Ashley Hewlett
Grand Central Nightclub
During the annual week of Art Basel, Grand Central hosts exclusive, sought-after, and often secret shows. The week itself is an explosion of art that sweeps downtown Miami. When the all-day prowling of art galleries in Wynwood is over, people gravitate to the line outside of Grand Central’s N. Miami Ave. and NE 8th St. corner.
At the center of downtown Miami’s social network the club’s part-owner, Aramis Liore, can be found. Standing proudly behind the club’s main bar he stated, “We at Grand Central bring in the musicians at the forefront of international art movements and feature the best of local artists and DJs.”
This year’s Art Basel line-up will feature a “Special Disco Party” hosted by Toyota Antics and Filter Magazine. The show, first advertised at the “Art Walk Second Saturday Party” in November, was promoted as a free show but necessary to RSVP to attend.
“The RSVP emails, texts, and calls to our offices were unstoppable from the moment we announced the show. We had the maximum we can plan to have inside less than a week from the announcement,” Alex Senf, also part-owner, said from behind an office desk in the upstairs loft of the spacious Grand Central building.
Headliners of this year’s party are two successful mainstream acts that are, most importantly to Art Basel attendees, faces of the Art Rock and Electronic music communities. Pat Mahoney and James Murphey of DFA records and the band LCD Soundsystem will be creating the disco atmosphere in their DJ set. After there will be a live performance by experimental rockers, Black Lips.
“Each year Art Basel has grown; I see the art galleries get larger, the exhibitors more famous, and the parties full of more high-profile acts and attendees,” Liore stated while looking over a copy of the party’s promotional poster. “This party has two of the biggest names we’ve had yet. The Black Lips we are glad to see returning to our stage and this is the first time since early this year James Murphey and Pat Mahoney have been on any stage. It’s a big deal.”
Mahoney and Murphey began LCD Soundsystem in the early 2000s. Soon, after several chart and sales successes for the band, Murphey co-founded DFA records. The label features carefully selected artists whom have made a lasting impact on electronic music or are on the verge of doing so. The upcoming Grand Central performance will be a rare appearance since the group’s disbandment earlier this year. The future of LCD Soundsystem has been unclear and the thought of Murphey performing again was fleeting, but in the spirit of Art Basel, he has returned.
With the intent of expanding the benefits that Art Basel only brings for a short period each year, Grand Central is expanding its locale to the nearby site of the old Miami Arena to construct a temporary park. Property owner of Grand Central Park, Brad Knoefler stated to WLRN radio, “We’re going to activate the neighborhood. We’re going to bring people in here with money. We’re going to be making this a destination.”
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