Twilo dance club used to be home to the fabulous Phazon Sound System and amazing DJ's- Sasha and John Digweed, Junior Vasquez, Groove Armada, Paul Van Dyck, Carl Cox, Danny Tenaglia and every other great DJ in the world. Many of these artists made appearances at Twilo before hitting the mainstream.Until its closing in 2001, Twilo dance club was the most beloved and, its critics charged, most played-out nightclub to grace the streets of New York City. Very few clubs were on par with Twilo. The gigantic "superclub" in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan regularly attracted a crowd of thousands to its warehouse-like dancefloor. Playing host to dozens of legendary DJs from around the world, Twilo NYC was instrumental in popularizing international styles of house and trance music within the United States. Before it was Twilo, back in the early 90's the space was known as "The Sound Factory" which in those days, it was Junior Vasquez's house. The likes of Madonna were often seen there. Twilo usually kept at least one small room open most nights of the week--it is said that in New York, the weekend begins at the close of business Tuesday--but Saturday nights, hosted by resident DJ Junior Vasquez, were by far the nightclub's busiest. In line with other superclubs like Tunnel and the Roxy, Twilo's Saturday nights were ostensibly gay-oriented but seemed to attract at least as many straight partygoers. Friday nights, by contrast, usually saw a slightly younger and more "alternative" crowd. The clientele at Twilo dance club was likely the most eclectic of New York's large clubs. On any given night, one could lose oneself in a sea of college students, office workers, men, women, whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians, ravers, punks and even an occasional clump of goths, contributing to a frenetic energy and harmonious vibe. Celebrity sightings seemed to be less frequent here than at other Manhattan clubs, a fact that many Twilo regulars considered a plus. By the end of the '90s, Twilo dance club had become known as New York's number one nightclub, boasting a friendly atmosphere and a steady lineup of top talent. Twilo used to be the place to go in all of northeastern USA for crazy parties and drawn out sets.
Twilo had been under pressure to close from then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani ever since the launch of his controversial quality-of-life campaign. Still, the club managed to hold onto its cabaret license until early 2001. That May, after a high-profile undercover drug bust, Twilo padlocked its side street entrance for the last time.
All that is a memory and all that is left are memories and a few reminders of those great parties and the great people that were known as 'Twiloites.' Still, Twilo and its multi-floored brethren represented only a small part of the city's universe of nightclubs. Many partygoers prefer smaller, less crowded venues where one can hear relatively unknown artists and DJs.
The space occupied by Twilo (27th St. west of Tenth Ave.) has reopened as a nightclub called Spirit.