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The CIRCUS DISCO History
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| TSG |
The History of Circus Disco
:clown: :D :clown: :wtf: :clown: :tongue3 :clown:
In the early 70s, a 19 year old from Rhode Island decided to live his dream. Like many others before him, he moved to Hollywood with the hopes of making his dreams come true. After several odd jobs he tried his luck opening an adult book store and then a coffee shop but this wasnt his dream. One evening, along with his partner, a Hispanic and a Black friend, they had a difficult time getting inside a nearby club. He soon realized that most local clubs were not "gay, Hispanic or black hispanic friendly". This experience gave him an idea that would soon become a reality. After several ups and downs, he and his partner scraped up all their spare cash, maxed out their credit cards and rented a large vacant warehouse where they could have their parties and all would be welcomed. There would be no discriminating there. The year was 1974 and his name was Gene LaPietra. He, along with his partner Ermilio "Ed" Lemos, had made his dream come true. A disco was born. They called it "Circus Disco". Circus was a haven for groups that werent welcomed at most other clubs at the time. The road to success for these two entrepeneurs was anything but smooth. There were many attempts to put them out of business. At one point, their entire security staff was arrested in an attempt to discourage them. The local authorities found any excuse to discourage them. Once the owner of the property found out about the club, he too tried to close them down. Their efforts were unsuccessful. Despite many attempts to close it, Circus remained open. At one point, Circus was raided by the local police, whom physically harassed the patrons and staff. Once in front of the judge, the authorities denied any wrong doings. Unfortunate for them, a group of attorneys was celebrating a birthday there and witnessed the harassment first hand and one of the DJs happened to be recording and caught the entire incident on tape. They were never harassed again. Circus soon became a mecca of the L.A. disco scene attracting many Hollywood superstars, celebrities and legendary recording artists such as Sylvester, Divine and Cher. You never knew who you would run into at Circus, it was the place to be. Gene wanted everyone to feel welcomed despite your income or popularity. He never lost sight of his dream. Unlike Studio 54, he made sure everyone got in. There was no minimum drink requirement, no picking and choosing his guests. All were welcomed. Circus became so popular that a two hour wait to get inside was not uncommon. Even then, Gene was always found outside the club welcoming everyone as he does to this day. For years he was thought to be doorman which was fine by him. After witnessing first hand the success of Circus Disco, Gene was approached by a short gentleman who also had a dream. He proposed to Gene a partnership in an all new disco in Hollywood. After careful consideration, Gene and Eddie advised him he would have a difficult time opening a club in Hollywood and suggested he try Los Angeles. Gene and Eddie declined his offer. This same gentleman later took his idea to New York and opened his club there. His club had a short but legendary life. His name was Steve Rubbel and his club was Studio 54. By the mid 80s most of the original discotheques had closed their doors but not Circus. Circus remained strong. Attracting thousands of people every weekend.
In 1990, Gene's life-long partner Ermilio "Ed" Lemos passed away. Circus remained open. In fact, Gene now owned the entire property and expanded the club even more by purchasing the ice factory next door. The already huge club doubled in size. Many promoters, patrons and friends have advised Gene to get rid of the name "Circus Disco" and rename it to "Circus". They told him that disco was dead. He refused, simply saying that disco is my roots, thats how it started and thats how it will end. Circus Disco remained. Recently at Circus Disco, the disco was long gone, the lines were gone, the numbers dropped but Circus Disco remained. Then on Saturday November 10, 2007, Circus once again witnessed a night of disco unlike it had seen in 20 years. Disco had returned to the place where it all started, Circus Disco. The place was packed. The energy level was at a peak. If you arrived at 9:00 p.m. when the doors opened it took an hour to get inside. The walls were thumping to the sounds of the beautiful music that started it all....DISCO! The club had not seen that much disco energy in over 20 years. Anyone who was there will tell you it is the closest thing to time travel they had ever seen, Gene agreed. Backtodisco.com brought the disco back to Circus. No longer was anyone ashamed of the word "Disco". |
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| HotDogWater |
| circus rocks... after all, that's where i met my wife :) |
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| Kismet7 |
| Circus/Spundae good times between 2000-2004. Great place with great people all around, you didn't have to know anyone and you could have a great time there. Really got into dance music during the earlier Spundae/Circus days through hearing about it on these forums. I use to go to The Palace on Friday's with friends, so going from The Palace to Spundae/Circus on Saturday's was quite the contrast. Now im having fun working on my own music and sending it out this year. :D |
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| DjWoody |
I used to love Circus Disco. I was there pretty much every weekend during the good old Spundae days. :( So much fun!
