Limelight Nightclub circa 1991

[Super1Flavor]

Limelight at 1:00AM. Save the Robots at 4:00AM. That was a night out in this day. Last time I ever set foot in the Limelight was 1997, but I did go out with a bang and see Jeff Mills destroy the place on three turntables. Bah. I can remember it like yesterday, standing on the catwalk looking down into the DJ booth. Thanks to the poster for the video.

[troyschuh12]

i want to be there.....im too young..... i just think creativity has . died, i look at them and just know they feel free just in that monent they are more free than 99 percent of the world

[plushpixie25]

@msaliciarodriguez he's to the right of Richie rich walking behind the guy in the white hat :)

[inyourfacedouchebag]

from a mega club kno world wide to a fucking i hop thats a mess

[RexPecker]

I was only 6 years of age in 1991 I wish i was old enough to enjoy this era before it died out

[msaliciarodriguez]

Where do you see Michael Alig? I think you mistakened Richie Rich for Alig.

[okendido]

Its going to be an IHOP now.

[MrNavi120]

Anyone know what happened to dj Repeat from the LIMELIGHT! He was SICK!

[BreezesofConey]

Wow. Forgot how much things have changed. Smoking in the nightclub instead of out front like lepers. And I heard the word techno, haven't heard that one in some time. Surprised to hear someone in NYC say it's all about whackos, seriously, he must be from Jersey cause he's the only whacko at Limelight in NYC in 1991 who hasn't seen NYC club ppl and drag queens before.

[kmhow]

Missed the Old Limelight

[Xozona]

I now work with someone who was a drag regular there and other clubs during this whole era, and the way he puts it is that there was a heavy, eerie change to the entire Manhattan "club/music/art/youth/fun/drag­" scene following 9/11 and it's never quite been the same. Basically he and countless others jumped ship not long after and never looked back. However after reading through the comments here, it seems things were dying down well before 2001...

[efilth777]

I remember Richie Rich!! I remember all the old crew, Astro, Frankie Bones, Michael A., It's really sad (or maybe it's a good thing.. who knows?!) that kids today will never get to experience NYC when it was REAL!!! Gritty and grimy, full of clubs that played good music, were full of people who were actually interesting and GOOD DRUGS!!!!!!!!! I remember when there was 5 or 6 good parties going on 7 NIGHTS A WEEK. Now you're lucky if you find 1 or 2 good parties a month. Gulliani killed it all

[hcvang]

Richie Rich - the original before Chris Crocker

[quickmix21]

I wonder what happened to my dealer..hehehe

[quickmix21]

Oh How I miss those days...sigh

[TheBallsack420]

lol was that ben afleck?

[OrangeCountyGirl88]

If anyone now in Los Angeles experienced this NYC scene in the 90s, I would love to hear about it. Dying to talk to someone with firsthand stories of an era I missed out on...all the books and youtube footage can't replace getting to talk to a person who was actually there.

[iscream22]

@Reverseflush bullshit, you don't just get a sheet of free acid

[rammjet666]

...The Limelight succumbed to the asshole Bridge & Tunnel crowd...(think Jersey Shore) the crowd that winds up ruining every NYC nightclub.

[sylicone221]

@rammjet666 river phoenix used to party here

[Reverseflush]

I was there during the raid.

I snuck out with a sheet of free acid, half an ounce of skunk and some euro hippie chick under my arms. fUCK

[helloimtank]

i neverd fucked so much in my life intil i worked at the limelight

[NYOLSKOOL]

1:06-1:10..haha..its about whackos..how true is that..none of them `kids` were from nyc..

[slick56lt]

Was a regular at limelight from 92-95. I seen it all on wed nights, wow some sick stuff went on there on stage. Sadly, i was into drugs at the time and didnt really know what the heck i was doing. Shortly after all of this i gave up drugs and continued to party local in Brooklyn. Im 40 now and can honestly say i had a lot of fun and was there and was a part of something special. I continued to go to the Palladium well into the late 90s. Palladium was where i had the most fun.

[HarrysSecret]

If this had been in England I would have been there!

