Travelblog: The Great Nor'easter—Episode 4

ROCK AND ROLL NEVER FORGETS  I made it a point while I was in the Providence, RI area to stop off in West Warwick and visit the site of the 2003 Station Nightclub fire tragedy, which is now a makeshift memorial to the 100 people who died that awful night.  Apart from the memorials, the property has remained virtually unchanged since the what was left of the building was demolished.  It was very moving to stroll around the individual tributes, which appear to be very well-maintained in the grassy area that was the basic footprint of the nightclub, I'm assuming. 

As you can see by the above photo, the place wasn't terribly big.  Makes me wonder what the hell they were thinking trying to cram 400 people (plus a stage and a band) into such a confined space—I imagine they were breaking more than a few fire codes even before Great White's pyro stunt went wrong.  The original marquee sign also remains in the parking lot, with a bumper sticker affixed to it that rings so very true.  Just a sad, sad night for Rock 'N' Roll.  Rest in peace, all...

ROLL UP, FOR THE MAGICAL KISSTORY TOUR—STOP 1  Also during my Big Nor'easter, I made an effort to visit a few important sites in the history of my favorite band of all-time, Kiss.  The first was in the town of Newburgh, NY where late drummer Eric Carr was laid to rest in a quiet mausoleum not far from the Hudson River.  Unlike other Rock star graves, it appears fans have been respectful here by not leaving behind trinkets and other memrobilia, thus Eric's crypt looked no different than any of the others.  Just after my visit there, I stopped for gas about a mile down the road from the cemetery, and my fill-up amounted to $41.41.  Eric Carr was 41 when he died.  Rest in peace, Little Caeser...

Ironically, on my way to Newburgh, I passed through the town of Wilton, CT, where one Ace Frehley once resided for a time back in the '80s.  Ack! Ack!

ROLL UP, FOR THE MAGICAL KISSTORY TOUR—STOP 2  Not long before heading into the Big Apple for the first time ever, I drifted by the town of Nanuet near the New Jersey border to see this building, which was once known as the Nanuet Star Theater.  It was here that Kiss recorded their classic Rock And Roll Over album in 1976.  They chose this theater-in-the-round venue over a conventional recording studio hoping to capture their live sound better on a studio recording because the building had killer acoustics.  It now houses a mega-church (no comment).

Two things I found interesting in the Nanuet area.  First, I was fascinated by the high concentration of orthodox Jewish folks I noticed roaming the streets.  Nothing wrong with that at all, but it kinda made me chuckle because up 'till now, I've only seen these people in the movies and on TV.  I thought to myself, "You're in a different world up here, Homey."  The other thing that caught my attention was the gas prices in the NY-NJ area.  The highest pump price I saw was in Nanuet at $4.39 a gallon.  Ten minutes later, I'm in New Jersey and saw a station that had it for $3.49.  90 cents a gallon difference—WTF?!?  Obviously the disparity is due in part to New Jersey having so many toll roads, thus their gas taxes aren't as high.  I was also unaware until I got there that you can't pump your own gas in New Jersey.  Damn Communists...

ROLL UP, FOR THE MAGICAL KISSTORY TOUR—STOP 3  This is the corner of 23rd St. and 8th Avenue, a fairly ordinary intersection in Gotham City.  But, it will be forever known for the photo on the right.  The building across the street with the red awning is now a barbecue place, but it was a bank back in '75 (witness the time/temp. sign above Peter Criss' right shoulder) when Kiss posed for their iconic Dressed To Kill album cover.  The building across 8th Avenue on the right is still there, and that may well be the same traffic light post that Ace leaned on back then too. 

ROLL UP, FOR THE MAGICAL KISSTORY TOUR—STOP 4  This is 10 W. 23rd Street in New York, a mere four blocks from the Dressed To Kill site.  Kisstory began in earnest at this locale (entering through the Locksmith door) in their infamous rehearsal loft (on the second floor, I believe), as they tweaked and refined their act.  It was also here that one Paul Daniel Frehley entered their lives...