And before Circus, I used to go to Arena on Fridays when it was all Hard House with DJ Irene! hahaha |
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| approximalia |
| quote: | Originally posted by DjWoody
I used to love Circus Disco. I was there pretty much every weekend during the good old Spundae days. :( So much fun!
And before Circus, I used to go to Arena on Fridays when it was all Hard House with DJ Irene! hahaha |
I LOVE Circus! It's my home. :) I've been faithfully going almost every weekend since the Spundae days. (That's right, I NEVER stopped going!) I used to do Arena Friday/Circus Saturday too. :crazy:
I've seen the club go through some ups and downs, but I know this year has a lot of great things in store for us. So to all of the people who "used to love Circus", get your asses back on the dance floor already! :tongue2 |
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| TSG |
| quote: |
Then on Saturday November 10, 2007, Circus once again witnessed a night of disco unlike it had seen in 20 years. Disco had returned to the place where it all started, Circus Disco. The place was packed. The energy level was at a peak. If you arrived at 9:00 p.m. when the doors opened it took an hour to get inside. The walls were thumping to the sounds of the beautiful music that started it all....DISCO! The club had not seen that much disco energy in over 20 years. Anyone who was there will tell you it is the closest thing to time travel they had ever seen, Gene agreed. Backtodisco.com brought the disco back to Circus. No longer was anyone ashamed of the word "Disco". [/font][/size] |
I was there, at 8:30pm and was amazed to see the line of cars & limos waiting to park in the lot. :eek: Once inside, I felt like I was time traveling. Everyone all of a sudden had the energy they had 20+ yrs ago. It was amazing and you could feel how strong the vibe was. Even some Circus regulars that were there were amazed to see how these "BTD" people partied.
That night my 2 worlds united and it all happen at CIRCUS DISCO! :gsmile: |
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| vet26 |
I remember reading this article, not sure if it was online or in the paper; good stuff. Love me some Circus
Anybody see that episode of Entourage where Ari is in front of the Circus entrance? I think the inside of the club was Arena though... |
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| Psiweaver |
I've really enjoyed going to Circus lately, but I miss the sound at Vanguard so much when I go to Circus. I really feel that the sound should be upgraded. In addition it would be nice to get a constant stable promoter to drive the crowds. I'd love to see an update visual system be put in place to update the Bryce visuals that are currently shown on all the TV's and projection screens.
Alistair |
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| steppenwolf |
| quote: | Originally posted by vet26
I remember reading this article, not sure if it was online or in the paper; good stuff. Love me some Circus
Anybody see that episode of Entourage where Ari is in front of the Circus entrance? I think the inside of the club was Arena though... |
You know what, that is the only episode of that show I've ever seen. You are correct, they were inside Arena. |
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| steppenwolf |
| It's funny to read about the history and Gene's basic ethos of 'eveybody is welcome' and no VIP bull because that's exactly what I noticed the first time a went there about 4 years ago. I was impressed to see David C hugging all these people as he took their tickets....and then giving me big hug like we were instantly good friends even though he knew nothing about me. I knew I'd found a special place. And it didn't end there, it's consistently the friendliest, least pretentious club crowd, usually by leaps and bounds over other LA or Vegas clubs I've been too. I caught the tail end of Spundae's days, and they were AWESOME, but even when times were slow...there's really nowhere else I'd rather be on Saturday night. So many great times... |
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| Clovis |
| I can't wait till it closes. |
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| 72hrpartyanimal |
| quote: | Originally posted by Clovis
I can't wait till it closes. |
:stongue:
'n Clovis!!! you crack me up every time! |
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