On the move for a new vibe
It's a bit like getting the sun, moon, and stars to align, pulling off a successful club night.
You want the perfect location, an A-list crowd, generous sponsors, and oh yeah, the right music. In Boston, a city with significantly fewer nightspots than New York or Miami (and a 2 a.m. curfew that means fewer hours to party), the first of those requirements has become arguably the most important.
Promoters work hard to find the right venue, and, if the recent trend is any proof, they're not afraid to move around until they find it. These days, it's not unusual to discover a night you like only to return the following week and find it has moved -- down Lansdowne Street or across the river to Cambridge.
Sometimes DJs and promoters have decided a certain bar or club isn't providing the best vibe (or the management has decided that for them); other times, they move to add mystique to the night.
For Ace Gershfield, Frankie Stavrianopoulos and Sal Boscarino, it was a little bit of both.
Promoters with 6one7 Productions and the masterminds behind some of the city's most exclusive club nights (such as the "I Love NY" party held in September at Il Panino), the three transplants to Boston from California, New York, and Connecticut, respectively, moved their Tuesday night party with hip-hop DJ Sender this fall from Whiskey Park to Embassy.
Called Evolution because -- you guessed it -- it continues to evolve, the night began in 1997 as a college night at Bill's Bar on Lansdowne before becoming 21-plus and moving to Aria (then Trio). At Whiskey Park, anyone who wasn't a celebrity, professional athlete, or on the table reservation guest list didn't have much chance of getting in.
"It's turned into an industry night for bartenders, managers, club people, and other DJs -- people who are in the know," said Gershfield, during my visit last week to check out the new digs. "Industry people know how to have the best parties anyway."
Since many people employed in club land work on the weekends and play during the week, Tuesday's Evolution is "their Saturday night," he said. "The off nights in New York are some of the biggest nights."
As Evolution has grown in popularity and exclusivity (celebs from Britney Spears to Chris Rock have stopped by, and it is frequented by visiting NBA players and hometown athletes), the night has cried out for a larger space, Stavrianopoulos says, adding that the 600-capacity Embassy on Lansdowne provided more room than the 300-capacity Whiskey Park.
"You couldn't even get through the line there," Stavrianopoulos tells me, before Gershfield interrupts.
"Not that we're going to start letting just anybody in," he says, pointing out that Evolution was voted "Boston's hottest night" by Stuff magazine. "It's not for the masses."
Even club nights that are less selective with crowd control have been playing the venue shuffle.
Get Busy, a popular, 18-plus college night, recently moved its Thursday night party from Europa to the newly renovated Sugar Shack in the Boylston Place Alley, where promoters at Shelter Productions say they believe it will get "a whole new vibe."
The upside to many of the relocations is the freebies and other incentives some promoters shove your way to keep the night's name out there. To spread word about Get Busy's move to the Alley, last week's inaugural night was free for everyone who arrived before midnight.
The move from club to club can spell death for a night, too, a lesson the guys at 6one7 Productions say they kept in mind before relocating Evolution to Embassy in September.
"We knew we would either be successful in moving the party or it would be a total flop," Gershfield said. "I think we showed managers and owners all over town the draw we have to move people and create vibes." E-mail Joanna Massey at massey@globe.com
