Rhondavous Brings an LA Nightlife Institution to Space

A decade ago, friends Loren Granich and Gregory Alexander were searching the Los Angeles nightclub scene for a party where they could feel comfortable. Even in the City of Angels, clubs were divided by sexual preference, and that was a problem for Granich, who is straight, and Alexander, who is gay. They wanted to party together in an environment where the different shades of sexuality weren't segregated but celebrated — and they bet a lot of people felt the same way.

"Going out as a group of straight and gay people is very different," says Granich, who DJs under the name Goddollars. "We couldn't find a place where all our friends could be in the room at the same time. To us it was a no-brainer, but we just didn't see that scenario getting served anywhere."

When the search for a party that catered to all different flavors proved fruitless, Granich and Alexander decided to start their own. It was centered around a fictional hostess, Rhonda, who personified the parties of yesterday they sought to emulate — a dash of Studio 54 and a sprinkling of Paradise Garage.

A Club Called Rhonda — yes, that's the party's name — wasn't a gay night, per se. But it was definitely not straight. Instead it was polysexual. And soon, the trend spread to Miami, where bars like the Corner and Gramps regularly host parties with all different kinds of people partying in a single space regardless of whom they might go home with at the end of the night.
Rhonda has visited Miami in the past, each time setting up camp at the members-only Soho Beach House. Granich admits that throwing a party at a members-only space contradicts Rhonda's inclusionary ethos, but says those events injected new characters into Soho's ultra-exclusive environs.

However, when Rhonda returns to Miami this Saturday, February 10, she's taking over the entirety of downtown megaclub Space — including the Terrace, the Techno Loft, the Ground, and Floyd. Rhondavous will be a massive variation of the regular A Club Called Rhonda night. The party, in partnership with III Points, will actually start on the West Coast on Friday, February 9, with a party at Union nightclub in Los Angeles before moving over to Space the following day.

Granich is particularly excited to bring Rhonda to the 11th Street institution. He says he started taking notice of the nightclub when the Space Invaders took over the spot in 2016, and considers the club's bookings and aesthetic to be in line with Rhonda's.
"Right now, Space is the closest you can get to Europe's clubbing meccas in the United States — it has a really large, knowledgeable, and attentive crowd that will dance until morning," Granich says. "I don't think there're very many places in the States that you can do that."

Regardless of the setting, what makes any Rhonda party special is the people. It's straight and gay, glamorous and underground, a celebration of individuality but also of the common bonds people share. Granich has come to terms with the party really no longer belonging to him because it means different things to different people.

"We are a lot of things to a lot of people not out of some sort of desperation to please everyone, but because I don't think you need to pick and pull yourself. Diversity is good, in general."

A Rhondavous With III Points. With Beautiful Swimmers, Benji B, Honey Soundsystem, Goddollars & Paradise, Kim Ann Foxman, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, and others. 11 p.m. Saturday, February 10, at Space, 34 NE 11th St., Miami; 786-357-6456; clubspace.com. Tickets cost $10 to $40 via ticketfly.com.