Remember When Bensonhurst Was A Hardcore Metal Destination?
There was once a time when metal heads and hard rockers considered Bensonhurst to be the neighborhood for catching a show. And it was all due to a music venue called L’Amour on 63rd Street that closed in 2004.
During it’s run when it opened in 1978 until it closed down, the venue featured some of hard rock music’s biggest artists like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Megadeath and Kiss.
Two Bay Ridge residents Jon Weiderhorn and Katherine Turman have recently published a book called Louder Than Hell that delves into the oral history of metal music. And, it turns out, the history of metal music brings us to Southern Brooklyn.
Soon after the place closed, The New York Times wrote this postmortem:
For two decades, the club was a launching pad for metal bands on their way up (Metallica), a rehab for those on their way down (Kiss in the 80’s) and a New York tour stop for everyone in the murky area in between (Motörhead, Savatage). In the 90’s, it was home to the city’s hard-core scene.
The L Magazine compiled segments of the book that deal with the influential music venue. Sean Yseult – former member of White Zombie – recalls going there:
It didn’t seem like a place we would survive, between metal heads and skinheads, but everyone dug it, and it was a lot better than playing for East Village crowds.
Many of the recollections of old metal and punk-rockers are reminiscent of a scene in the movie SLC Punk, where a British punk band comes to America and is scared off because the locals are too hardcore for them. Bill Steer, who was a member of the bands Carcass and Napalm Death, said something very similar about L’Amour.
If I remember correctly, our first show in New York was in Brooklyn… at L’Amour, 1990 on the Death tour. That was quite an experience. That show stuck out because it was quite a legendary venue and some of us were old tape traders, and the club name came up a lot in some of the live recordings from American bands. We were excited to be there. It was very exotic for us—first time in the States, and Brooklyn [people] in particular, have a very distinctive way of speaking. It was mind blowing for us, as we’d only seen it in films before, obviously. The Warriors, yeah, that kind of thing. UK people are just drenched in American culture, especially film and television. You get to hear all those different accents.
The owners of the music venue, Mike and George Parente, never gave a reason for closing the venue. But there you have it, Bensonhurst’s hard-core side.
