The puppet behind the parties and arguably the king of the South Beach nightlife scene, LIV owner David Grootman, stopped to see the new erection a few months ago, but he mostly stays away from the club in the center of his hospitality empire.
“I cried with real tears,” Grutman, 46, said of his last visit to the shutter club and the often-passing era of nightlife. “It’s really my life.”
Technically, LIV and other nightclubs in Miami could reopen with 50% capacity under an order issued by government Ron Descentis on September 25. But Miami leaders have imposed a midnight curfew – a real buzzing for a scene that doesn’t even begin until the morning hours – and are loudly banning music so people don’t run the risk of spreading the virus through their gummy bears.
Also, the local mask ordinance requires patrons to cover their faces with food other than eating and drinking – although the governor has banned municipalities from levying fines for violations.
“We take a more cautious approach here in Miami-Dade,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez said recently. He warned: “We are still not out of the woods.”
When the little club in Miami reopened, Grutman said that amid the curfew and the constant risk of spreading the virus, he had no plans to open LIV or its other nightclub, Story.
“We’re going to open it up when we can give it the right experience,” he said. “I’m not here to give half-ass experiences.”
The epidemic in Florida has killed more than 15,000 people. The Republican governor is keen to tap into economics, with shutdowns and other sanctions leaving hundreds of thousands unemployed in a tourist-dependent state.
Grootman has already gone through the revolving door of opening and closing.
In addition to the clubs, he owns several rest restaurants, one of which is the singer Farrell, as well as the celeb hangout Komodo. All of this was forced back in March by state and local authorities.
In June, the governor approved restaurants to reopen on limited capacity. Although there were still bars under shutdown orders, people were soon drinking heavily and dancing in Komodo and other late-night restaurants.
“We felt like the world was back,” Grutman said. “All I can think about is that we’ll turn the corner.”
But, it voluntarily closed again after six weeks, as the sky of cases has skyrocketed and South Florida has become one of the COVID-19 hot spots in the country, with between 12,000 and 15,000 new confirmed infections per day. Grutman said he doesn’t want to contribute to the spread, and he’s also seeing the reaction of others in the industry.
“We were allowed to reopen and there were no bars, even though people were drinking like crazy at our place, so it was one of those mixed signs. He created a lot of animosity, “he said.
Last Friday night at Komodo, Grutman dined with Canadian singer The Weekend, while former baseball star Alex Rodriguez sat nearby and supermodel Dal Adriana Lima was at the second table. Although the wearing of masks was strictly enforced, there were hand sanitizers on every table and the scene was immediately stopped at 11pm.
Meanwhile, LIV, where stars like Justin Bieber and Jennifer Lopez are known for giving unpaid, messy performances, is sitting unconscious.
Before the epidemic, more than 10,000 parties visited every week, and those who could not hang out at the Fontainebleau Hotel lobby bar were just close to the action.
On the big weekend, the woman’s name rushes like a pronounced LIV – more than 1 1 million a night, more than half of the champagne and the boring cannons with bowling performances, nitrogen-smoked plums and scandals of scantily clad servers.
When the Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl in Miami this year, the team spent the evening waving their trophies between champagne and confetti spray on the dance floor at LIV. At a fashion show at LIV in 2009, Victoria’s Secret supermodels flaunted their angel wings and barely penetrated there.
When the club reopens, Gratman DJ. Request no. Others have asked LIV to host Zoom Parties, but Grootman is not.
He is focusing on a five-minute quick test and putting ultraviolet disinfectant lights inside the vents but thinks big club events will be safe without the vaccine.
“Everyone has their own ideas of what’s going to happen, another wave, not another wave,” he said.
Meanwhile, Grootman – the hype man, the energy pumper who was injecting that party-all-time vibe – has disappeared from action, turning into house parties.
“I’ll be the ringmaster instead,” he said.
