gaypartyblog.com gay nightlife scene

Imagine a club where before you even step inside you feel like you are taken away.  Taken away from the beautiful palm trees outiside (no telling how many thousands those were) and the beauty of this club in general.  Then you walk inside (after waiting in a line on some nights) you enter a lounge area that is classier and more hip than some lounges you find in the real South Beach, Miami.  Step further and you enter the huge dance area of the club - largest dance area in Texas!  Bigger dance area than Station 4 in Dallas and any straight or gay club I have been to in Dallas, Austin, or Houston.

South Beach has boxes to dance on which make it more lively than some of the lame clubs that only allow hired gogo’s or keep the dancefloor flat.  This mega-club also powers nitrogen that sprays down and cools off the dancefloor like you are on some kind of space ride - you cannot see anything around you for about 10 seconds or so and thats the best time to find a hottie and make out like its New Years.

This club puts all the other clubs in Texas to shame especially the bad managed clubs such as Station 4 in Dallas which has no boxes to dance on and no nitrogen and a smaller dancefloor.

Parties thrown at South Beach in Houston include the annual MadonnaRama , White Party, street event for Pride, Red party for Valentines Day, and many other great themed busy nights.  Madonna even plans to visit Houston this year for her concert on November 16.  I am sure this is where the afterparty will be and who knows maybe Madonna may want to check out this hot dance club (or at least her dancers).  She might hate Texas but she does not hate Houston.

Having been to many clubs internationally and here in the U.S. I found South Beach Nightclub in Houston to be ahead of then all.  The mega clubs in NYC area all gone and the real Sobe has nothing but closet type dance areas if you are not hitting a circuit party. Coliseum and the Copa in Ft. Lauderdale never came back to live after their last hurricane.  The one club that was still up and kicking was in Houston and it got battered by a hurricane as well but it will be back!

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone at South Beach in Houston and the good people over at the 3rd Bar in Galveston.  The electricity was just recently turned back on in houston for South Beach nightclub but they have a midnight kurfew so some of the events have been postponed according to their emails.

Charles Armstrong who has done an incredible job with the gay scene in Houston who runs South Beach im sure will do just as great of a job getting things back in order.  Some of the friendliest management and dj’s that know how to rock the crowd this has to be an exceptional place to get away from the bad things that have happened to the area.

The clubs website is their myspace at myspace.com/sobehouston.  If there is anything we can do let us know!

Whats our favorite club in the World?  Check out this club in London called Heaven.

Madonna is not the only Diva coming into Boston in mid-October.  A diva-licious line up of divas are scheduled to rock out with their tits out.. well OK rock out for tata foundation as they say.  A good cause for Breast Cancer and a big lineup featuring Kristine W, Jeanie Tracy, Erin Hamilten, Gioia Bruno, Alyson and Janice Grace!

Saturday, October 18, Chris Harris presents this event with the high energy Perry Twins from L.A.  The event is held inside the Saturday night party called Epic at the Roxy at 279 Tremont Street in Boston, MA.  The event is 21 and up and you can buy tickets pre-order for only $20 at divasfordena.com.

We will be in town to see the Madonna concert as well which will be in Boston for October 15 and 16th.

Here is what we know of the Boston club schedule for now.  Please let us know if there are more college nights we are not including. We have not heard of any Madonna concert afterparties yet but we assume everyone will be out at the Estate Thursday night and Venu on Wednesday.

Tues = Rehab @ Machine - 1254 Boylston (house, top 40)
Weds = Venu – Gay Latin Weds
Thurs = 21+ Up – The Estate Boston - Boylston Place, Boston theestateboston.com/thursdays.htm
Thurs = Aria - 246 Tremont Street
Fri = Machine 1254 Boylston St machine-boston.com
Sat = EPIC Saturdays at 279 Tremont St (Roxy Nightclub Roxyplex.com) (chrisharrispresents.com)

Afterhours in Boston is held at Rise in the Back Bay Neighborhood at 306 Stuart St (between Arlington St & Berkeley St) riseclub.us open after 2am (fri-sun) and no alcohol is served.

