About a year ago, longtime friends Laura Baginski and Susie Lee reconnected at their 30-year high school reunion. As the two women caught up with each other about their careers, motherhood and everything in between. They vented about how they missed going out and had been struggling to find a spot that played music they liked and didn’t start late at night.
That lengthy conversation is what inspired the duo to start Earlybirds Club, a joyous dance party for “middle aged-ish” women, nonbinary and trans people who want to go out, and also be in bed by 11 p.m. because they “have sh—t to do in the morning,” as their tagline states. The (mostly) bimonthly event launched in Chicago in February and expanded to New York. Next month, it’s coming to L.A.
As the name suggests, the nighttime function starts and ends early — beginning at 6 p.m. and finishing up at 10 p.m.
“I just can’t stay up late anymore,” said Baginski, 49, a nonprofit marketing director and mother of two young children. “There’s nothing out there that speaks to that kind of need for women our age. You can go out to dinner, you can take a yoga class, but if you want to go out dancing, the clubs don’t open until like 10 p.m. So that is out of the question for us.”
She adds, “You don’t get to dance much anymore with groups except at weddings or bar mitzvahs, and that shouldn’t be the only place where you can dance at this age.”
For Lee, who is experiencing stage 4 breast cancer, Earlybirds Club has given her something to focus on outside of her own struggles. “The diagnosis, chemo and the surgeries stopped my life entirely,” says Lee, 49, who’s been a makeup artist for more than 20 years. She’s battled cancer five times.
“I was totally depressed,” Lee says. “Then we started Earlybirds Club on a whim and I switched my focus to creating joy and fun for others.”
Baginski and Lee threw their first party in February at a dive bar in Chicago called the Burlington on the night of a blinding snowstorm. Despite the weather, more than 100 people showed up — many of whom they didn’t know — ready to dance and sing with their girlfriends in a sweaty room. Lee’s cousin who goes by DJ hbom (Helean Lee) handled the soundtrack for the night, playing ‘80s new wave (Baginski and Lee’s favorite genre), nostalgic pop records and female empowerment songs. Some party favorites include “Poison” by Bell Biv Devoe, “Like a Prayer” by Madonna, “Turn Down for What” by DJ Snake and Lil Jon, “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey and anything by Britney Spears.
Word about the party spread quickly, so they upgraded to a venue with a larger capacity for their next party. They still had a wait-list of more than 600 people, so they threw another event shortly after to accommodate the demand.
After receiving several requests from their followers on social media, Baginski and Lee decided to begin taking the party on the road. They hosted two events in New York in November, which both sold out.
Although the event was created explicitly for middle-aged women, trans and nonbinary folks, people ages 21 and up are welcome to attend — just as long as they don’t identify as a man.
“There’s enough spaces for men,” Lee says. “Women need safe spaces where no one is being creepy, hitting on them or making them feel uncomfortable. At several parties, some attendees have even brought their daughters with them. They’ve hosted 11 parties in Chicago this year.
When Baginski and Lee reflect on the seemingly quick success of Earlybirds Club, they say people are connecting to it because it allows them to take a break from their responsibilities — running the household, raising kids, caring for elderly parents and more — and let it all out on the dance floor.
“This is an age group that’s not catered to,” says Lee. “We are invisible in the media and in marketing, which is stupid because we are the ones who [often] control the money in our households.”
She adds, “[During the] pandemic, mothers had to take care of basically everything and there was so much stress. So coming out of it, this is something geared strictly toward middle-aged women. For the first time, people feel seen and heard. It’s like, ‘Oh, wow. Here is my community of women who get me.’”
On the Saturday following the presidential election, Baginski and Lee were worried that no one would show up to their party. But when hundreds of people came, it made them realize how much it was needed.
“In this current climate, a space like this feels even more essential and almost political, which we never meant for it to be,” Baginski says. “Now it feels that way as an act of resistance.”
Earlybirds Club will host its first L.A. parties on Jan. 10 at the Sardine in San Pedro and on Jan. 11 at the Virgil near Silver Lake. Admission is $40. Ten percent of all proceeds will go to two L.A.-based nonprofits, Rainbow Services and the Los Angeles LGBT Center (specifically its Trans Wellness Center).
“This is not a scene,” says Baginski, adding that the event is “come as you are.” Attendees wear everything from full sequined looks to pajama sets with Ugg slippers. The only thing that the duo doesn’t recommend people to wear are heels “because you are going to be in pain,” Baginski jokes.
“It is pure joy, fun and great energy,” she adds. “It’s just women supporting women, creating a safe space to be absolutely ridiculous and dancing like maybe you haven’t danced in a very long time.”