Report: Heavy Metal Mecca Reborn On Staten Island
August 8, 2007Amy Zimmer of Metro New York reports: For heavy metal fans [in New York], Mecca wasn't at CBGB. It was out in Bay Ridge at a place called L'Amour.
The club ruled the scene in the mid-'80s before closing down in 1995 after a teenager was killed diving into a mosh pit. This summer, after years of fits and starts, it has reopened on Arthur Kill Road in Rossville.
"L'Amour is probably the most famous heavy metal club in the world," said DJ Alex Kayne, who worked at the Brooklyn club from 1980 to 1995, and spins at the new space.
"Busloads of kids were going to Brooklyn," Kayne said, from places like Boston and Maryland to see WHITE LION, METALLICA and MOTÖRHEAD. "On the West Coast, you had the Roxy and Whisky a Go Go. On the East Coast, it was L'Amour."
Kayne is writing a book about the club with heavy metal historian Ian Christe and using images from legendary rock photographer Frank White. He hopes to release it on Nov. 1, 2008 — 30 years after the club opened.
"It started as a dyed in the wool, John Travolta, 'Saturday Night Fever' discotheque," Kayne said. "They started doing rock on Thursday nights as a goof, but by the end of the year, the rock kids scared the dancers off the floor."
Read the entire article at Metro New York.
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