2008 has been a blast so far this year . It started out partying at this enormous gathering in downtown Los Angeles for New Years then went on to the other big events at Gay Days / One Mighty Party and the unforgettable Pensacola Memorial Day weekend. We are not bracing ourselves for yet another grand finale of a great year (minus the normal drama). Here are the remaining dates for 2008 DJ’s, parties, and events you cannot miss. Get your calendars out bitches–

Earn Travel Faster? We think the Starwood American Express Card is the best for enjoying more circuit parties and more gay travel since they own the W hotel chain and Sheraton which is used for many gay functions and positioned in many cities. They also convert your hotel points to American Airline or Delta miles.

Sept 26 - Oct 5 Cher Vegas - last performance listed

Oct 6 - Oct 12 NYC Madison Square Garden Madonna Sticky & Sweet Tour

Oct 10 - 13 White Party Las Vegas 2008 - Saturday night they will feature a live performance from Lady Gaga at the House of Blues in Mandalay Bay. Sinful Sunday is the Studio 54 club at the MGM Grand.

Oct 15 -16 Boston TD BankNorth Garden Madonna SS Tour

Oct 18 -19 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre Madonna SS Tour

Oct 22 Janet Jackson AA Center Dallas, TX

Oct 25 8pm Oaklawn Halloween Street Party - Thousands upon thousands of gay youth and gay families attend this event. Note that the clubs in Oaklawn are all 21 and up but the Lizard Lounge and Club One on 3025 Main will be 18 to enter. See photos from 2007 Halloween block party.

Oct 31 Halloween - WEHO Halloween Carnival (LA, CA) Over 300,000 people attend this event.

Nov 16 Madonna Houston Minute Maid Park SS Tour - Catch Madge in her first ever concert in Houston - well ate least in the last decade.

Nov 27 Thanksgiving

Dec 24 Christmas Eve / Dec 25 Christmas Day

Dec 31 New Years Eve - Biggest Club Night of the Year (for those that don’t get out much).  No parties listed as of yet…  Email us if you have the info.

Jan 11 -15? GAYVN Expo and  Hustlaball Vegas

Back to School nights - School starts for most Fall Courses on Monday, August 25.  Other Universities on a quarter semester program start in September.  It’s time to plan for a fun fall for everyone…

Just like in 2005, there were lots of people partying in Austin this year who would have been in New Orleans but they may have had a big dissapointment when they arrived at the main circuit party.  Hurricane Gustav kept people from partying after Saturday but it was still fun to the people who went.   I have heard from several people that they still made it a good time and the storm just made it more crazier.

Austin threw its annual Last Splash at Lake Travis hippy hollow and it was a blast as always.  Boats, boys, booze, and dance music with mostly good weather out at the lake.  Then it was to Oil Can Harry’s and Rain for the clubbing (or bar hopping).   OCH and Rain both played fabulous music and I still think OCH has the hottest and best bartenders you can find anywhere.  One in particular who works the main bar!

The host hotel in Austin was the Embassy Suites which was perfect just like the Hyatt but bigger rooms and it seemed a little cheaper.  We got a free CD and gift bag with very descriptive directions to all the events when we arrived at the hotel.  Everything was perfect until we went to the main event on Saturday night which was 18 to enter but you could have thought it was a funeral home judging from the bar in the lobby area with no music.

It was the worst thrown party of maybe my lifetime much less 2008.  Even though it was well organized up until you actually arrived at the Monarch Event center (some lame place 15 miles away from the HOST HOTEL).  I understand that they could not have the event at the Austin Music Hall since it was bulldozed but why not just put it in a club or convention center closer to the downtown area instead of the ghetto area near 2222 and i-35.  Not only is that a bad area but I even got my car broken into before in that same area.

We walked in after all paying $40 and then waiting in line for a drink at the lobby/bar with no music.  Standing in line over 40 minutes we finally got a drink and then walked into the "event".  Ok, from someone who has been going to the Labor Day wknd Splash party for the last 5 years I was shocked to see it so lame.  It was 4 times smaller than the venue a few years ago… why not just put it inside a nightclub that was closed down or somewhere.  Anything but this Monarch center… this is where you would hold a Rotary club meeting not a circuit party with Dj Roland Belmares.  We also looked at each other and wondered why it was $40.  We then drove back to 4th street in Austin and partied at OCH and Rain for the rest of the night.  I sure miss the parties back a few years ago for Last Splash - I think the last good one was named Candy.  I think they should also have set up the event like they did in previous years where college students get a certain percentage off tickets.

