Monthly “After Dark” Party at Julius’ Brings Disco’s Thumping Giddiness Back!

BY MICHAEL MUSTO | No, it doesn’t magically turn into the legendary disco Studio 54, but once a month, the long-running Julius’ bar at 159 W. 10th Street does radiate an extra twinkle as promoter Kyle Supley throws After Dark: a DiscoVery! events that revive 1970s musical mayhem.

For nearly eight years, Supley—who’s also a performer/collector—has filled the place with his devoted DJing of music from a dopier and definitely more fun era. You can’t really dance somewhere so intimate, but people try anyway, some of them finding out about acts like Evelyn “Champagne” King and Tavares for the first time. For them and the old-timers, immersing themselves in elaborately accessible disco (and other period musical genres) might seem less scary than trying to navigate all new sounds.

Supley spins whatever he feels like in the moment (yes, he deals in vinyl) and, to the side of him, video snippets curated by Jeff Chiola play on a monitor, usually of variety show madness, with lots of celebrity costume changes courtesy of Bob Mackie. A typical clip might be a wonderfully excessive production number starring Cher, Elton John, and Bette Midler, awash in silver sequins and white balloons. You don’t have to be on cocaine to enjoy such numbers; you’ll get a contact high from the screen alone, while also discovering European stars like the endlessly shimmying Raffaella Carrà.

The party—usually on the first Saturday of the month—is named after the 1970s gay magazine After Dark, which I actually worked for as a young freelance writer. The old magazine covers provide the backgrounds for the monthly invites, and the aim is to recreate a time when over-the-top entertainment dazzled the masses away from deeper concerns.

Yes, I was there for disco the first time around and remember every contradictory second. The city—and in fact, the whole country—were depressed after the one-two punch of Watergate and Vietnam left everyone distrusting of the government and wondering if it was even worth caring anymore. As NYC crime statistics soared, Studio 54 appeared like a mirage, and the heavily orchestrated music brought people together into the night, perfect for an era where it was perfectly natural to slap on smiley faces and act giddily hedonistic.

Even the most popular songs of despair—I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor and Don’t Leave Me This Way by Thelma Houston—proved uplifting when they brought you to the dance floor, to act them out in a madcap competition of flamboyant arm gestures. People used shiny fans and other props, none of which are on view at Julius’—they would seem odd—but the spirit is there and at the very least you find yourself rocking your body to the beat, even if you never intended to do anything but stand still.

Back in the day, it wasn’t considered cool to like disco, but all these years later, no one cares about the stigma anymore, especially since tracks like the pulsing Shake Your Groove Thing by Peaches & Herb sound so damned good over the speakers. Even Ethel Merman’s notorious disco album manages to land way better than it did at the time. And considering our current political climate, kitschy musical escapism like that is needed more than ever.

Kyle happens to be a nightlife historian who regularly gives tours of the Village, pointing out where some legendary old bars used to be before becoming upscale restaurants. Amazingly, he’s helping keep the oldest one of them all—Julius’—not only alive but throbbing with some finely tuned nostalgia.

An example of his monthly evite: “Lose your blues with the greatest Disco, Rock, 80’s synth-pop and new wave from my deep digital archive and vintage vinyl collection. The playlist is never planned–all selections are improvised by yours truly as the night thrills on! We’ve got the After Dark happy hour prices from 8-9 PM, during which time I will spin the wild, weird and wonderful songs of the 1950’s and 60’s, then we’ll travel up through the decades, covering 70’s soul, rock and disco, landing in the glorious 1980’s.”

Did I mention that this event is free and there isn’t even a drink minimum? I feel like dancing.

MICHAEL MUSTO | Musto is a columnist, pop cultural and political pundit, NYC nightlife chronicler, author, and the go-to gossip responsible for the long-running (1984-2013) Village Voice column, La Dolce Musto. His work appears on ChelseaCommunityNews.com, W42St.com, and other sites. Follow Musto on Instagram, via @michaelmusto.

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