[THYRDEYE]

70's 80's were the best in NYC. The 90's is kind of a lost decade. But there were some good times and each era has many memories.

Check out these must see interviews where host JERRY RIO asks the nightclub crowd the most outragous questions at (Mr Jerry Rio...channel or the Thyrdeye...channels.

[matsuoo]

What's the name of the song?????

[CusterFlux]

Didn't get to spend much time at Limelight, but I seriously dug that it was formerly a church, and that it wasn't crazy big like the Paladium; I also remember the sound system was actually in stereo, so you could be on the dance floor getting lost, literally surrounded by a swirl of echos and lights: almost a religious experience.

[microbot23]

Welcome to the Real World by Frankie Knuckles featuring Adeva

just in case someone is browsing thru pages of comments to find the song.

[microbot23]

god damnit just say the freakin track name!!!

[jungletekno]

The track used in the video is: Frankie Knuckles "Welcome To The Real World". I bought the vinyl album at an antique shop for a dollar. I love the funny vocal in the track "You are about to become gay" LOLOLOL!

[Scone54]

@jungletekno haha, cool

[luomoroc]

check Michael Alig at :27 passing behind..

[SUNMAYDEN518]

weirdest club i ever went to (1982)

[amylunyc]

what's the name of the song on this video!?? love it. please tell me!!

[pokeryfoosy]

@ 0:58 "Yo Limelight's fresh!"

[yarahahrwe]

mmmm

lookit dem jaws

[hollywood9810]

i work this club also

[Chris15151515151]

All these people are like 40 years old now...I wonder what they look like today...

[StephenS1974UK]

@Chris15151515151 Take a look then.

Not bad photo for a clubbing, E taking generation \o/

My photo was taken last year.

[sylicone221]

@Chris15151515151 at least 40 hehehee...can under 18 go here

[rhoggard76]

i hate digging through comments for a track id...

[thefightbeginswithu]

r.i.p tom buckley

[thefightbeginswithu]

@thefightbeginswithu he was the manager

[ZanderMyLove]

Richie Rich is coked out of her stinking mind

[1334stairs]

@ZanderMyLove richie never really did drugs

[borisgeneve]

michael alig, disco 2000, lahoma best times ever......

[stevietrendy]

are you serious? Limelight closed for the millionth and final time like 10 years ago....it turned into Avalon but that didn't last long and now its a weird mall.

[kresustakid]

is this club still open? I think I'll go for my birthday

[MissDDHeather]

I want to go there, i've only got to drive by it.

[Alohaahoiatari]

did anybody know the song?

[NYCITY3]

i miss the limelight, i used to go to disco2000 every time

[19772987391]

@NYCITY3 i am so fucking jealouse! i would do anything to go there..

[MayaThor]

I went to the Limelight in 1991 and it was amazing because at midnight there were always concerts. the atmosphere was great. (sorry for my english)

[dghgfan70]

I went, nothing to brag about really. The scene was fun because of the music but definitely many of the regulars were into the drug scene more. If you loved watching the groupies in motion at the Limelight it was fun.

[prysmith37]

The limelight was once a church. Now it is being turned into a retail mini-mall. It keeps changing objects of worship.

[jungletekno]

I have this Frankie Knuckles album. I sware the vocal at one point says "You are going be be gay... hahahahaha" *LOL*

[ginaswo]

I always went on SUnday night, hard rock.metal :)

[blakmajesty]

Richie! Anyone spot Richie Rich from Heatherette? I hung out with him in Dallas. He wasnt like Alig, Richie was more fun I thought. I think thats why he went on to be really succesful.

[24thStDJ]

great vid, I remember seeing Corey Feldman in the VIP room all the time, miss that era

[idrishudson]

Does anyone know what the name of that track is in the video, its terrifying, and I want it.