Ohhh and did i mention we had to drive in UT football traffic to get to this venue LOL.  Disaster.com.  I can understand if a venue is next to some glamous hotel or next to something eventful but not off 2222 and i-35 that was just embarrasing for those who traveled to Austin.  I did hear that the afterhours event at Sky Lounge was a great event and well worth the $20 door cover - I was too mad to goto that after already wasting $40 but I wished I would have went to that instead.  Party info from this event can be found at Splashdays.com.

I noticed that Club Oz in New Orleans re-opens Thurs, Sept 4 for those of you returning to NOLA area.  Have a fab fall!

You would not believe that Benjamin Franklin was a club kid. His house is on the same block just down the alley and around the corner as the world famous nightclub called Heaven. I have heard for years that Heaven is a club that is not to be missed if you goto London. I envisioned a nightclub that was tall and you could look down at people dancing all silver and sort of like that Queer as Folk club. I arrived in London on a Saturday night and being on club time I arrived at Heaven not long after.

I rushed to get ready then finally got in the cab and got there around 1130pm when there was a line outside. I told the taxi driver to take me to the arches not knowing what they were yet. I could say well take me to Heaven but that would sound kind of strange if he did not know what my definition of Heaven was at the moment haha. My first day in town I had no idea that I would be in the same area looking at Ben Franklins home just around the corner or eating dinner at HaHa next door.

Looking at people in the line it was so neat because you could tell it was people from all countries not just Londoners. One guy was walking around in a shirt with a Swedish flag and others in the line were from Northern Ireland. I knew the night was gonna be different that was for sure.

I am not sure if they ID much unless you look under 18. They are tough on security though because they had a airport type security bridge to walk through and even asked me to throw out my box of gum. I guess they thought they were tabs of ecstasy. If they bit into those gum pieces later they would be disappointed at a no-roll experience.

Walking into the club you have the choice to go into three sets of doors and I had no idea what was behind each door. I picked the middle door. This middle door made me appear in a lounge type room which had the entrance into the main dance floor and the entrance to the VIP room. I drank a few vodka redbulls in this lounge not even feeling the slightest buzz because of the low alcohol content. They only give you half of an American shot in these “shot” glasses from what I could tell.

I did not need drugs or alcohol though. The music was so good I just wanted to go dance. I walked into the main dance room and was just taken away it totally exceeded my expectations of what Heaven should be. The hottest boys dancing shirtless, hot boys dancing with shirts on that could really dance, sexy dancers, and did i say…. OK you get the point. The music was amazing with the hottest remixes and the lighting was heavenly with lasers coming out of the logo of the club which of course read HEAVEN.

I am dancing so hard at this point that I had no idea there were other rooms in the club and really didn’t care. I felt like I was rolling and was not on anything. It was just amazing and I loved this place more than any club in the world that I have been to. This was on a Saturday night so it was no warming up for me when I went there without warming up to a Friday night first.

Around 1am or 2am the drag queen show appeared on the stage. This club is setup kind of like how Coliseum in Ft. Lauderdale used to be setup with the big stage and huge dancefloor and boxes in the middle to dance on. THIS IS HOW ALL CLUBS SHOULD BE SETUP. The drag queen came out with 4 hot male dancers that 2 of them were breathtaking and did a great show for a few songs. Just like how Daisy D and TP Lords used to rock the stage in South Florida.

At least there is a city or country that recognizes good club music and a great drag show on the main dance floor instead of all confined to some closet in a small bar like the ones in Chicago. I say release the drag queens and let the bitches perform.

So then I danced with so many hotties from so many countries. Then walked around upstairs to one room which was packed and playing rap/hip-hop music. Danced in there for a few songs then went to the other side of the building upstairs where they were playing indie music mixed in with some pop (not really sure how to describe some of the music) and liked hearing this because it was quite different. Danced in there and had a few drinks then went back downstairs to the main dance room.

