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There's nothing like a brand-new house.
Who doesn't love moving into a home
where everything is all clean and shiny
and modern and new? And especially when
that house is located in Manhattan and
filled with a sea of the most alarmingly
hot and sexy men on the planet. Yes,
that's right: Alegria's got a brand-new
home.
Ric Sena's legendary party has landed in
a splendid new house on the west side of
Manhattan at the city's newest
nightclub, Stage48. Originally built in
the 1950s as a horse stable (how
apropos, no?), the massive four-story
structure has been completely renovated,
top to bottom, complementing the
original industrial architecture with a
sleek modern design.
Wooden floors gleam and metal railings
glisten and the furniture in black
leather and gray upholstery is
immaculate. A horseshoe balcony
overlooks the main floor with its
34-foot wide stage while upstairs a
rooftop sky bar features spectacular
vistas of the Manhattan skyline. (Think
summer: think Alegria Pride!)
Everything about the 1200-person
capacity club looks ready for a feature
in Architectural Digest and chic enough
to host a runway show during New York
Fashion Week. Perhaps best of all, the
staff at Stage48 is as warmly welcoming
as they are professional and unfailingly
polite.
In other words, the stage was set for a
perfect night. And in the depths of a
New York winter, Alegria New York turned
up the heat. The opener, DJ Aron, hails
from Israel with more than ten years on
the circuit. The obscenely attractive
deejay has headlined events all over
Europe, the US, and Brazil, including
Barcelona's "Circuit Festival" and Tel
Aviv Pride. With his signature sound of
tribal house and high energy vocals,
Aron inaugurated Alegria's new home as
the boys from around the world poured
into the house.
It's been nearly ten years since Alegria
christened a brand-new club with its
intoxicating elixir of sex, soul, and
music. Back in January of 2004, Alegria
moved from its original home at Sound
Factory and started a new chapter at the
brand-new Crobar, the uber-club of the
millennium - and after that night,
everyone in the house knew they were
living the legend.
No wonder then that Alegria New York was
packed with a posse of industry heavies
including Peter Rauhofer, Brett
Henrichsen, John Blair, Beto Sutter and
a sea of gorgeous Brazilians (dealing
with their first snowfall) and Alegria
family like Betto Mares and Adam Weaver
and James Calero and Gorm and Tod. With
Rob Montenegro on visuals, a flurry of
multi-colored lasers by Kyle Garner
whipped the floor into a kaleidoscopic
frenzy as a quintet of pulchritudinous
go-go taxi drivers worked their
moneymakers and their butt cheeks all
over a New York yellow cab.
And when DJ Aron handed over the tables
to Abel, the loud whistles and sustained
applause were not only for the night's
opener but also a testament to the
crowd's love for the man who created the
Alegria sound. Currently celebrating
more than thirty years of making
mesmerizing music with its intoxicating
rhythms, Abel, alongside Ric Sena's
creative genius, has ushered Alegria
into its second decade without missing a
single cha-cha beat.
With a sold-out housewarming party,
Alegria looks better than ever in its
brand-new home. |
