PHOTO BY WILSONMODELS
The masterminds behind one of the most successful parties in New York City are celebrating the fact that you can now enjoy the boys of Spunk seven nights a week. Both partners in business and in life, Dan Tobey and Luis Gomez have expanded their evenings and rotated their DJs, their queens and their boys. Now they are prepared to give all who desire a great experience. In the midst of their busy schedules, Get Out! spoke with the two once again, and as usual found them fun, entertaining and extra enthusiastic!
Since we last spoke, what’s been going on?
Dan: Last year we were on the Cinco de Mayo cover. So it’s been almost a year. Last year at this time we had just added Pieces to the mix. It was our second party. Since then, we added FairyTail Lounge, and have seven nights a week at that bar with go-go boys.
So tell me everything that you’re doing each night of the week.
Dan: The main party is still at The Monster every Thursday from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. That party is hosted by Honey Davenport, and we alternate DJs. We have a rotation of three or four DJs that we bring in. We have special guests and have about 40 dancers per week at that party. We have two stages there with two poles.
Luis: There was a thing that happened last year. We had Demi Lovato come in November.
Dan: That party got some attention. Her management called Thursday morning and said that she wanted to perform her new single in a gay club. She wanted, I think, to break away from her Disney image. So she decided that she wanted to be around strippers. So her and her entourage showed up about 12:30. She watched the show for a few minutes, she tipped one of our pole dancers generously, got some photo ops and sang her new song. That was a fun night, kind of unexpected. We weren’t able to announce it, so it was a surprise guest. We had a good crowd. That really pushed us to a new level. We got a lot of great press on that. We had a dancer that kind of upstaged her. He was excited to see her, and it ended up all over the world. That catapulted us to a new level with that party. It’s just gotten bigger and bigger each week. We use to be happy with the numbers, and now the numbers have doubled. So we’re thrilled with that party. It’s called “Luis Gomez Presents Spunk.” So we do that one on Thursday, that’s our big one, and then we’re at Pieces Bar around the corner every Sunday. That party is about 15 months old now. It’s doing really well. We reignited the Sunday night at that bar. It’s also called “Luis Gomez Presents Spunk” Sundays at Pieces. It starts at 9 p.m., is hosted by Holly Dae, and we bring 25 dancers to that one. We have also added Holly to our FairyTail line-up. We took over FairyTail Lounge in July. That one we co-produce with Adonis. The two of us come together to produce something seven nights a week. We start there at 9 p.m. every night and go till 2 or 4 a.m. That party ranges anywhere from 10 to 30 dancers, depending on the night.
So the two of you run back and forth from party to party?
Dan: We run back and forth a lot. Luis and I live in Hell’s Kitchen. We have accumulated a pretty good staff. We have help from Tim Adonis on that party.
Luis: That’s nine parties a week. It’s a lot of work.
Are you planning on any more parties in the future?
Dan: We have been approached by a few bars in Jersey, but we’ve decided that we are sticking to Manhattan. Right now we’ve got plenty to do and we are burning the candle at both ends. We’re pretty happy with what we are doing now. We’re pretty loyal to the bars that we stuck with, and they are pretty nice to us. We try to create good relationships that way.
You two work well together.
Dan: We’re actually married; we’ve been together for nine years. We find a nice balance. We try not to work together every night. I also travel a lot for my day job. I work for a travel company. We don’t kill each other that way. We take turns. We don’t get to vacation together, but we take turns taking breaks.
With nine parties, do you really need a day job?
Dan: I love my day job, and the night life can be fickle. You have to have something to fall back on. You never know; things can change real quickly.
Luis, since Dan is answering all the questions, let me ask you one. What is it that you like best about the nightlife scene?
Luis: The fact that we have new dancers every week. I like to meet new people. I’m excited to rotate the DJs; for example, we have the guy from The Ritz, so it brings more people from different venues. It opens the party to a different level. Different DJs, different queens, different dancers. I like that.
Dan: I might as well say something, because it wouldn’t be me if I didn’t. The reason that we work so well together is that Luis is the host. His name is on the poster for a reason. He’s always the face of the party. He likes to keep people happy, entertained, makes sure everyone is drinking, everyone is happy. I’m sort of the behind-the-scenes mechanism guy. I make sure everything works, and he’s the face that makes sure everyone is happy. He’s the more social one in that environment, more so than me. He knows the faces, he knows everyone, better than I do. That’s what I would say, if you made me answer his question, which I did. That’s how I am.
I like the two of you together. Is there anything else that either of you would like to say?
Dan: We’ve found that a lot of these parties come and go, even some of the big ones in Miami. So we’ve gotten this flow of talent from Florida that comes up here. Word of mouth has really made its way through. We used to have to work so hard to find dancers. Now they keep coming out of the woodwork.
Luis: We have people from Canada, from Vancouver. So we’ve got a lot of guys coming from around the country, and from Europe, [including] Spain and Italy.
Dan: We try and be as diverse as we can.
Are the dancers gay, straight or both?
Luis: I would say 70/30 percent. I like to use more gay dancers for “Spunk” at The Monster.
Dan: It kind of depends on the night of the week.
Luis, something tells me that you are or were a dancer.
Luis: I was a dancer, yes. I started to dance with team Adonis.
Dan:. Luis was a dancer. He got his insight into everything and then decided he couldn’t do that for the rest of his life.
You sound sexy.
Luis: I was a good one.
Dan: People from the old days ask him when he’s going back on stage and then request a lap dance occasionally. He tells them that he’s retired from that business.
Each week Spunk brings you 9 parties in New York City. Male dancers work the stage, work the poles, compete in our infamous Tiny Towel Show and go one-on-one in our lap dance area. All hosted by an incredible drag personality so none of us take this too seriously. It’s hot men on stage. Relax and enjoy the show!
THURSDAYS AT THE MONSTER
10 p.m. – 4 a.m.
80 GROVE ST.
SUNDAYS AT PIECES
9 p.m. – Close
8 Christopher st.
7 DAYS A WEEK AT FAIRYTAIL LOUNGE
co-produced with Adonis Lounge
9 p.m. – Close
500 West 48th