I loved the fact you could dance on a box with so many people. Meet so many cool guys from London and want to go back soon. This club was good Friday, Saturday, Wednesday, and Monday. Monday night was a more straight night and had more rave sounding music that really brings about some sexy underground beats. I still heard songs such as American Boy and I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry. Wednesday seemed more of a club kid night where you would see Party Monsters prancing around and the VIP room was open to all with some funny drag shows off and on.

The bathrooms were like a community inside the club where the big black bouncer man (one upstairs and another downstairs) inside the bathroom watches every move you make. I saw many kissing up to him but I would not trust him because I saw him narc on two guys going into the bathroom together. They did not cause any problems but he said they were out of there and made them leave. I am surprised that a club as good as Heaven has power hungry cologne and gum concession workers in the bathroom kicking people out of the club or are they undercover narcs. Don’t tip these jerks. That was my only bad feeling about the club to see two cute guys being kicked out for going in the stall together. This club is really paranoid about drug use or sex who knows… maybe they had big problems with police there in the past. I wasn’t doing anything bad anyway but I just hate to see people getting kicked out that caused no hurt to anyone.

Heaven is the best club I have ever been to in my life. It is at a strange location where it is not real close to the Astoria or the Soho clubs but it probably prides itself on being different. Yeah, definately better and bigger than any club I have been to in New York (after Roxy closed), Miami (after Coliseum closed/Salvation closed), Los Angeles (except for Avalon - Tigerheat but its sooo cheesy compared to this club), and ANY club in the US. If you want a young and gay crowd in London at least 3 nights of the week then this is your club.

Best Club in the Gay World = Heaven Nightclub, London

• Heaven Nightclub is located online at www.heaven-london.com and in London UK under the arches (don’t let the entrance fool you)- at 9 The Arches
  Villiers St, London, WC2N 6NG, United Kingdom
  +44 20 79302020

Every night of the week is happening in London nightlife. There are no breaks in the excitement of drinking and dancing. This is what I loved most about London is being able to find a party going on almost any time of the day or night. If you start your week with Monday then Heaven is the place to be. It is my favorite club in the World and has lots of bi and straight guys dancing to hard house on Monday. The crowd is mixed and very hot.

Tuesday seems to be happening at The Ghetto in Soho and cruising at other bars in Vauxhall.

Wednesday - Trannyshack at Soho Revue Bar and Work at Heaven 11pm to 5am (£5). I heard lots of old school club hits in the main room. Early in the night lots of bars in the Vauxhall area feature an underwear night where they strictly enforce you to wear underwear to drink which is a fun idea. That might be something fun to do before going to Heaven. We hit up bars in the Soho area and were not impressed. They actually had sales boys out persuading you to go into their clubs or bars so they could get commissions on luring you in and drinking. Those bars were normally not worth the entry and did not even have their dancefloors open in most cases. We walked in and out of so many bars in the Soho area that I have no idea what the names of half of them were but it was a fun experience. No one would tell us where Soho Revue Bar was located and we never did find it but maybe next time!

Thursday - You have underwear night on Wednesday nights well its naked boys on Thursday with “Strict no clothes dress code (except footwear), free coat check and free drink.” Hey, girl, Hey! If you did not get enough nude boys then you can see them clothed at afterhours Gravity at Fire, Mirror Arch (rear entrance) South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, SW8. 1am(Friday morning)-10am. Also, I saw another interesting earlier night party at Industri at Barcode Vauxhall where one website says the go-go’s have their clothes on (does that still make them go-go’s?)

Friday’s are so much fun there is not a place to begin. You almost have to flip a coin and decide from there what you will do on a London Friday night. The Cock at Ghetto has house/electro music and gogos.

Fridays are also great at Omo Generations at The Astoria. This venue is where the historic G-A-Y used to be which featured performance from Madonna, Mariah, and others. This club had a main floor as big as Heaven and a dance room upstairs with more of the Pop and Hip Hop beats. The main floor of The Omo at Astoria was full of hot boys probably more “camps” than you would see at Heaven but yet lots of hottie college aged guys and guys of all ages dancing to good music. Mostly pop-ish house music. I loved the huge OMO sign that was glowing from the stage and they had dancers and drag queens up there doing break dancing to watch all throughout the night.

