash. Krash returns at club Rebel.
The F*Word party – the weekly Friday night romp that had enjoyed a sustained success since its move to club Rebel – abruptly announced it is taking a 2 week hiatus before relocating to its new home at club Splash on June 4. Frankly, we don’t think it bodes well for this party. We have a hard time picturing the colorful cast of queer denizens and avant garde creatures that patronize the F*Word feel at ease in the sanitized setting of Splash Bar. It is nonetheless an honorable attempts at revitalizing Splash’ Friday nights, which have been slow in the past months.
But club Rebel won’t remain vacant for long, because Krash, the legendary gay Latino party of which we have many fond memories, is re-launching after more than a year of hibernation at club Rebel. We hope things will turn out better for Krash, because they folded only a few weeks after settling in at club Rebel at the end of 2008. Meanwhile, the Uncut party which started in the fall of 2009 at the neighboring club Elevate is still going strong, catering to a similar demographics as Krash. Admittedly, Krash’s new venue club Rebel is slightly more appealing than the shack known as club Elevate, but Rebel, with its 3 floors and many rooms could also turn out to be too large to fill on a weekly basis for Krash. Let’s see what happens. While we’d love to make our big return to Krash next weekend, we can’t miss the visit of the legendary trance U.K. disc jockey Eddie Halliwell at Pacha.
Harmonica Sunbeam leaves Escuelita
Ending her 12 year tenure as the host of Escuelita’s weekly Sunday night Tea Dance, Harmonica Sunbeam has decided to move on to better and bigger things. Harmonica had voiced her discontent with the way things were being run at Escuelita in the past but now she has decided to jump off the ship. As there are always more than one side to a story, you can read here Harmonica’s announcement, and there is her former boss’ response. The new sunday night party at Escuelita is now called Steam Sundays, featuring a bevy of sexy strippers courtesy of Tommy G.
M2 loses its liquor license. Alegria moves to Pacha
Unfortunately, the city has managed to get M2 liquor’s license suspended. You can read more about the Bloomberg’s administration latest stab at New York’s nightlife on Steven Lewis blog. While M2 is fighting to get its license reinstated, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in time for Memorial Day. As a result, Alegria will take place at Pacha, which is actually the place formerly known at Soundfactory where the Alegria parties started 10 years ago.
Junior Vasquez live at Pachita – Kings – Martin Luther King weekend
In anticipation for next week’s annual Red Party, held at the recently opened club Amnesia (formerly Sol, formerly Ruby Falls), here is the recording of the set Junior Vasquez played at Pachita on Saturday January 16, 2010.
This is a classic, high energy Junior mix, blending seamlessly new stuff (his mix of Lady Gaga’s Bar Romance, Whitney Houston’s Million Dollar Bill), Twilo classics and fantastic old school throwbacks. The party, held in the intimate upstairs lounge of Pacha, drew a fabulous crowd of nightlife denizens, pumped-up party boys, and faithful junior heads.
Here is the full recording of Junior’s set, in 5 parts, for your listening pleasure.
Download part 1 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 2 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 3 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 4 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Download part 5 of Junior Vasquez live at Pachita
Thank you Junior and Darren for providing us with this exclusive recording. Here are a couple videos from Junior’s party at Pachita, for your enjoyment.
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