Sometimes even the most promising marriages end in brutal divorce. Such is the case with the partnership between Seven Nightclub and John Huntington of Rubber the Club. Rebranded and relaunched February 4 of this year, with a weekend celebration featuring Paul Oakenfold and Vince Neil's birthday party, the venue saw a strong program of DJs and live acts that looked to help the club overcome it's poorly designed front, blocked by T-shirt kiosks. That came to an end in a very public way June 14, when an anonymous source was quoted in Michael Politz and Bryan Bass' The Eye newsletter as blaming Seven for breach of contract.
"We were promised a bunch of stuff that was never done so I walked," said John Huntington, from Denver. "It's that simple. I pulled my company out."
Among Huntington's complaints are promotional staff being fired without his OK, poor signage out front, not being reimbursed for living expenses and not being paid for redesigning the club's interior and bringing in acts like Oakenfold and Boy George.
"People were not getting paid, hosts were not getting all of their money they were supposed to get for bottle service," said Huntington. "Everything was just not Rubber, so basically, I pulled Rubber."
That was quickly followed by an e-mail rebuttal from Zohar Robin, Seven's president, to select industry folks, in which it was said, "Huntington and his staff were given exactly what they put into Rubber the Club—half of nothing." A formal press release on June 17 toned down the language, but not by much.
"This whole venture had so much potential. [Huntington] did everything he could at the beginning to put everything together. He helped to design the whole place and we had an unbelieveable grand opening, but you can't just do the opening and that's it." After the opening, according to Robin, Huntington was out of town for a month and couldn't properly take care of business.
"We put a lot of money into the business. We paid everything. He didn't pay any money from his pocket," said Robin. He explained that Huntington's consulting fee was to be based on the club's profit, and "there's never been any kind of profit from Day 1."
To both men's credit, the fall-out seems restricted to their business personae.
"As a person, I dig Zohar and I think Zohar's the man," said Huntinton.
Some of the first casualties from the swallowing of Mandalay Bay by MGM-Mirage were nearly the entire staff of Luxor's Ra nightclub, with everyone being laid off except for general manager Jerome Thomas and marketing and promotions coordinator Steven Lockwood. DJ Create has resurfaced at Ice, heading up that club's first foray into Wednesday nights, and DJs Warren Peace and Mr. Bob landing at OPM, spinning each Thursday.
Obviously, plans are afoot.
"The nightclub is an important part of the overall Luxor experience," said Jenn Michaels, vice-president of public relations for MGM-Mirage, in a prepared statement. "Our property executives are evaluating the club and will have new programs to introduce soon."
Though MGM corporate is being tight-lipped on its plans, one of those executives is surely Mike Milner, executive director of nighclub entertainment for Studio 54 and Tabú at MGM Grand, two of the property's most successful nightspots. If Milner isn't directed involved with reshaping Ra, his input will certainly carry a lot of weight. One person in a position to make predictions is DJ Hollywood, who helped open Ra and did time at 54.
"At the time Studio 54 had their grand opening, they were doing horrible," said Hollywood. "For over a year, they were averaging 150 people every Saturday, which is ridiculously bad. So Mike being the genius that he is ... he totally turned the place around, better than probably any single person in the club industry was able to turn around a nightclub. The numbers that he put on the board for the first year were astounding."
Today, it's common to see lines snaking upstairs and outside for Studio 54, and the club regularly plays host to top DJs, celebrities and special events, like the recent Wickedville.
"I think he's going to do spectacular with Ra but he's one of those guys, whatever he touches turns to gold. It was very said to see [Ra] go down and now I'm very happy. It can be revitalized, and if there's anybody that can do it, it's Mike Milner and Frankie (Studio 54's music director), for sure," said Hollywood.