Popstarz at Sin, Charing Cross Road, WC2. 10pm-4am. Popstarz has some damn hot gay indie kids and queer club rockers with a pop lounge, rave room, indie room, and outside smoking area. This club is across from the Astoria where the OMO night is going on so you just walk across the street to party at both on Fridays. Make sure you do not leave after 2am and want to come back though because at 2am they will not let you back in the door (even if you meet a hot boy you want to talk to again).

A:M at fire South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall - was also a party I stopped by for a bit. A cab ride over here to this neighborhood in Vauxhall and it did not seem as safe as the Soho area. I immediately had some straight couple trying to sell me coke or ecstasy on the street just after stepping out of the cab. Its almost like they were waiting for my cab to sell it to me… very scary. Fire was an OK club but much smaller than what I expected. I liked the fact that they had two dance rooms with different dj’s but it was not as delightful as Heaven or the Astoria and could not even compare.

I hear its dangerous in Vauxhall area if you do not watch your back. I heard of people being killed after clubbing and that lots of straight guys stalking gay guys and attacking them after they leave the clubs in that area.

Summary of Friday night

G-A-Y at Astoria just closed down its doors now called OMO. You can find out more at omoevents.co.uk. Popstarz (fireclub.co.uk) is my second most favorite place Fridays, there ages 18-30mostly, 3 floors, indie, pop, r-n-b floors. The Soho Revue is very freaky, more electro indie according to a local. He also says to wear something freaky, more indie, and funny and emo for Popstarz. He also said to not go to Astoria tonight is 80’s 70’s music but it was actually really good with lots of pop late in the night because the retro was earlier.

Saturday Night goes to Heaven Nightclub. Hands down and hands up you need to check out Heaven on Saturday and find out why its the best club in Worldwide for gays. You may also keep OMO Saturdays in mind because they are still having celebrity appearances. For instance, here is an ad for a Saturday in August “Tonight: OMO presents it’s first PA from a truly international star as Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland takes to the stage, performing all her biggest solo hits.”

Two great sources I found for the daily updated club scene were at boyz.co.uk/diary/ and http://www.qxmagazine.com (click on “What’s on this week” tab) for the club listings by each day starting with current days date. Too bad every city does not have these type of online guides such as the QX Magazine but most cities have no club scene to compare to that of London. Everyone should be in envy of what London has to offer because they have the best club scene I have been part of or dream of.

I may be an American Boy but I love the London Club Scene.

Here is a picture of the historic building called the Astoria which will soon be torn down in a few years due to the tube station which it will make room for. For the meantime enjoy it as Omo! Horrible picture and kind of blurry but you can kind of see it =)

We flew out of the States a few months back to tour Paris and London which are two places I have always wanted to see as a tourist, art admirer, and clubber. I really hate calling myself a tourist but when you are walking around with 2,000 or so others doing the same thing that is mostly what it is. Even at the Tate Modern museum of art and waiting in line for the London Eye you are mobbed in with many others there for the first time which is a neat experience.

We thought we needed to book our flight months in advance but because tourism was down this year the flight was not as full as we had expected. We could have just saved the interest we would have earned and booked the flight closer to August 5th when we left town. It took so long just to figure out where we were going to stay and if that hotel was close enough to the things we wanted to see.

Turns out the hotel I stayed at at Sheridan Belgravia was not really close to the clubs or things I wanted to see. It was close to some real expensive boutique shopping at places that did not do much for me. I enjoyed the quiet area though after walking around in Soho and other places it was relaxing to come back to the Sloane Square area.

If you wish to stay near Trafalgar Square which is close to most anything then I recommend staying at the Citadines studio apartments hotel which seems fairly inexpensive or the Hotel Adelphi Hotel just walking distance to Heaven Nightclub.

As you know the US Dollar just sucks compared to the EURO and is literally nothing compared to the British Pound Sterling. The British Pound really ripped my credit card statements a new one when it was finally tabbed up. I was better off using a Capital One card that reimburses the foreign transaction fees or an American Express card that only charges 2% instead of the Visa/MasterCard’s that I used. I found that going to an ATM helped out because most of the clubs took cash anyway unless you charged up a minimum of 20 Pounds or so.

