quote:
Save the Robots was an underground after hours club in New York City's East Village neighborhood. "Robots," as the venue was popularly known, operated illegally from a nondescript storefront and basement at 25 Avenue B, between East 2nd and 3rd Streets, from 1983 until mid-1984, when the club was shut down for fire safety violations. After undergoing safety-related renovations and obtaining a social club license, the venue reopened in early January 1986.

The club was frequented by drag performers, musicians, Club Kids, employees of other bars and clubs, skinheads and other denizens of downtown New York nightlife, including Dean Johnson and Lady Bunny.[1] Save the Robots was known for its late hours of operation and sold only vodka, soda and fruit juice. Patrons typically arrived after 4 a.m. and partied until the 8 a.m. closing time, often with the aid of recreational drugs. At one point, talk show host Craig Ferguson worked there as a bouncer

WRONG. it was nicknamed "the savage", not "robots".

i was there in spring of 1986 and it was quite something. I still remember walking in and it was like a 1980s British music video had come to life.

the first thing i saw was 2 gay dudes dressed up in green tights like the statue of liberty complete with matching 'torches' in their hands and they were standing on a small stage dancing in perfect sync with each other.

i kept looking around for the lead singer of ABC or Spandau Ballet to come out from a dark corner lip syncing a song.

there were girls dressed up with the craziest head gear you've ever seen, entire cities on top of their heads, working trains going around in a circle, smokestacks puffing real smoke out of the tops...it was INSANE. this is what Power Tools could only dream of being.

felt like i had arrived. i just had a few vodka sodas and watched the show.

even after they shut down and everyone was kicked out onto the street the X (or was it E?) kids were still GOING STRONG on the sidewalk outside to music only they could still hear in their heads.

it was really a fun time to club hop as a college-aged kid. i don't think anything like that exists anymore..certainly not in that mix of innocence and decadance that defined so much of the 80s and 90s.

This post was edited on 5/20/24 at 1:20 pm