13 June 4-10, 2026 miaminewtimes.com | browardpalmbeach.com NEW TIMES | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | It’s never over How Willy’s found a new home at Las Rosas after closing in Wynwood. BY FLOR FRANCESCHETTI W hen Willy’s Neighbor- hood Bar closed its Wyn- wood doors last August, Miami’s queer nightlife community lost a very special place. The drag-fueled venue had quickly become one of the neighborhood’s few dedicated LGBTQ gathering spaces, known for its themed parties, RuPaul’s Drag Race watch nights, and a steady sense of com- munity in a city where queer venues continue to disappear. The establishment even re- ceived the “Best Gay Bar” recognition in New Times’ 2025 Best of Miami issue. But the story didn’t end there. Since the closure, the team behind Willy’s has kept part of its spirit alive through a new home at Las Rosas, the beloved alternative venue and dive bar in Al- lapattah that re- opened last year after its own post- pandemic hiatus. What started as a temporary solution has evolved into an ongoing collabora- tion, giving Willy’s programming and its com- munity a place to continue gathering. “They’ve been really great,” says Jor-El, co-founder of Wynwood Pride and partner at Willy’s, in conversation with New Times. “They’ve been keeping some of our program- ming alive and kind of taking care of our com- munity there at Las Rosas.” The gritty atmosphere, neon glow, and DIY spirit of Las Rosas have proven to be a natural fit for Willy’s signature drag party, Wig!, which now takes over the venue monthly after originally building a following in Wynwood. “We used to have a monthly party at Wil- ly’s called Wig!, which was every Thursday, a big drag night,” Jor-El explains. “It started very grassroots, but it became this phenome- non. We really wanted to keep that going.” The party found new life at Las Rosas shortly after Willy’s closed in 2025, and the venue has since become a temporary head- quarters for some of Willy’s most recognizable events and afterparties. That includes the re- cent Lady Gaga Mayhem afterparty, which transformed Las Rosas into a late-night pop ha- ven just minutes away from Kaseya Center. “We always like to do the best afterparty for our favorite pop stars when they come into town,” Jor-El says. “Las Rosas is a rock bar, it’s free, alternative, and that’s kind of what the vibe of the Lady Gaga album is.” The collaboration arrives at a very busy time for the Willy’s and Wynwood Pride teams, who are organizing a packed month of programming throughout June. This year’s Wynwood Pride lineup stretches across ven- ues throughout Miami, ranging from pool parties and underground raves to drag brunches and techno nights. Among the highlights is the annual Miss Wynwood Pride Pageant at R House on June 5, featuring performers including FKA Twink, Sting Dion, and Kat Wilderness. Las Rosas will once again host a special Pride edi- tion of Wig! on June 11, while larger-scale events like Big Wig Drag Fest at Casa Nube and Midnight Service x Wynwood Pride at MAD Live continue expanding the festival’s footprint beyond Wynwood itself. At the same time, Jor-El is launching a new venture to support Miami’s LGBTQ cre- ative scene behind the scenes. The newly formed Hyphen Talent Agency will represent local drag artists, DJs, and performers, help- ing them secure bookings and navigate the business side of nightlife. “It’s hard to be a business person and an artist at the same time,” Jor-El says. “I want them to focus on showing up, being iconic, and doing their performance, and let me take care of the rest.” The agency’s first official booking fell un- der the Gaga afterparty umbrella and already includes artists connected to Miami’s queer nightlife scene, including FKA Twink, DJ Deep Cleansing, Naim Zarzour of Midnight Service, and Sting Dion. Even with Willy’s currently operating in a more nomadic form, the team says plans for a permanent return are still very much alive. “We’re definitely working on that in the background,” Jor-El says. “Las Rosas has given us the opportunity to keep our pro- gramming alive while we find the next for- ever home for Willy’s.” In the meantime, Willy’s continues to pop up throughout the city. The team will host a listening party for Madonna’s upcoming Con- fessions 2 at Floyd on July 3, keeping alive one of the venue’s most beloved traditions: com- munal album release celebrations. [email protected] ▼ Music Music Las Rosas has become a temporary headquarters for some of Willy’s most recognizable events and afterparties. Photo by Chosen Familia “I WANT THEM TO FOCUS ON SHOWING UP, BEING ICONIC, AND DOING THEIR PERFORMANCE, AND LET ME TAKE CARE OF THE REST.” On wax Sports Records celebrates 10 years of vinyl culture. BY GRANT ALBERT T ake your mark! On Friday, June 19, at Downtown’s Floyd, the homegrown re- cord label, Sports Records, celebrates double digits on the odometer with ten years of parties and vinyl-only releases. “Sports was always built more like a team than a company,” co-founder Kyle Parker elucidates to New Times. “Ten years ago, we were just the kids throwing parties and pressing records that we be- lieved in, and ten years later, it’s the same group of people; we’re in different chapters, but we kept it in our lives and are trying to make this year as a kickoff instead of an anniversary.” Sports is the product of several music lovers and crate diggers. Parker, Jacob Friedland, and Daniel Edenburg (AKA Brother Dan) befriended each other at Gulliver Prep in 7th grade. The three met the label’s other forefathers, Michael Bird, Clyde Corley, and Will Cormier, through mutual friends. The label has released ten pieces of work and is the winner of New Times’ “Best Label” su- perlative in its “Best of Miami” 2023 edition. Sports follow neither a particular sound nor an algorithm, and they avoid jump-off-a-cliff drops or predictable builds up. If one could spot- light a piece of uniformity, however, it would likely be the label’s love for a sleek house sound. The sounds, instead, follow a steady and forceful rhythm that finds meaning in every snare, clap, pulsation, and vocal. “Every release we have put out has been different: there isn’t one structure or sound we go for — it varies on our tastes at that moment,” expounds Friedland. Locals love to play records off Sports, and so, too, do international heavyweights, like Gene on Earth, Apollonia, Ricardo Villalobos, and Chris Stussy. The founders created a diptych of responsi- bilities for themselves, dividing duties between parties and releases. The inaugural release was a house and ambient four-track EP by Corley and Parker in 2016. The first show also took place that year, with a makeshift rave featuring Japan’s DJ Masda. That rave led to monthly parties at Wynwood’s Electric Pickle. “First timers to a show should expect first and foremost a good time,” maintains Friedland. “Whether you like the music or not, you’ll proba- bly like something because we have a full spec- trum of sound.” As the label grew, the team partnered with Berlin’s Off the Grid Records for distribution and Mother Tongue in Italy for vinyl pressing. The col- lective has taken the last couple of years to focus more on the production end, but is amping up shows again with the goal of quarterly parties. A label’s longevity may seem at odds with a slow trickle of releases — ten, here. But Parker explains that the purpose of Sports was never to “pump music out” quickly. For one, pressing vi- nyl is costly and time-consuming. Second, Parker notes that the label is “curative — something that still feels special years out.” Nonetheless, lis- teners should expect a couple of releases later this year, along with new merchandise. The team now returns to Floyd — they cele- brated the label’s sixth anniversary at the inti- mate venue — for all-night vinyl spinning and irresistible grooves. “The support from the Floyd team is unmatched,” says Parker. The lineup features “Sportswax” | CROSSFADE | >> p14
