Michael Fesco Interview on Flamingo and The Saint

life in the different "societies" of gay Manhattan pre-Stonewall (the east side and the west side and the village etc)

when Stonewall happened, hearing about it and running over to see the scene

the etiquette of gay life pre-Stonewall as "very sophisticated" with manners, having to know people, no club scene (formal clothes, dressing for dinner parties, a closed world), "it was such a society", you had to make your way in the gay world

the opening up of gay life post-Stonewall with clubs and big bars and a much larger (and less formal) social world

clubs staying open late, clubs where you take your shirt off and feel safe and free

the creation of the Ice Palace at Cherry Grove on Fire Island

removal of laws preventing men from dancing with each other around 1970 (previously grounds for arrest) and end to the ubiquity of police harrasment of gay bars/cubs

the relaxation of formality in the gay world and Michael Fesco wearing "dungarees" to the Ice Palace

the 10th Floor (nigtlcub described in Dancer From the Dance by Andrew Holleran), you had to walk up 10 flights of stairs; shared a lot of membership with The Flamingo

the creation of The Flamingo (1974) in Manhattan as a membership club and "theatrical" world/stage where everyone knew each other and everyone was a "personality" in that world, the "cream of the crop" (architects, designers, painters) performing for each other; knowing Michael Fesco as needed for membership and being very handsome as a prerequisite 

every week at the Flamingo having new set decoration to create a wonderland to transport people (build on Wednesday, tear down on Monday, start over)

theme parties at the Flamingo, the Red Party, the White Party (winter, soft, beautiful), the Black Party (leather, dark, fantasy, sex)

dj music as a musical jounrey (as suggested by DJ Armondo Galvez) with building an evolving a hypnotic mood to take control of the crowd

Flamingo as a testing ground for record companies to play music to see which songs would be hits (record excutives bringing test records to the club's DJ's and watching to see which songs made the crowd go wild), DJ's Howard Merrit and Richie Rivera

1979 Flamingo is at its peak, Diano Ross showing up unexpectedly and performing from the DJ Booth ("once in the morning)

1979, at the end of the Season, right before gay pride (clubs would close for the summer and re-open in September) Michael Fesco would have busses outside Flamingo to take people to Fire Island in the morning

in 1979/1980?, on Fire Island, the photographer, Andres Lander, tells Michael Fesco that The Saint is going to open, by Bruce Mailman, who was often at Flamingo and who owned the Saint Marks Baths 

going to The Saint for the first time, Michael realized The Saint is the new thing that surpasses everything, major major, "I first walked into the Saint and everything was envy" :) 

The Saint: so big, so well designed, awe-inspiring (the giant, amazing coat room!), the dome over the dance floor, the light, the massive capacity (likr 4500/5000 vs. Flamingo's 1500) 

closed the Flamingo with The White Party, was the biggest party they'd ever had, everyone was there

the closing part was the best party at Flamingo, "everyone showed up", "the most gorgous men in the world showed up"

Felice Picano wrote an article about closing of the Flamingo

The same crowd from Flamingo moved right over to The Saint, without missing a beat, though with more people added since it was bigger

idea of the new beauty ideal for the new gay male world starting at Flamingo and continuing on at The Saint, "the clone", "we can be the Marlboro man",  the jeans and the leather jacket and the facial hair and the haircut; all the men in the membership becomes alike, having the same beautiful look, "it was a desire to fit fin"; some men in the crowd were the leaders and some were the "followers", and eventually many of the followers became "leaders"; that society of men grew out from the Flamingo into every aspect of your life; it intensified at The Saint because The Saint could develop a bigger crowd (larger capacity

Gay male club-goers, going to places like Flamingo and The Saint, and how it connects to gay men's love of theater and being on stage, like when you the club, you are a star on stage in the spectacle of the night, "it is theater"

Also the gay male club goer going into Flamingo and the Saint, being a clone and being one of many, being part of a tribe, belonging to a collective whole, feeling one with all the other men there, being part of a world that reflected who they were and who they wanted to be

After you were done at the Saint on Sunday, the place to go for the crowd was the Saint Marks Baths, also owned by Bruce Mailman; the name "The Saint", came from Bruce Mailman also owning the "Saint Marks Baths", Michael spent a lot of time their on Sunday afternoons

Bruce Mailman was rather anonymous, kept his privacy away from the crowds of clubgoers

most people in these clubs were taking some drug; in the late 60's it started with softer drugs like Windowpane; everyone was on something and it was part of preparing for the evening; there would be more homogeneity of what drugs people were taking so they'd be on similar trips and the DJ's would want to know what people were doing that night so as to place appropriate music to suit the dancers' mood

Flamingo and the Saint didn't serve alcohol, so drugs were the thing to take to be altered and to be able to have the stamina to dance; they sold bananas for potassium