A crowd gathers outside Rage nightclub in West Hollywood on June 15, 2018. Photo: Q Voice News.
WEST HOLLYWOOD — Rage nightclub is the latest LGBTQ space in West Hollywood to close during COVID-19.
Other queer businesses in Los Angeles also have closed.
The dance club had been closed some nights prior to the pandemic, and it remained shuttered June 19 when Gov. Gavin Newsom allowed bars in Los Angeles County and elsewhere to re-open. Newsom ordered all bars to close on June 28 when they didn’t follow the guidelines of physical distancing and wearing a face covering.
Rage, located at the northwest corner at the intersection of Santa Monica and San Vicente boulevards, opened in 1983 and was an anchor of the Boystown gay nightlife district. Business, however, had been waning previous to the pandemic.
“As far as I know, it was official two weeks ago,” Ron Madrill, the now former general manager at Rage, told WeHo Times. “I heard from the landlord that yes, we’re not going to be re-opening. The landlord told me that Rage pulled out. I knew it was happening with us being closed for so long, not having any income and the rent being very high.”
Rage’s website also has been shut down.
The closing of bars and clubs due to COVID-19 has devastated many LGBTQ small businesses.
Cuties in East Hollywood, L.A.’s only queer focused coffee shop, went out of business last month.
Club Cobra, the North Hollywood gay Latino club, announced in May that it would not re-open.
Since Gym Sportsbar closed in July and Flaming Saddles closed in August, former patrons had wondered if Rage would be the next to go.
WeHo Times and WeHoVille reported that Rage’s lease would expire in November, but owners Robert Maghame and Saeed Sattari couldn’t negotiate a deal with the landlord.
Monte Overstreet owns the Rage building.
Overstreet also owns the property that housed Flaming Saddles.
