The Bars Of Our Youth: Beacon Theater (New York City, NY) -- Culture Brats

This is another stop on The Bars Of Our Youth, a twelve-part look at some of the clubs and bars the Culture Brats frequented in their younger days. Today, Dufmanno takes a look back at her nights at the Beacon Theater in New York City, New York.

The Beacon Theater
CREDIT: Wikipedia

You know that feeling you get when you are young and so seemingly indestructible that you could just go to show after show after show with no ill effects? Those, of course, were the days of endless concert going and weekend drinking where you and your group of similarly minded miscreant buddies were up for any number of treks into the city to see what bars would accept your frightfully inadequately altered New York driver's licenses.

You hit more than you missed and after a few cold ones it was time for whatever music you were there to hear.

More often than not, back in those days, we just got lucky. And it was exactly that kind of good fortune that had us standing less than ten feet from the stage watching people like The Replacements (summer 1987) and the Alarm at one of the best places to catch a concert: the Beacon Theater.

It was small enough to be considered intimate and large enough to feel like a resounding success for the band.

It had a grandiose golden interior that was reminiscent of all Old World theaters and was in need of a few repairs back when I was a regular (it has since undergone a well deserved 15 million dollar restoration) but it had style and the sound was out of this world.

I still have the three playing cards that The Alarm's Mike Peters threw into the front rows during a gig in December 1987 where I got my first kiss from my high school boyfriend right in the corridor under the huge chandelier after the last song. This was unfortunately witnessed by the entire class, including another potential suitor I was keeping on the back burner in case choice number one didn’t pan out, who had also made it into the city that night to catch the show.

Ahhh, memories. --Dufmanno