I-Beam (nightclub) - Dancing, Dj's, Music, Clubs, and Events at The I-Beam

Dancing, Dj's, Music, Clubs, and Events At The I-Beam

Inside the I-Beam was shaped like a giant cube about forty feet on each side. There were Mylar covered cardboard I-Beams hanging from the ceiling above the center of the dance floor. At the entrance there were framed pictures of various astronomical objects such as galaxies and planets put there by former astronomer Sanford Kellman. There was a small room in the front near the entrance with pinball machines and pool tables. Friday and Saturday nights at the I-Beam hosted heterosexual dance parties.

The club hosted I-Beam Sunday Night Tea Dances, which took place from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Sunday night. Free passes to this popular tea dance were routinely handed out in the gay neighborhoods of San Francisco. Tim Rivers and Steve Fabus played at the Sunday Night Tea Dance from 1977 to 1980. From 1980 to its end in 1992 Michael Garrett was the primary DJ—he played modern rock dance music by artists such as Madonna, Prince, New Order, The Cure, R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails, Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, etc. Guest DJ's Micheal Dinella and Jim Caldwell frequently created original remixes on the impressive DJ equipment.

The temperature inside the I-Beam was deliberately kept as warm as possible in order to encourage people to take off their shirts while they were dancing; sexual encounters in the bathrooms were a common occurrence.

In January 1988 three go-go boxes (cubes four feet square with a black and white checkerboard pattern of squares one foot by one foot on top; thus the surface of each go-go box had a checkerboard pattern of 16 black and white squares) were installed in the club, and on Wednesday night, the Boy Club was held, for which young male Go-Go dancers were hired by the I-Beam for the first time. The Boy Club continued until the end of 1988. From 1988 to 1992 many fun events were held at the I-Beam such as strip contests and appearances by gay porn stars such as Lou Cass. Beginning in 1988, there was a hip-hop dance club that appealed to the African Americans in the neighborhood. In 1989, the year rave dances first started in San Francisco, Wednesday night became Acid house Night at the I-Beam.

In the early 1980s, New Music Night was instituted on Monday night, and later Tuesdays at which emerging new rock groups played. With the temporary closing of The Fillmore Auditorium following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the I-Beam was able to book many bands that would otherwise have played the larger venue. Because of this the club was featuring live music up to four nights a week, usually Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with the occasional Sunday afternoon 'matinée' performance (a legendary Butthole Surfers show, among others). On Monday, November 14, 1988, The Escape Club performed, marking the only time a band with the current number one record on the Billboard Hot 100 chart ('Wild, Wild West', week of Nov. 12, 1988) played at the club.

Monday nights became known as New Wave Nights and were booked by Cathy Cohn, a KUSF DJ. In later years the booking duties for the club were handled by Anita Rivas, and eventually Eddie Jennings. The crème de la crème of new wave, punk, industrial, and indie bands played the I-Beam from 1981 to 1992. Many well known groups played at the I-Beam such as Killing Joke, Gun Club, The Chameleons UK, Clan of Xymox, Billy Bragg, Tones on Tail, The Pursuit of Happiness, Duran Duran, Nina Hagen, The Damned, The Church, The Fall, Faith No More, Gene Loves Jezebel, Flesh For LuLu, New Order, The Legendary Pink Dots, The Lemonheads, Meat Beat Manifesto, Ministry, Motörhead, Big Black, The Butthole Surfers, 10,000 Maniacs, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Firehose, Soundgarden, Trouble Funk, Alice in Chains, Counting Crows, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Soul Asylum, Camper Van Beethoven, Gwar, Henry Rollins Band, Jane's Addiction, X, Primus, The Slits, Sugarcubes, Bush Tetras, The Bangles, Fear, Flipper, The Wipers, Wilma, The Mermen, Meat Puppets, fIREHOSE, Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, The Rosemary's, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Primitive Painters, T.S.O.L., Curve, Social Distortion, Jesus & Mary Chain, The Lloyds, Buck Naked and the Bare-Bottom Boys, and Chris Isaak.