OK. So spooky was o-u-t this Halloween, but porn stars and exhibitionists were most definitely still in last Friday in downtown Miami. GADA (Go Anywhere Do Anything) magazine and 4th Element sent out a howling for the bold and defiant to show up dressed in the most unthinkable costumes and housed them under the steel structures of Vulcan’s Lair.
Envisioned by artist Frank Joseph Welde and his team of, er, welders, who go under the title 69 Design Metalwerks – known for the exotic and beautiful steel artwork they’ve produced for Lenny Kravitz, Prince and South Beach’s Crobar – months were spent searing and tweaking metal to get the right look for this party: a 25,000 square foot steel playground as mean and sadistic as the price ($35) to get in.
The setting melded the non-organic distortions of a ’90s Tool video with the dark alley eeriness of A Nightmare on Elm Street. Crafts and sculptures on display were intricate and random, but they were barely noticeable in the dim lighting, which ultimately went black in the main area.
But, while this Halloween bash was hyped to be the most bloodcurdling and horrifying party in Miami history, it was instead an otherworldly, people-watching fantasy that would have made for an amazing fashion show (everything from Roman soldiers and guys in drag to Venetian clowns with sumptuous headdresses). But this sure as hell beat watching drunken boys and rowdy locals marching through the Grove. Check the pics – they speak for themselves.