Clube A Lôca celebrates 20 years; LGBT night icons reveal baffling stories

With a frantic search for news, reformulations and fads, not every club celebrates its anniversary nowadays. But it is with all due merit – and a lot of boldness and underground spirit – that this month the club A Lôca, located in Frei Caneca, in São Paulo, celebrates 2 decades.

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The cave was opened by Nene Krawitz in 1995, it was part of the history of São Paulo's gay nightlife and even gave rise to the expression "the crazy one", used by default by those who say something absurd.

"It emerged at a time when the GLS scene – as it was called – was divided between Jardins and the center, and was right in the middle, in a degraded area. We were the ugly duckling of the gay circuit. The house grew, it became popular for a time , influenced the opening of several other similar houses and parties. And today it continues to be the underground place that all alternative people have as a safe haven", says the man. DJ Pomba ao THE CAPE.

Bringing together LGBT artists and discovering many of them, as well as Michael Love, Léa Bastos, Bianca Exótica, Elloanígena Onássis, the club brought together artists and politicians from the global scene: Gretchen, Marta Suplicy and Eduardo Suplicy, Lady Lu, Maria Alcina and – amazingly – James frank. Below, A CAPA spoke with personalities who are or were part of the night at A Lôca. 
 

THEY SAID THAT GRETCHEN WOULD GIVE BIRTH AT THE BALLAD
André Pomba, DJ

"In 1996 it was the first time I went to ALôca. They always said that I would enjoy the club and that at the end it was even happening in the 80s. However, as soon as I entered, the impression was strange. It looked like a cave, the techno sound was very heavy When I was ready to go out, I saw a boy wearing a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt. We exchanged glances, I ordered a Tequila Lôca, I approached him and we stayed the night after that, we became best friends and went to the club every Friday and Saturday.

I started playing after realizing that there were many rockers who attended and stayed until the end to listen to the hits of the 80s with DJ Ednei. Then I had the idea of ​​doing a rock matinee in 1998, after visiting a gay rock bar in San Francisco. We started Grind on May 10, 1998.

At the time, the biggest hits were from bands like Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, New Order and Madonna. In fact, still one of my favorites.

For me, the most memorable moments occurred at the 5th anniversary celebrations of Grind in 2003. We brought artists like Gretchen, Maria Lacina, Rosana, Lady Lu to celebrate the success and it had an incredible impact. Mainly because Gretchen was about to have a baby. And many said that she would give birth in A Lôca (laughs)".

I ALREADY PASSED A CHECK ON STAGE AND SHOCKED THE AUDIENCE
Elloanígena Onassis, performer

"The first time I went, about 17 years ago, I was disassembled. I mean, more or less, because I was a strange figure. My name gained weight when I started doing shows. They saw it themselves, they thought I was strange and they asked if I wanted to start doing shows.

I go from Madonna to Gretchen, from Madonna to Lacraia. The performance that shocked the most was Melô do Coco. I took two large bananas, cut them into pieces, made a syrup with chocolate powder and put them in a pair of white panties. During the song, the pieces were falling and people thought it was the check coming out of the panties (laughs)

I've met a lot of straight people in the space, I was harassed a lot, despite being strange. Nowadays, it's gays who really dominate the space."

HARD STRAIGHT PEOPLE WITH ATTITUDE HAVE ALWAYS FREQUENT
Bianca Soares (the Exotic)

"Once upon a time there was a poor 19-year-old boy, who took the train from Greater São Paulo, got off at Júlio Prestes and went up to Augusta, when it wasn't so popular. And, on Rua Frei Caneca, he came across the door of a nightclub Discreet. She entered and saw people of all identities, a full house and many straight people.

I was a modern boy, drawn to street wear and loved the music, the decor and the dark room (laughs).

When I started performing (as Bianca Exótica) I made several Brazilian and international songs, but always old, of course. I also worked as a presenter, covering the luxurious Michael Love.

A memorable night was when three boys wanted to go on stage to get a drink and kiss me. And after the game I kissed all three of them and the boys even forgot about the drink? And at the time I hadn't revealed that I was a transgender woman. I love straight guys with attitude. 

I like Lôca because it was a clubber temple in the 90s that still survives today. And this is very good".

"I PRODUCED THE GABY AMARANTOS SHOW, AT THE TIME OF BEYONCÉ DO PARÁ" 
Tico Malagueta, DJ and presenter

 "It's been over 10 years since I went to Lôca for the first time. At the time, the club scene was happening and I was part of this movement, I was even part of a group called Spice Boys – which recorded a lot of Spice Girls songs. But The first party was on Sunday, Grind, Pomba's party.

I was immediately scared by that cave, but I heard that a Spice Girls song was playing, Never Give up on the Good Times, which only their fans know. So, in 10 minutes Lôca beat me. Something that marked me was the first time I presented the show, speaking into the microphone with people. I'm sure I was very bad, but it was very good for me.

And I presented everything from Elloa, which has the look of Lôca and historical shows, to Pepê and Neném. Another thing that really impacted me was the first time I talked to the Johnny Luxury, because I've always been a big fan of his since I was a child and I had the opportunity to meet him in this space, when he played on a Thursday. It was amazing. Not to mention the day I ran after James Franco. And I did it... But, honestly, what made the biggest impact was when I produced the show Gaby Amarantos, who was Beyoncé from Pará (laughs)

What I think is important is that, while in other clubs you see a segmented audience, at Lôca you meet different people. I learned so much from this diversity and maybe, before, I even looked differently at some gay person who was different from me. But today, after Lôca, I realized that everyone is different from me, just as I'm not like anyone else. And the awareness of this diversity was very important in my life."
 

Blonde Nene with friends at Lôca