To track down Wayne Castro, first find the large circle of ambitious hotties. Wayne will be in the middle of this shirtless gaggle, holding court, smiling
wearily, swatting off the boys’ attempts to wrangle invitations to
the after-after- after-party at some mansion high above the Sunset
strip.
As I slink up to him, I realize that this guy totally frightens me. He probably gets that a lot. Wayne is as large of a man as he is a nightlife force, and his commanding, radio-ready voice is as deep as the pages of his black book. He is the mastermind behind Heaven Lounge, the VIP party above famed Thursday night twinkfest, Tigerheat.
If you want graduate to that party in the hills, you first have to rise up the ranks to Heaven. “Heaven Lounge is now and always has been invitation only,” says Wayne. I tell him that I get into Heaven Lounge by dropping random people’s names. He shrugs his shoulders. “That can help. But then there’s the situation where someone will come and tell the doorman that member so-and-so told them to come here. And I’ll come down and ask them for the last 4 digits of their cell phone number.”
VIP scenes tend to be anything but. This is especially true in gay nightlife, where the scene is too small and incestuous to allow room for exclusive parties-within-parties. Take the promoter handing out flyers that read “I’m throwing a new night!!! It’s totally VIP!!! Please come. Seriously you guys. I need people to come. It’s exclusive.”
But Heaven Lounge somehow manages to live up to the hype. The crowd is a combination of laid-back people with high-strung jobs and high-strung people who are chronically unemployed. Says Wayne, “You’ll have four producers, two agents and an actor, but instead of talking about a project, they’re talking about who’s buying the next round. And I think that’s what makes it attractive to the clientele.” Not to mention that the clientele is very attractive. It’s a disconcerting moment when you realize that the strippers are the ugliest guys in the room.
As for the downscale downstairs neighbor kids at Tigerheat, Wayne is as surprised as anyone that Tigerheat continues to build steam, even after eight years and four location changes. “We have the very high-class problem of continuing to outgrow our venues.” What started as a boutique club is now a warehouse. Maybe the club is so popular because it straddles the best of both worlds, combining a mainstream WeHo vibe with the niche boutique feel of an East Side party. Just remember: if you’re going to troll the massive downstairs dance floor, ask to see your dancing partner’s ID. He’s probably sixteen, but as long as he shows you his fake and tells you it’s real, the judge will understand.
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Gay Bar Culture (ning)
Heaven Lounge (metromix)
Tigerheat (official site)