Almost a year’s passed since gay nightclub event Club Lucky held its last date at the old House of Blue’s location. While promoter/co-founder DJ Zach Moos didn’t expect the new House of Blues location to take so long to open, the break allowed Club Lucky to plan a bigger event. With the new venue open, Club Lucky is making its “revamped, bigger and better” return Friday at 9:00p.m. The event features host Jackie Beat, DJs Zach Moos & DJ Kiki, and performances by American Idol finalist David Hernandez and Queens of the Kingdom. As Club Lucky runs into its ninth anniversary, Moos feels this is a new era for the club night and “Club Lucky is reborn.”
Besides the fact they’re in a much larger venue and are hosting the event on a Friday, the new location gives them new freedom since they’re no longer a part of Disneyland. The biggest challenge the event had over the years involved dealing with the strict guidelines of the theme park and security clearances performers went through to play the event. It’s nothing personal though for Club Lucky, as Moos says half the people who show up for the event are discounted Disneyland employees, and stating “we all love Disney.”
Despite the challenges faced with Disneyland, Moos says that House of Blues is always supportive of the event and they share a relationship that goes back to the nightclubs beginning. Club Lucky started as a gay club night called Lucky Sundays at the now-closed Tijuana’s in Irvine. Moos noticed a packed event every time, which led to him and his business partner Dave Leon of Velvet Lounge making the decision to move to a bigger venue at the House of Blues.
“I just always thought it be nice to go and do a large event in more of a mainstream venue.” Moos said, “I always thought we could do better than the small little venues and parties that were going on. I thought the gay communities are something a little more bigger and more fun and more over the top.”
The turnout for the first event turned out to be double what Moos had hoped for, and stands as one of the biggest gay nightclub events in Orange County ever since. He feels these spaces are important, especially in Orange County where there’s only four gay bars. “Even though the world is becoming more accepting, it’s still uncomfortable going to straight clubs,” Moos says.
“When I came out and I was growing up, there was really no place to go where you could see other gay people, and meet, and socialize, and you could just be yourself.” Moos says, “Nightclubs and bars in the gay community are so different way because they have something in common that they don’t in other places.”
Despite the promotions being geared towards gay men, which Moos feels is “unfortunate”, he assures the event is for the whole LGBTQIA+ community as it always has. Notably, the event is 18+ rather than 21+, which Moos feels is important to maintain in order to give younger members of the community a LGBTQIA+ space to have fun and figure out who they are.
“I’d say a majority of our crowd is actually 21 and over,” Moos said, “but it’s nice to be able to have a safe place for people that are under 21 to be able to come out, socialize, and realize that there is a place for them. They can let loose, be themselves, they don’t have to hide and they feel safe.”
While they currently have no future dates planned, Moos says “we got to see what happens this time, and we’ll decide what happens after that.” Hopefully, the same turnout of their original opening night is “reborn” to secure the fate of the almost 10-year-old event.
For more details, tickets and updates, you can visit their website here.
