New Year’s Eve 1997 started out like every other NYE party we had. The staff came in for what was early for us to set up the bar –
Aside from the usual nightly set ups -- cooling beer, getting ice, and restocking, we had to decorate. Balloons had to be filled, streamers hung and plastic champagne glasses assembled.
Ridiculous as it sounds, decorating CBGB like a Sweet 16 party was an event of its own. Everyone was on call that day, but that didn’t mean we didn’t party and have a great time. Hilly would inhale helium and make prank phone calls. Jackie the bartender would make pitchers of Bloody Mary’s while the rest of us would drink and throw streamers.
We probably drank too much and ran out of time because by the time the Jesus Lizard showed up to load in, CBGB looked more like a dethroned beauty queen, than Miss
As the band brought gear in, balloons were popping and streamers fell. We slapped the stuff up the best we could and we kept partying. To be honest I’m not sure if a countdown to
The Jesus Lizard controlled the chaos. You can see from the video that the band is fearless and fierce. I love where vocalist, David Yow is swaying in front of the “no stage diving” sign and goes into the crowd. At the end of the clip, you can see him revert back to a ‘regular” guy giving the crowd “high fives.”
It certainly was a New Years to remember, even if I can’t remember all of it…
