AVONDALE — Late last year when longtime friends Laura Baginski and Susie Lee began organizing their first Earlybirds Club event, they said they weren’t sure anyone would show up. The name of the group comes from the events’ timeframe, offering a dance party from around 6 to 10 p.m. instead of 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.
But within 48 hours of posting their “dance party for ladies who got sh*t to do in the morning” on Eventbrite, the 130 tickets for the February event were gone. A waiting list of 50+ soon followed.
Following the success of their first Earlybirds event, Baginski and Lee said they now want to make their Chicago dance parties for women, and female-identified and non-binary people, a regular thing. The next one takes place on May 4 at Avondale’s Color Club, 4146 N. Elston St., a private event space. Tickets went on sale Monday and are already sold out.
Almost immediately, social media messages from third parties began offering tickets for sale for the May event. The founders stress that re-sold tickets will not be accepted, responding to Facebook posts with the following message: “Please do not resell the tickets. Message us on insta or email us, we would be happy to give a full refund and release the tickets to people on our waitlist. We will not let allow resold tickets to the event at all. They will be denied entry at the door.”
It appears that women of a certain age are having a moment. Whether it’s walking the runways of high-profile fashion shows or big-name celebs talking openly about menopause, older women have found their voice and aren’t afraid to use it.
As the club website states, the founders believe the events fill the need for “middle-aged women who value their sleep” to have “a welcoming space to celebrate female friendships, experience the communal joy of feeling free and uninhibited, and just have FUN for a few hours. With all of our often heavy responsibilities, we don’t get to do that enough. And we need to do it more.”
Baginski said her a-ha moment came via a recent Jessie Ware concert. Afterward, she realized how much she missed live music and the inevitable non-stop dancing that went along with it.
“I felt alive again and like I was rediscovering a part of myself that I had forgotten about,” said the mom of two. But Baginski said she knew that going out after 11 p.m. wasn’t an option anymore.
“I used to go out dancing all the time when I was younger but, like, where can I even go now?” said Baginski.
Added Lee, “There’s nothing that’s really available for women of a certain age that is not a mommy playgroup, a book club, a sip and paint or a yoga thing.”
The pair, who have been friends since high school, said they decided to create it themselves.
Lee said she reached out to her friends in the hospitality industry to find a venue, as well as a DJ and photographer. Then the duo began putting together a playlist.
“We wanted songs that people can sing along to and just scream and dance and not even think about anything else,” said Baginski. “Just the pure joy of moving and singing along to songs like we did when we were little.”
“Our guiding principles for the list were, can we dance to it, will most of the people know the songs and is it fun,” said Lee.
On the date of the initial event in February, even a snowstorm didn’t stop the party at Logan Square’s The Burlington, with 95 percent of the guests showing up, said Lee. Attire included everything from sequin-studded clothing to pajamas.
Post-event feedback post-event ranged from “empowering” and “electric” to “This is the start of revolution” and “You have to keep doing it,” Baginski reported.
For Lee, the event’s positive energy was especially uplifting, she said. Diagnosed with stage four breast cancer in 2020, she is still undergoing treatments.
“For me, part of it is that there’s just no time to waste,” said Lee. “If you have something that’s going to possibly create joy, then just pursue it.”
At the next Earlybirds event on May, 10 percent of the proceeds will go to Hair & Hope, a Chicago-based nonprofit started to raise money for women who can’t afford cold capping, a method that allows cancer patients to keep their hair during chemotherapy treatments.
Baginski and Lee hope to increase the frequency of the Earlybirds events, and to add in other cities as well as micro events.
“For a lot of us at this age, we are rediscovering who we are,” said Baginski. “We want to create a community.”
The next Earlybirds Club event takes place 6:30-10 p.m. May 4 at Color Club, 4146 N. Elston St. Tickets are $35. Cocktails and NA drinks are also available at the event but are not included in the ticket price. Tickets are sold out, but you can sign up for a waitlist on the group’s website.
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