When Sharice Coleman decided to celebrate her 33rd birthday with a group of friends at the 9 a.m. Banger, she knew they’d have to thoroughly prepare for the event. While most people were hitting snooze on their alarms on Saturday, April 5, Coleman and the girls were pre-gaming with iced lattes, buttered toast, pancakes, and unreasonable amounts of water.
“I went to bed at 8 p.m. to prepare exactly for this day,” Colemen said. “That was one of the things the group chat discussed prior to; that we were going to get a good night’s sleep, take our vitamins, drink our water, and be prepared.”
It’s not uncommon for people to develop strict morning routines for the city’s earliest party. Designed for those who aren’t night owls, the 9 a.m. Banger is just what it sounds like: a day party that starts at the event’s titular time and runs until about mid-afternoon. For about a decade, the 9 a.m. Banger crew has brought New Yorkers to various venues around the city to drink, party, and dance the day away. Their latest installment brought nearly 3,000 people to Brooklyn Paramount, the newish Downtown Brooklyn concert venue where they previously threw a Halloween costume back in October.
Courtesy of Alive Coverage
While this might seem outrageous to some, hundreds begin lining the block at 7 a.m. to ensure they don’t miss out on the open bar, which runs from 9 a.m.to 11 a.m. “Even though it’s this early, I love this,” Coleman said. “When you’re 30-plus, you don’t have time to be out at 11 at night. Now I could be home by four o’clock and in bed.”
College friends Adrian Almonte, Kenneth Espinal, and Jon Espinal are the calculating minds behind the 9 a.m. Banger. In an interview ahead of the event, they said the party series started by accident in 2015. “We were like let’s meet up in my crib at nine in the morning,” Kenneth Espinal said. “Everyone BYOB. Bring yourself and a bacon, egg and cheese. We’ll throw some tunes, and we’ll just have a kickback pregame, and then go to SantaCon.”
After putting out a text to friends, Kenneth recalled how about 100 people surprisingly showed up at his apartment. “It was like eight o’clock and people were buzzing on my door,” he exclaimed. “I’m still not even woken up yet. I’m like, “Fuck, I got to start playing some music.’ What was supposed to be a pregame just turned into a party in the house.” Following the success of their unintentional inaugural event, Almonte and The Espinals decided to keep the momentum going and throw an official party at a venue.
Then things began to really take off. All over TikTok, partygoers documented their journeys to and through the party, clocking in their fit-checks if there was a specific theme and narrating their day with videos and voiceovers.
Their latest event was no different. The late-20s and early-30s crowd pulled up looking like celebrities and style icons wearing designer sunglasses and the tightest bodysuits imaginable. People practically lived at the bar, danced like their student loans had been forgiven, and made new friends every five minutes. It was like a playground for grownups.
Courtesy of Alive Coverage
“Honestly, since I got older, I think my anxiety be messing with me, girl,” says Bushwick resident Megan Aviles, who came with her friend Helen Vega. “So in the nighttime, in the club, I’m always looking around. I don’t really enjoy myself. But here it’s day-drinking. By the time you get out of here, you can go home, take a shower, and be in bed by 5 p.m. It’s lit.”
Not even coming from—and later, going to— a night shift could stop Vega from attending. “It’s not like the club scene,” she says. “It’s not like everybody’s popping bottles. It’s like we’re dancing and everybody is vibing and it feels like a throwback moment.”
Since debuting almost a decade ago, 9 a.m. Banger has expanded to other cities, and will soon hit Miami, Philadelphia, Boston, and Houston. The event has also brought in a slew of musical guests who tend to be a little skeptical of what’s waiting for them but manage to turn morning grogginess into dance-floor euphoria nonetheless. “Every artist thinks they’re coming to something dead,” Joe explained. “Even A Boogie was like, ‘I thought it was going to be 200 people.’”
“They always think they’re getting booked for a bullshit appearance that’s just early in the morning,” Kenneth said. “We try to tell them, and they just don’t believe it. But they end up going over their set times, killing it, and just having a good old time.”
Courtesy of Alive Coverage
The April 5 iteration saw R&B legend Ne-Yo take over the Brooklyn Paramount with heaps of late-night energy despite the daytime start. The singer brought his charisma and hits to the stage, performing “Miss Independent,” “Because of You,” and “Sexy Love.”
“We’ve actually mentioned him for years. We’re up to the point now that our artists are aware of who we are,” Kenneth glowed. “We always had interest in him, and we knew that he was going to be around town, and it just worked out.”
“It brings me back to when we got Cameron,” Jon said. “It’s one of those surreal moments of like, ‘Holy shit.’”
Wherever the party goes, some guests say they’ll follow along no matter how early. “Listen this party is about having a good time in the morning,” said attendee Emily Alterbar. “You’re going to leave at 3 and be like, ‘No way, I still have my whole day left. I’m going to eat some food. Maybe I’m going to go out later on.’ And that’s usually what I end up doing. Just have fun.”
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