Gramps Owner Looks Back Ahead of Venue’s Closure

For 13 years, Gramps championed its role as a local cultural anchor, proving ground for Miami’s wildest, weirdest, and most wonderful acts, as well as small and mid-size touring bands. But on January 4, the legendary venue and cocktail bar will close its doors for good, capping an era that helped define a scene.

“I wanted a meeting space… for musicians and artists and journalists… people in some form of creative or expressive field to understand they were invited and welcome,” says owner Adam Gersten, sitting at one of the venue’s iconic outdoor tables under a canopy of native trees he personally helped plant.

The final weekend is set to be a send-off worthy of its legacy, with two days of music, memories, and mischief. On Saturday, January 3, DJs including David Sinopoli, Jellybean Benitez, and Spam Allstars will keep the patio moving. Sunday, January 4, is reserved for live sets from acts like Las Nubes, Seafoam Walls, Donzii, and Ben Katzman. As the official invite says: “Music at 4 pm til who knows when we’ll actually leave the building.”

When Gersten opened Gramps in December 2012, Wynwood was in flux and the local music scene was nothing but stable. “I remember venues like Eve and The Bar were closing. Tobacco Road was on its way out. It was a time of churn,” he recalls. What followed was an unlikely success story with Gramps helping to shape a scene.

There were no velvet ropes, no bottle service. Instead, there were $8 craft cocktails, drag shows, and dance floors where goth kids, punks, tourists, and the queer community collided. Gersten remembers early days filled with hustle and experimentation. “No one was just gonna come. You have to do something or provide something. Luckily, people liked the drinks. And we just started supplementing that with… any stupid thing we could put on the calendar.”

Some of those “stupid things” became legendary. The venue hosted hundreds of local bands and national acts, from the Drums to Peaches to Hannibal Buress. One night stands out in Gersten’s memory: “There was a night when I think the Golden Pelicans played, and Rich Evans, who had a record label and was friends with the Jacuzzi Boys, and I think maybe the Jacuzzi Boys played, maybe it was our grand opening. Maybe it was another show after that, I don’t remember. But we all ended up climbing up a very straight ladder on the side of this building and carrying cases and cases of beer, and being on the roof until the sun came up and I remember Rich, we were all like, just drinking and oh, and we turned around and Rich is sitting on top of the air compressor for one of the big five, six ton units. He’s sitting on top, and his pants are pulled down. We were just like, okay. And then everybody just turned around… That whole night was fun.”

Another night, Phil Collins quietly watched his son debut his band, while drag shows and comedy sets happened simultaneously around the venue. “Very Miami. Very legendary,” Gersten says.

Beyond the music, Gramps was a community. Bartenders, door staff, and bookers stayed for years. Some, over a decade. “In this town, it means a lot,” Gersten says. “We have something we’ve created together that’s hard to create.”

The cocktails helped define the atmosphere, too. Gramps’ early menu featured the Penicillin and Rosemary’s Baby — drinks that, in 2012 Miami, felt like a New York-level cocktail list. “Louis Salgar created Rosemary’s Baby… he was instrumental in showing me the joy of the experimentation… just not worry about the cocktail rules,” Gersten says, remembering his late friend.

But as Miami changed, so did Wynwood. “Gramps started as a destination. Now it’s not anymore,” Gersten admits. The neighborhood’s commercialization has made it harder for independent venues to survive. “Everything’s more expensive, it’s a story everybody knows.”

Still, this isn’t a funeral. It’s a graduation. Gramps’ spirit will live on in Gramps Getaway, Gersten’s waterfront bar on Virginia Key. “Gramps Getaway is sort of like final form slash the genesis… It’s everything I ever wanted,” he says. With mangroves, outdoor DJ sets, and a new indoor ballroom, it’s a different energy, but the DNA is there.

There are whispers of future projects, maybe even a new venue in Allapattah. Gersten is coy, but optimistic. “I also don’t know what else, it’s always up in the air. But maybe Gramps will break out and be other things. Record labels, publishing, printing. I just bought a record lathe so I can make records at home.”

As for January 4, we can expect a blowout, and not a breakdown. “The last couple nights for us have to be stress-free,” Gersten says. “We just want to present a broad swath of styles of music… a high note musically, but very even-keeled for us back of house so everyone can rage from a house.”

So if you’ve ever gotten spit on by Peaches, sweated through a Soft Moon set, or fallen in love over a Penicillin under the banyan tree, you will have one last weekend to honor those moments.