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I'm surprised I don't see The Garage come up in Google! At it's peak there were 3 or 4 nightclubs operating in this huge warehouse in Denver. 23 Parrish was a pirate themed dance club with lots of areas to lounge, hang out, shoot pool. The Garage was the live music venue. I think my last visit to the Garage was on the night that the first Lollapalooza tour careened into town. Perry Ferrell was throwing a party at the garage and introducing a new band (you might have heard of them) The Smashing Pumpkins. I remember Ferrell was standing about 3 feet away from me as I took in their show. There were lot's of other great acts that I caught at The Garage: Caterwaul, Hetch Hetchy, The Swans--to name a few.
I thought I might MOG a bit about venues that stand out in the highlight reel of concerts past. From 1985-1987 I spent a lot of time at "Dean's Parkade Lounge" in downtown Cedar Falls Iowa. We typically came in the back door by the bathrooms and pool table (singular) to the sounds of country music and the company of country leaning compatriots. But then we went through "the magic black curtain" and suddenly we were in the punk rock bar (or as punk rock as we could get in Iowa in the mid-80's). The local flavor included bands like the Burlap Els, The Singing Teens, The Drednex, The Hollowmen, Full Fathom Five, The Shy Strangers and my band HKS (Hellen Kellers Senses). We also got bands on SST, Alternative Tentacles, Enigma and other indie labels who were passing through. Roger Miller (Mission of Burma) brough in a Yamaha grand electric and stuck pins and needles in it to make the most amazing music. The Muskrats came through with their brand of punk hillbilly. The Dead Milkmen made an appearance. As did many more. Bigger shows found places outside of Dean's. Hardcore shows like BGK--or the infamous Black Flag show at the Cedar Falls, Boathouse.
Shell, Joel and I drove in to Denver (from Boulder) to interview and hand out with Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti (formerly of Throbbing Gristle fame). When we got to the club we found out they were arriving a bit behind schedule, so we skipped down the alley to a little martini bar and ran into the boys from R.E.M. who were playing Denver than night. Shell and I plotted as to how we might sneak into the elevator with the boys, but settled for a stiff martini and a jukebox full of Frank Sinatra instead. After a bit we skipped back to the club in time to catch Chris and Cosey's arrival. We then helped them in with their things. I enjoyed assisting Chris with set-up and sitting through their sound check. Thought it was crazy that he was using the little casio synths. We then were given some time for an interview in the basement of Rock Island. About all I remember from the interview was talking to Chris about gear and that they had just been to Disney World with their kids. Amazingly the guys from SPK were tagging along as babysitters. I was selected to drive them back to the hotel after sound check. When I got back Cosey was steaming as one of their slide projectors (critical to their stage show) wasn’t working right. To further incense Cosey, our friend Joel was shooting Super 8 in the audience, which she lambasted him for later, and which required some heavy placating with apologies from Joel. While Cosey disappeared quickly after the show, I hung back with Chris and talked more as we tore down their staging and packed up gear.
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So weird to hear that they have kids. I can only picture the descriptions of COUM performance art -- not very motherly. Heh.
Nice run down. How was their set?
There is definitely another side to Chris and Cosey. The parents taking their kids to Disney world. Another ironic twist is that the guys from SPK were babysitting that night. It is a privilege to get to catch a glimpse of these people outside of their stage personas. Similarly, I spent a day on the bus with PTV with their nanny and the two girls. Ended up having a great conversation with Paula and then later joined by Genesis. This was right before the release of Towards Thee Infinite Beat. In fact Gen had given me a vinyl test pressing that day. Again, very different persona on the bus verses on stage and in the throws of groupies afterword. That show was at the Gothic Theatre in Denver back when Doug Kaufman was booking that venue.