Fur Fever
Calor heats up with Fur's first gay party
Fur may be named for the now-verboten warming garments once made in the nightclub’s warehouse space, but these days it generates heat as one of the nation’s best clubs. And one of the more feverish successes at Fur was the Labor Day debut of Calor, Adam Ross Wilson and Lorenzo DeAlmeida’s new gay party.
”It’s easy to exaggerate with these things, but socially it completely exceeded our expectations,” says Wilson of the nearly 1,000 people who filled Fur for some gay holiday revelry.
On Sunday evening this Columbus Day weekend, Calor returns to Fur on its recurring schedule (on the eve of federal holidays). The producing duo says Calor is the result of the different perspectives each of them bring to the party.
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”Lorenzo brings artistic vision and I manage the business — it’s one of those cliché unions of the right- and left-brained,” says Wilson, 35, who by day works for a publishing company. DeAlmeida works for Ritz Carlton. They’ve formed a romantic partnership for 10 years, and now the personal is professional. They produce Calor through Bahia Productions, named after the Brazilian state where DeAlmeida was born nearly 30 years ago.
Since the first Calor, the two worked to reduce the price for parking, entry and drinks at the club. But much else remains the same for the Columbus Day party, including the usually dressed-up and straight-laced club’s special dressed-down and shirtless-men policy, adopted just for Calor. DeAlmeida laughs that without the no-shirt option, ”I wouldn’t go myself.”
Also returning Sunday are local DJ Glanson, James Losleben on lights, and many of the scantily-clad and body-painted dancers — along with headlining DJ Eddie X from Los Angeles, who will bring deep underground house in the main room.
The DJs on the Calor upcoming lineup are tribal DJs, including the man DeAlmeida calls the ”father of tribal,” Angel Moraes. Montreal-based Moraes will spin with circuit star DJ Paulo for Calor’s just-announced Thanksgiving event, set for Wednesday, Nov. 22. But they’re not tied to tribal only.
”There’s no recipe for this party yet,” DeAlmeida says. ”Whoever brings high-energy is who we want to hire. We don’t want the crowd to get tired of hearing the same things.”
They also want the crowd to grow beyond any boundaries some may envision when it comes to gay parties.
”We want everybody there,” says DeAlmeida. ”We don’t want it to just be a circuit party for muscle boys. Men, women, gay or straight — any and all are very welcome to come. That’s what Calor is all about.”
Calor takes place Sunday, Oct. 8 at Fur Nightclub, 33 Patterson St. NE. Tickets $30. For more information visit www.experiencecalor.com.
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