So when you get online to try and find someone over in London to hang out with it is not very easy. You have to figure out the neighborhoods and kind of map things out to know where people are and if they are close to you. I mostly got online to find some people to go clubbing with or if someone knew what clubs were happening on what nights.

A few things you need to know are words like Lad and Camp. Two words that I am not used to using. I thought a camp was somewhere you walked around with a flashlight and slept in a tent.

What is Camp?  When you try and find someone to hangout with online using Manhunt.net or Adam 4 Adam you might run across “lads” that are saying they do not want boys that are camp.  I had to ask because I had no idea what it meant.  Camp means flamers or queens and they are requesting that they want someone who is more straight acting or masculine.  I prefer someone in the middle myself – someone too straight is boring and someone too gay is just too much fun.

Ways to find guys to hang out with in London is using Gay.com chat, Adam 4 Adam, and Manhunt.net. You can also use DudesNudes.com and sites such as GayRomeo.com. I found Craig’s list to not be used as much in the UK. You will have more luck just going out and meeting people at the bars and clubs than online because online everyone seems so far away from each other and never close enough to your tube station.

Here is a previous article we wrote on gay youth in london. The best shows to see are Billy Elliott and Wicked.  Billy Elliott features music from Elton John and is a story about a boy growing up dancing… very entertaining.

A must when you are visiting London for the first time is to download this free guide which is the Official Gay and Lesbian Guide.  This was the best resource imaginable and told places to dine, drink, dance, and things you need for planning your trip to the UK.  I carried this guide with me everywhere or certain pages of what I intended on doing that day and it helped me navigate the city better than anything else.

BREAKING NEWS (New Orleans, LA)
UPDATE 1: State of emergency declared in Louisiana as Gustav nears.  The hurricane has not made its way through the Cuba area but a State of emergency has been declared.  I would change plans now for Labor Day weekend.

UPDATE 2: NHC Has Gustav making landfall around 8pm (not 8am as stated earlier) on Monday but the outer bands of the storm should be there around 12 hours earlier.

Could Hurricane Gustav Cancel Southern Decadence? Looks like Chi Chi LaRue may be moving her wigs to another city as the winds blow the direction of New Orleans disrupting the big gay Labor Day festivities.

It was exactly this time three years ago that Southern Decadence was going through the same worries with a hurricane headed its way. They had no idea that it would do the damage it did to New Orleans even though the TV meteorologists kept repeating that the flooding was possible. The gays that were supposed to party at the gay version of mardi gras in NOLA either did not go there that year at all and canceled their vacations for Labor Day weekend or they went and got the hell out of town when they were told its time to leave and abandon the city entirely.

This year the 5-day cone issued from the National Hurricane Center on the NOAA website projects that New Orleans is in the track of Hurricane Gustav which could be a Category 4 hurricane. We could see a repeat of Labor Day weekend from 2005 which is three years ago tomorrow. The official National Hurricane Center track has this storm hitting New Orleans as a category 3 or 4 Monday morning at 8 am.

Remember If you have to cancel your trip to New Orleans you can always come to Austin for the weekend. There is Splash weekend going on and that is where all the cute boys are headed anyway. The storms should not reach Austin until after the Labor day festivities. Come on down to Austin and party it up with the big boys of University of Texas nearby. Better be safe than sorry!

You may not even get the chance to be trapped in New Orleans because I have read that they will not allow anyone into the city Friday if this happens.

If a Category 3 or stronger hurricane comes within 72 hours of the city, New Orleans plans to institute a mandatory evacuation order. Unlike Katrina, there will be no massive shelter at the Superdome, a plan designed to encourage residents to leave. Instead, the state has arranged for buses and trains to take people to safety.

Update #2 - JustCircuit.com just sent an email about Southern Decadence to its readers stating “Please take note: all New Orleans Decadence events will take place. Threatening weather from Hurricane Gustavo is not expected to arrive until early Monday morning.” which is accurate but you must consider that a mandatory evacuation order will not be worth the risk of going to New Orleans and being stuck at an Airport or on a bus and risking others lives who live in New Orleans.  I would advise to skip this year and return next year.