[wonderlandmadd165]

Oh to have gone to Limelight in i's hay day ! But alas I never met james st. james or any of the others however we had our own "limelight" in Nashville it was called Katatonic it was home with tons of great people it too is gone some awsome memories

[kerry5101971]

I found the scene through a crossover party from The Wetlands& will never forget the ultimate insanity that the Limelight was ia all due to the "club kids." To know what has become of all the once hip& happening clubs of my mispent youth is a bummer. While it's sad that just about everything that today's kids are into is "sponsored by" some big conglomo& rated PG, I feel that maybe it's for the best. Times change& it seems that even today's "alternative" scene is mainstream& cheez laden.

[StefanRouach198198]

@kerry5101971 haha amazing and exact. well summed up. I gotto live as a teen in this rubbish era. Your lucky to have lived through this. Its like that film Kids 1995.

[kerry5101971]

@StefanRouach198198 For other movies that will help you get the gist of the madness I suggest you watch "Party Girl" with Parker Posey & "Party Monster" (true, well somewhat true, story of Michael Alig) with Macauly Culkin & Seth Green. Fun times. I feel for your generation, but you can make the most of it, no matter when you were born as your teen/early 20s years will always be something you look back on & laugh about. Have fun while you're young, as being over 30 suuuuuuuucks.

[bornbroken7]

@kerry5101971 lol speakin as one of todays youth we dont give a fuck. This club and time looks cool but I accept that its gone. As long as I can do my drugs and get drunk and party I dont give a fuck whether otehrs view it as mainstream or not

[hcvang]

@kerry5101971 corporate greed and corporate control is NOT for the better. NO way in hell. It disgusts me to know that farmers in the US can't even pick up their own seeds and plant them - they have to buy them from monsanto... fucking monsanto... monsanto should burn to the ground - someone should see to that, so we can get real food on the supermarket shelves.

[TheIkkap]

@kerry5101971 Yeah, there couldn't be a Disney night at the old limelight. Too much X, acid and BJ's on the dance floor.

[JerseyBoy680]

that was a reply to jrsny76 btw

[skfj67]

dose anybody know if RED still works the door? Tell her of this post and to drop me a few lines!!!

[muzikmovesmysoul630]

dude its been closed for years

[joeyparanoia]

TRACK ID

[KingJamSK8]

i believe it was good ol rudy that ended that era, thats what i have been told at least

[jrsny76]

very very important about LIMELIGHT (I WILL NEVER REFER TO THIS PLACE AS AVALON) Today 03/05/09 I walked passed here and they have the doors open during the day and it is now a fucking flea market and they are planning to keep it that way, WHAT THE FUCK HAPPEND TO NEW YORK CITY NIGHT LIFE AND GREAT DISCOS LIKE THIS?

[sugerbugger07]

omfg u have got to be kidding me.. dont get me wrong i always wanted to see it but not as a flea market.. omg -.- a part of history ruined

[JerseyBoy680]

HAHA get the fuck out of here?! i havent lived in nyc in a few years...i had no idea...nyc has turned into all smaller parties playing pop music and shit...thats why i stopped going out after a while...a shame

[kerry5101971]

@jrsny76 welp, to name reasons, I'll start with Giuliani, & Bloomberg, I had a rotten time on my last NYC trip & fear that it's just gotten to "family oriented" one on side & run down like a crack whore on the other. Have ya seen St. Mark's Place recently? =( WTF?

[Janelle87782008]

I was the guestlist girl there from 95-96 I held the Promotor's List, Fred Asher and Daryl Darren's List and had my own list the Red List. Tom Buckley & Chief,Linda Love, Damon,Kenny Kenny and Roxy and i spent every Fri & Sat Night from 10-2 out front....I miss those dayz.....

[colosseum120]

I used to work in Limelight.... I had a crush on the girl with the red hair and blue jacket at 1:02 lol.

[Janelle87782008]

That was Linda Love I worked with her there I was the blonde with the braids that worked the guestlist the same time as her.....

[ImNotYourFriend212]

@Janelle87782008 Oh wow. You used to work @ limelight? That's so cool. Oh wow. I was born in 90 so of course I was out of range, but it must have been awesome. I have a deep appreciation for 90's culture.

