Earlybirds Club

Chicago, 2024: a simple idea that landed

Earlybirds Club began in Chicago in 2024 when journalist‑editor Laura Baginski and her friend Susie Lee decided to test a hunch: plenty of women still love a proper night on the dance floor, but not the 11pm start. They booked a small bar, set the hours to 6–10pm, and watched the first blizzard‑night crowd of more than 100 people prove the concept. The format—four tightly programmed hours of songs people know, at a time that fits around work and care commitments—wasn’t a gimmick so much as a practical redesign of nightlife. In an AARP profile published for the February/March 2026 issue, Baginski recounts those origins and the decision to donate a portion of proceeds to women‑focused non‑profits from the outset. The same piece set out the scale of the early expansion: in the first 18 months, 45 sold‑out events across 15 cities drew more than 12,000 attendees.

What the party actually is

Earlybirds is a DJ‑led pop‑up party rather than an artist’s tour in the traditional sense. The music brief is deliberately broad and familiar—’80s, ’90s and 2000s pop, R&B, hip‑hop, new wave, house and Latin—shaped into long arcs of sing‑along hooks and pace changes across the four hours. On NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday (broadcast 21 September 2025), Ayesha Rascoe reported from an Earlybirds night at Union Stage, Washington, DC, where DJ/music director Helean Lee—known behind the decks as DJ hbom—stitched together TLC, Ace of Base and more, with theme nights (a Prince special was cited) punctuating the run. The project has since broadened its DJ roster—LadyRyan in the Bay Area, Kit Orion in New England, and others—while keeping Lee as the musical centre of gravity. Earlybirds’ own materials make explicit that the DJ can vary by city and that requests are handled in advance rather than shouted over the booth.

The room is designed for a specific audience, but not as a closed club. The FAQ spells it out: anyone 21+ can attend, but the party is built primarily as a safe space for women and gender‑expansive people, and attendees are asked to respect that purpose. The same page explains that Earlybirds does not police identity at the door. From the stage‑side, the organisers keep the framing clear and the details light‑touch: signage, a short welcome from Baginski when she’s present, confetti/bubbles and basic effects rather than heavy production. Reviews collated on Ticketmaster in mid‑2026 mention glow sticks and lights adding to the atmosphere; one Washington, DC attendee wrote on 2 September 2026 that they “danced for 3.5 hours,” while another praised the “friendly, warm” crowd. Others note quibbles too: a Saint Louis reviewer in late July asked for a faster‑paced mix and a broader spread of decades, and more than one DC commenter suggested the volume could come down a notch. Across markets, though, the through‑line in fan notes is uncomplicated: a room full of people who know the words and want to dance without hassle.

Loss, legacy and a national spotlight

Susie Lee, who co‑founded the party and helped will it into existence despite living with stage‑four metastatic breast cancer, died in August 2025. NPR’s report introduced her cousin Helean stepping up as DJ and music director, and captured how Lee’s presence—and her ‘Be Here Now’ mantra—still frames the night. In 2025 the operation formalised its giving via the Susie Lee Legacy Fund; by the end of that year the fund’s donations totalled just under $40,000, disbursed to organisations working on women’s health, safety, inclusion and mental‑health support. A 2026 AARP feature and regional press pieces have repeated the detail that a set percentage of ticket revenue is routed to partner non‑profits; individual event pages in 2026 (for example at The Bellwether in Los Angeles) keep that 10% figure on the record.

National media attention followed the word‑of‑mouth growth. The Kelly Clarkson Show broadcast a segment on 17 December 2025 under the title “Kelly Clarkson Loves Ladies‑Only Dance Club Giving Back”, with Baginski explaining the concept and the reason for the hours; NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday piece aired two months earlier, on 21 September 2025. In spring 2026 AARP: The Magazine devoted a first‑person spread to the story, and city outlets from Dallas (D Magazine, 28 April 2026) to New Orleans (Big Easy Magazine, 5 August 2026) have introduced the party to local audiences as it arrives. Together those appearances have put Earlybirds on the national radar without changing its fundamentals: early doors, familiar music, four hours, bed.

Where they are now (updated 7 September 2026)

The touring picture this autumn is straightforward: Earlybirds is on the road most weekends through November, with 19 US dates on sale via Ticketmaster. The slate includes 6pm starts at The Loft, Atlanta (Saturday 12 September 2026), The Observatory, Santa Ana (Friday 18 September), and a cluster on Saturday 19 September that splits the crew across Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia, Marquee Theatre (Tempe), August Hall (San Francisco) and The Bellwether (Los Angeles). Washington, DC’s 9:30 Club returns on Friday 25 September before the party debuts at House of Blues, New Orleans on Saturday 26 September. October opens at The National, Richmond (Friday 2 October) and The Studio at the Bomb Factory, Dallas (Saturday 3 October), then moves north‑west to The Showbox, Seattle (Friday 16 October) and down to Music Box, San Diego on Saturday 17 October for a billed Y2K Night. The run closes with Newport Music Hall, Columbus, and Delmar Hall, Saint Louis (both Friday 23 October), Stage AE, Pittsburgh (Saturday 24 October), and a two‑city split on Saturday 7 November between Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati and The Ritz, San Jose. Live Nation’s artist page and AXS listings mirror the same spread, with the promoter blurbs emphasising the 6–10pm format and the women‑centred brief.

Inside the room in 2026

Across recent dates, the show runs a tidy four hours with no opener, the DJ acting as host, curator and engine. The sets are built to move era by era rather than by sub‑genre, with the obvious sing‑backs (“Mr Brightside”, “Run the World (Girls)”, 2000s R&B) used as gear‑changes rather than dead‑end peaks. Theme nights—Y2K parties, a hip‑hop and R&B edition, and the occasional artist focus—offer harder edges for the song‑selection, but the core remains eclectic across the ’80s–2010s. The staging is uncluttered: venue PA and lighting, hand‑outs (glow sticks), and, on some nights, bubbles cutting through the light. What distinguishes the atmosphere isn’t production as much as demographics and intent. Reviews and testimonials repeatedly describe two and even three generations sharing the floor, a dress code that runs from sequins to trainers, and a clear social contract: come as you are, take care of the room, and be home at a reasonable hour. For some, the early finish is the selling point; for others, notably in the DC and Saint Louis notices this summer, it’s the music mix they’d tweak—a touch less early‑2000s, a touch more ’80s, and a notch down on the fader. That kind of feedback is being traded in public on the ticketing pages and seems to be absorbed into subsequent sets—an expected dynamic for a roving party that lives and dies by the room.