The party keeps on going as long as you want it to
cing n a d ple and o e p e ng “ S e e i e b i r d c adg i n t h e t in th g aroun lows firs flyin it just b ” a i r… r s a w a y time
2.40am
Show producer Dan Rowland – a tall, middle-aged man with a youthful face – sweats as he runs the aerial rigs hidden behind the back bar, monitoring all the components of Hampus and Milena’s intricate performance. This is one of a handful of moments in which he and his team really get to steal the spotlight. Rowland was drafted in at E11even Miami’s inception, hand-picked for his 15 years of experience working on Cirque du Soleil shows Ka and Iris in Las Vegas and Los Angeles respectively. He brought a few of his old Cirque performers with him, Hampus included, to deliver a mind-blowing experience. “I love 74
seeing people enjoying what we’ve put together,” says Rowland. “Seeing people dancing in the bird cage and flying around in the air… it just blows first-timers away.”
5.15am
As the city’s other clubs and bars shut their doors, the energy at E11even Miami reaches critical mass. Parades of champagne bottles adorned with live sparklers snake through the writhing hordes as banknotes are thrown into the air and rain down all around. Drake’s Hotline Bling blares from a top-grade FunktionOne Resolution 6 sound system, with visiting DJ Savi at the decks. Girlfriends give their men private dances, inspired by the semi-naked entertainers on podiums. Gyrating go-go dancers in high socks and mini crop tops flank the DJ booth, while three topless women hang horizontally from a giant pole on a raised platform in the middle of the dancefloor. Revellers sip
cocktails and stare from the second-tier balcony, lost in sensory overload.
6.30am
Ken DeGori circles the club’s perimeter, and although the sun is rising, the queue outside is as long as ever. Except it’s not so much an orderly line as approximately 70 wouldbe clubbers huddled around the ropes like one amorphous being. Everyone knows there’s a crazy party inside – a magical Neverland where time stays still and dawn is as dark and wild as 1am. DeGori clocks out for the night.
9.00am
The party rages on, though the crowd finally starts
Victoria’s Secret? She’s probably a regular at E11leven Miami
to dwindle. The restaurant upstairs serves breakfast sandwiches and ‘South Of The Border’ egg and chorizo burritos to hungry party zombies in full daylight, their hair messy and eyes wide. For the first time in a week, Miami sees a break in the rain and revellers can enjoy a sun-filled morning.
11.00am
After 12 hours of shaking hands, LoPinto and Solomon call it a day. In another 12 hours, it will be time to prepare for Art Basel’s closing party, Hard 2 Leave. The send-off has become a Miami tradition, meaning there’s no slacking on this day of rest. Not that these guys would have it any other way. “I wake up in the morning, pinch myself and just thank God for my life,” says LoPinto. “That’s where it is for me. I’m at the pinnacle of my career, which tells you how I compare this with everything else.” 11miami.com
THE RED BULLETIN