Ed. note: The following dispatch comes via Kid on the Ball. Thanks, Kid.



There's a new group of promoters in town, and they're tired of top 40 tracks and frosted tips. The incestuous new circle of under-publicized east-side dance parties includes Mustache Mondays, Wildness on Tuesday nights, Shits & Giggles on Friday nights, and now A Club Called Rhonda on Thursdays.

Located at a random Mexican bar called Guatelinda, at 4916 Hollywood Blvd., Rhonda isn't gay, but "polysexual." (Apparently that's the new "mixed.") "Polysexual just means all possibilities," says shaggy auburn-haired fixture Aaron Castle, who hosts Rhonda along with his three partners, Loren Granich, Kimi, and Gregori. For Gregori, the mixed crowd offers a refreshing spritzer in a city "where the crowds are so divided, even in gay culture itself."

Rather than organizing the crowd around a sub-culture, like twinks or leather daddies, the people behind Rhonda organize the crowd around less divisive appetites. Namely: a shared love for danceable music, chuggable drinks and huggable trannies. (Mister sisters get in for free.)

The mandate for good music is something Rhonda takes seriously, and it's paying off. "LA is hungry for good music," Aaron says. And right now that means boogie, disco and house. Famed French group Justice showed up to one of Rhonda's first nights, and the promoters have plans in the coming weeks to fly out popular New York house acts like Morgan Geist. When a DJ started playing generic radio-friendly rap anthems at one party a couple weeks ago, the crowd revolted. And last night, a law firm intern who requested Shakira was rightfully chided and spurned.

Giving power to people is all part of the master plan. The self-selecting crowd gathers around itself through word-of-mouth. It may seem like a snobby promotional model, but the minds behind Rhonda wouldn't have it any other way. "We threw a New Year's party that we advertised all over the internet," explains Aaron. "The promotion was everywhere, and the crowd was awful."

The organic, small-world nature of Rhonda's crowd came in handy during its third week, when a health inspector shut the space down an hour before the doors opened. The promoters were left standing on the sidewalk with a cooler of jello shots that they made the night before. But rather than call Rhonda off, they moved the party to a friend's loft downtown, and everyone came despite the chaos.

"That says a lot about our club," says Gregori. "The crowd put up with a lot, and everyone showed up." Hey, as long as the shots are $3 and the DJ isn't playing Shakira, who could possibly stay home?

For more on bar culture, gay, poly or otherwise, check out our favorite drunk Angelino at Gay Bar Culture.


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Gay Bar Culture (Ning)
A Club Called Rhonda (official site)


by mike on June 24, 2008 12:19 PM | save to del.icio.us | digg it | facebook it | Comments (1)