[kikthedaisy]

and at 0:26 you see micheal behind the guy in the hat with the sucker in his mouth.. michael kind of hops by inconspicuously

[kikthedaisy]

if the poster of this is referring to who shows up at 0:23 to be michael alig thats wrong, thats richie rich, not michael alig... richie rich has a more prominent jaw bone as you can see in this video clip, where michael had a more feminine face

[hitchcockwannabe]

wow you fucking suck at proving your point he is talking about when Micheal walks past the guy :)

[pepebaldini]

who remembers LOVEMACHINE on wednesday night's 1988-1989 with Michael Alig, keoki, etc...those were the days!!!

[pilotnyc]

i spent many-a-night at limelight back in the early 90's. good times.

Yo Tom/kate/mary.... can you do three? =O)

[xCAGx77]

the television room by the downstairs coatcheck wasa goddamn drugstore!

[BROOKLYN1977]

I remember the blond while i was standing on line i think she worked also at the old palladium on 14th street.

[ivette24]

I worked at Limelight from 1990-93...I was only 17-18yrs old and it was the best time ever. Tom Buckley was the manager, my friend Geoff, Howard, Ney, Leo...I wonder what happened to all of them. I miss them. I didn't partake in the drugs, but I met some of the coolest people ever. I recall dancing on the stage while I was supposed to be outside minding the front door! There will never be a club as great as Limelight.I actually really miss that place..it was the most fun I ever had in NYC.

[hh73]

was there a room with a barber chair in it, nex to the upstars dance floor.

[khopatto]

fROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORST PLANET! MY GREETINGS TO ALL THE BABES I FUCKED BETWEN 90-2000 FROM LIMELIGHT!I STILL GOT THE BLACK VIP CARD!ONLY OVERCOMED BY SCRAP BAR!

[hianda]

thanks for posting real footage of there and then

[blacklight0304]

Listen to joey beltram dj repeat and countless other music strictly early90s Hardcore techno/house/trance all from limelight

during tribal dome time and earlier who knows maybe we got high in the card room  or do you remember Head Candy upstairs in the Libary the biggest gravity bong i ever seen lol come and enjoy records that are 18 years old and cant be beat still!

[StellarMortem]

Michael Alig DIN#97A6595

Coxsackie Correctional Facility

Box 999

West Coxsackie, NY 12051-0999

[ivette24]

I worked for Michael...is this the real address??? Thank you!

[andrewponte]

anyone remember romeo romeo, those days rocked at the limelight.

[voltronmilk]

omg you guys actuality partied at limelight?

[OXAXCO]

I should have stayed in New York and not moved down to South Florida wehre everything is nothing

[Savannahgirl55]

I miss this place i had so many great memories and way to much fun!!

[sophiascalpel]

wonderful footage!!!!

[646TB]

this video deserves more than 5 STARS!!! this was one of the BEST places to work. I have fond memories of Limelight and all the fantastic people I met, while working there, it was an EXPERIENCE i will NEVER FORGET!!! I feel sorry for all those people who could not get past the velvet ropes.

[MariaTR909]

peter did not fuck this place up! It was the people he trusted that did........

[petrisal]

peter Gatian fucked this place up!!!

[funkaeb]

bad drugs killed the vibe

[youonlyliveonceOK]

Those were the days! Very nice! If you want to know where the best nightclubs and bars in Europe are, try EURONIGHTSOUT COM those places rock!

[Kingonads]

The club scene unfortantly sucks now in america. All about Rap and crap. This was back when raves were underground and clubs were hot. I miss the rave world... Candy kids spawned from club kids I think.

[mofodante89]

@Kingonads Nah because NASA was throwin parties the same time michael alig was throwing parties. NASA was the rave kids and Alig had the club kids. 2 different party scenes.

[ImNotYourFriend212]

@Kingonads Agree 100%

[amsedelm]

Sunday Metal Night at the Limelight RAWKED!

[spacebattles123]

i cant believe the limelight turned into the avalon... and then got shut down again :[

[GuessWho10312]

Check out King Ron & Scott Kuer R.I.P

Where's RePete??? Are you on the list? What list? Ha Ha The dj's list. Parlay represent, SINY till I die.

