The time has come to give a final shout-out to one of the most prolific venues to ever serve as part of the Miami night life. That’s right, Grand Central is closing its doors this month after five years of operating as one of the it venues for the Magic City and the artists who wanted to play at venues smaller than the American Airlines Arena and the Fillmore at the Jackie Gleason Theater. Although they have events listed through the end of October, Grand Central will close its doors on September 26th with a final performance and moving October events to other venues.
The co-owner of Grand Central and co-founder of Miami’s Poplife Aramis Lorie had this to say about the impending departure of the venue:
“After nearly six years of a very successful operation, Grand Central is closing its doors at the end of September at its current location permanently. This by no means is an end to Grand Central’s spirit and brand. On the contrary, it is part of a strategic move focused on growth through a spectrum of diversified ventures in the hospitality industry and the creative world.
Please join us Saturday, September 26, for one final engagement.”
Grand Central has hosted a variety of up and coming artists and mainstream musicians from all sorts of genres including rock, hip-hop, and EDM. From the likes of bands and artists such as Animal Collective and Suicidal Tendencies, to Big Sean and Pusha T, and even major pop acts like Iggy Azalea and MAGIC!, many faces from all walks of music were welcomed and packing the dance floor every weekend. Some major electronic acts to take the stage at GC include Skrillex, Afrojack, Dillon Francis, Pendulum, Steve Aoki, Zeds Dead, Feed Me, Kaskade, and Flume (and the last three are performances from this year alone). It even served as the inspiration behind the Circus Records label compilation album Grand Central which featured music from Flux Pavilion, Doctor P, Cookie Monsta, and Fox Stevenson as well as a remix package titled Grand Central: Miami Remixed.
Currently, there is no official reason for Grand Central’s closure. However, it makes it one of many venues in the 305 that has closed in the last year. Back in March, the nightclub known as Mekka went down to make way for the new Miami Worldcenter. A few months later, the king of the last eleven year’s of Miami’s nightlife Mansion confirmed that it will close its doors, but plans on reopening at an unspecified date.
On a personal note, I would like to say that Grand Central posed as a major part of forming my passion and love for electronic dance music. It was the venue where I witnessed my first electronic concert with Mord Fustang headlining the evening. Since then I’ve been to the venue for countless other events that may never have come to Miami if it wasn’t for the convenient size for the acts they supported. I hope that what Aramis Lorie says is true and that the spirit of Grand Central will continue to blossom elsewhere in my home city. Otherwise, me and the rest of Miami might need to start checking out events at the Revolution Live all the way in Fort Lauderdale. I hope Uber doesn’t mind taking me there.
