Rain Nightclub

Saturday evening for a show, it was cool... but a little later ~12:30 for dancing... it was dead.

We checked out Rain because previous reviews intrigued me--I had hoped this would be a great location for my birthday party this year.
Big time NO.
First of all, if it ever was a gay bar, it certainly isn't anymore.  In fact, the bouncer was pretty emphatic about explaining that the past reviews weren't accurate.  Little did he know that being a gay bar actually would have won them points, as that's more along the lines of what I was looking for.
Currently, it's just a run of the mill douchebag club, which is a shame because the space inside is actually really great.  Nice decor, spacious booths, big dance floor (which not a single person was on), and lots of laser lights.  Aesthetically, it was perfect for my party, but the scene was too decidedly elitist Persian for me to feel like my friends would have a good time there.  To be clear, I have no problem with Persian folks, but we appeared to be LITERALLY the only patrons who weren't part of that crowd.  We happened to show up on a night where, according to the bartender, there were "11 Persian birthday parties" booked.  I guess this place knows who its fans are and really caters to them.
Our bartender, Ben, was awesome, and I really debated giving this place a third star just for him.  Very good drinks, super friendly, and he made an effort to make us feel welcome after a rather off putting experience at the door.  He invited us to sit right at the end of the bar where he could chat with us before the place filled up.  We also happened to meet the owner, who seemed way more down to earth than the club itself.
Here's why Rain only gets two stars, and why we won't be returning.  When we arrived at the door, the hostess says I can get in for free, but it'll be $20 for my boyfriend.  He literally let out a laugh.  I told her if that was a case, we wouldn't be coming in.  I mentioned that the purpose of my trip was to scope it out for a party, and if this was the sort of place that would charge all my male guests, I wasn't interested.  Newsflash: There are hundreds of clubs in LA who offer the same level of entertainment, who won't charge dudes cover.  P.S. Your club is in a strip mall. She exchanged looks with another staff member and then tells me it's because the club is booked for a private event.  We told her that there had been no mention of that on their website, nor was there any signage out front saying the club was closed to the public. Just as I'm saying "well, we're outta here then", she suddenly changes her mind and lets us in for free.  When we later found out the "private event" was just the series of bday parties, not in fact a rental of the entire space, we left feeling as though the hostess has tried to bullshit us because she simply didn't want slightly underdressed midwesterners stinking up her club.  I don't deal with places who give me attitude, or judge me on the amount of Gucci I'm not wearing.  They lost me.
Hopefully someday they change it BACK to a gay club and I can try again.

I was confused (haha) when I walked into this place, is it a straight bar that's actually a gay bar? Gay bar that is straight? It was techo night (ick) but since we got in for free we suffered through it as much as possible. The drinks were weak--and $10 for a cranberry and vodka? Get outta here! Which is what we did and went someplace better.