P.S. Don't CHALK the girls on Wednesday nights!

[sabina247]

Check out the group about Limelight at Facebook. The group is called Limelight NYC, and covers these good old days at the club.

[clubmix666]

bring it back!

[TattooedLesbianNYC]

Ahhh...the good old days!

[savingside7]

What song/artist do I hear in this vid? It would have been fun to spend my nights there, I was a little to young and uninformed.....

[HowieNYC]

The song is Welcome to the Real World by Frankie Knuckles featuring Adeva

Also, this video was shot in 1995... you can tell by the way the Club Kids are dressed and all the people waiting on line.

[CoutureQueen14]

i wish i could have partyed at limelight... especially with michael alig and james st. james. sadly i was born in 1992. bit young to party!

[frsfca]

Who wears her crap anyway? Have you even seen that hag's collections? The emperor's new clothes - nothing there. HeatherSchmette

[epilonious]

once again, jealous yet uninformed.

Only every other pop star loves heatherette stuff. They must be doing something right to get back to fashionweek every year.

Now stop drinking the haterade before you get bitchslapped with the glitter stick.

[dieselskyy]

grow up! your comments are as lame and futile as your attemt to be cool...loser

[epilonious]

Michael Alig is in this for about a half-second. The guy in the pink hair and lipstick and satin nightie is Richie Rich. Right at 0:26 the guy with a white cap and sunglasses puts a dum-dum pop in his mouth and Michael Alig (wearing the blue shirt with red and white shoulder stripes and red cuff-rings) trots behind him.

[nycjrtp]

the guy with the white cap/looli is Larry Tee .......I think this video is from 94 though, as those 'cut outs' of the club kids didn't go up til then- also, the videos in the(dancefloor/downstairs) lobby were much later than 91- back then it was broken plaster/bricks in that room. BTW all you haters- Richie was always drug free, and is very talented and deserves his success.

[BloodyFangX]

michaels the guy in the pink hair.

[frsfca]

i remember that ugly hag richie rich from SF days - he was tired then and now.

[epilonious]

And yet, he has a lucrative fashion line selling all the stuff you think is "tired". The problem with decrying random micro-celebrities with a one-liner is it makes you look jealous yet uninformed.

[DivaXMachina]

uh, where's Michael? That's Richie Rich

[bxbullie163]

aphrodite wit her stank face, but she always showed me love, even wit a fake I.D.

[bauhaussyler]

this was wounderful!

the shot of limelight at the end toped it off!

[AngelLustNYC]

I LOVVED DISCO 2000 in the Shampoo room, I hated my smart drink being laced with ghb. 92 is when I started and 95 is when I ended it. It got old when I started college.

[JQ619]

smart drinks! you're taking a bitch back! i remember those shits were so nasty, but anytime you were on X, i would scrap up my last 6 bucks to get one.. they are the precursor to today's vitamin and energy drinks.

[GunNoMom]

I went from 92-94....wow do I miss that place!

[roose45]

was that aphrodite at teh door in the red shirt under the umbrella - wow memories

[roose45]

when was that filmed - i dont think its 1991 - because the taxis at the end are newer than 91s - i used to party at Limelight circa 93-94 - i recognized Richie Rich or was it Kenny Ken - it's been a long, long time since those days

anyone remember Thursday's Gravity party and of course Wed night's Disco 2000

[tablok]

richie is sooo awesome. i just love his clothing line for heatherette. and michael, well, hes hot even though hes gay. i love him.

[kilroyrichard]

you should be able to watch the amanda lepore mac commercial on david lachapelle's website although i've been having problems with it lately, might jus b me tho

[SkRiNk]

BOBBY:

I don't know HOW you got this, but, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE continue to share!!!!

I LOVE the Amanda LePore/Mac Cosemtics Commercial but they keep removing it...if you have it, can you PLEASE e-mail it to: Skrink4Skrod@yahoo.com

Did you ever go to Limelight?

B

[insanechickk]

Limelight, is amazing.

haha look at richie rich in the begging, looking fabulous as allways.