Giorgio’s Nightclub Is Back, Opening May 13 at Hollywood’s Grandmaster Recorders (Exclusive)
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When The Standard Hotel on the Sunset Strip abruptly shut down in January of 2021, Bryan Rabin told The Hollywood Reporter that his weekly hub of celebrity-packed fabulosity — Giorgio’s nightclub — wasn’t over. Yes, it had been already on hiatus for the previous 10 months because of the COVID-19 pandemic (save for some virtual iterations). But, vowed Rabin, a few days after the Standard closed for good, “Giorgio’s is not closing. We’ll be back, when we get the pandemic under control, in a new location. Giorgio’s will rise from the ashes like a phoenix.”
Well, he meant it.
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On May 13, starting at 10 p.m., Giorgio’s will be back. The invitation-only nightclub (“You have to know me,” says Rabin of how to nab a reservation) is reopening in a new home: Grandmaster Recorders, the Italian restaurant, bar and club in Hollywood that opened in late 2021 inside the former recording studio of the same name. Giorgio’s will take place inside Grandmaster’s intimate 71 Studio Bar, where such greats as David Bowie and the Red Hot Chili Peppers once recorded music.
“I’m going to do it monthly,” says Rabin, an event and film producer, of Giorgio’s new residency at Grandmaster Recorders (which is located in Hollywood’s newly dubbed Vinyl District, near Mother Wolf restaurant and the Dream, tommie, Thompson, Mama Shelter and Godfrey hotels.)
After posting the news of Giorgio’s return on his Instagram account on April 26, he adds, “we sold out of tables in an hour-and-a-half. Everyone in Hollywood is banging on the door screaming for a table.”
If Rabin sounds like he’s hyperbolizing about the level of interest, his track record backs it up — and then some. During its run from 2013 to 2020 at The Standard, the 100-person-capacity nightclub (named for composer Giorgio Moroder) was a magnet for actors, musicians, fashion designers, models, directors and many more crème-de-la-crème folks who simply wanted a safe place to dance and let their hair down. (Cameras were never allowed: “We don’t allow cell phones as best as we can; no video and you can’t do selfies,” Rabin told THR in 2015.)
Jay-Z and Beyoncé went, multiple times. Moroder himself once DJ’d on a night celebrating the release of one of his records. There was the night when Mick Jagger showed up and told Rabin (who didn’t have any tables available), “Darling I’m here to dance.” The cavalcade of names who showed up also included Diddy, Lenny Kravitz, Selena Gomez, Frank Ocean, Sam Smith, Queen Latifah, Debbie Harry, Sade, Baz Luhrmann, Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Campbell, Bradley Cooper, Amy Poehler, Denzel Washington, Lee Daniels, Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and Jessica Alba.
For the May 13 reopening night of Giorgio’s, recording artist and DJ Miss Guy will be on deck. “Miss Guy, who was the resident DJ at the legendary SqueezeBox in New York City, is one of my favorite DJs of all time. He’ll be spinning disco and some soul and early ’80s through the ’90s dance classics,” says Rabin, who adds that he’s also excited about being at Grandmaster Recorders because of the venue’s “gorgeous designed Italian restaurant. So people can come for dinner and it can be one-stop entertainment. They can come for an 8 o’clock dinner and then go into the club, which I am thrilled about.”
For Rabin, creating successful and memorable nightlife moments takes a secret sauce. Of course, it starts with getting the mix just right. “I have some of the wealthiest and most famous people in the world dancing next to very young artists and musicians. The collision is something I really work hard on. That’s what makes the world go around: the old meet the young and we all learn from each other,” says Rabin.
But, for Rabin, it’s also about creating the right environment where people can really enjoy themselves. “Nightlife is something I do out of love. And I didn’t realize it until COVID happened, but Giorgio’s really affected people. [During the pandemic], I got notes from people [saying] ‘You helped me. Dancing was my therapy. It was my mental health. Please bring back Giorgio’s so I can get dressed again and go out. When I started getting those kinds of notes, I thought, ‘I really need to do this.’”
“I think one of the great ways to express yourself and to feel great about yourself is to go and get dressed up and live in fantasy for four hours,” he adds.
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