Safari Club RIP...

A while ago a good friend of mine, Tru, showed me these pictures, can't front and say I didn't get teary-eyed, The Safari Club aka Chamber Of Sound, home for many years before me to some of the best hardcore shows ever and with the help of Jon Hennessy and Gabe Banner home of the rebirth of DC Hardcore. I remember in the early 90s looking for places to book bands, normally we had St. Stephens Chuch, or BBQ Iguana, or Wilson Center, or Asylum, but none of them was really what we were looking for and had to settle for them. At that time I was living about 2 blocks away from Safari and would normally attend its saturday night Latin House parties with DJ OsoFresh spinning hip-hop and dancehall in the back room or would stop by during the day for some of the African food they sold during lunch, and I thought why not? why not try? I can say at first they were skeptical, Palash and Dario were the owners and really had no idea what  it involved and how much history that place had, they trusted me and gave me a chance to start and from the very first show were there was a line that went around the corner to the very last show I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute of it. DC Hardcore had found its place again and yeah it gave me some headaches but mostly it was so good being involved in something as pure as giving the scene a chance to see bands and enjoy them with no barriers, no shitty bouncers and a low door price. yeah it was hot as hell in the summer, and sometimes parking was sketchy or crackheads would fight in the front, or whatever, but Safari Club was all that and then more.  The bands that played there can probably say this better than me and the kids that went to the shows can probably give a more partial review but as far as I'm concerned this was the best place ever to enjoy hardcore...

The Very First Show Back...