It hardly seems like 40 years since a nightclub on San Pedro Avenue with a black-and-white checkered floor emerged as the hotbed for San Antonio’s post-punk, goth and industrial music scenes.
Yet the 40-year reunion for seminal nightspot Phazez will take place Saturday, May 2, at The Bang Bang Bar, the building that housed the original venue from 1986 to 1989.
“At a time when San Antonio nightlife often moved within tight cultural circles, Phazez became a rare meeting ground where punks, goths, new wave fans, drag performers, college students, and both LGBTQ+ and straight patrons gathered under one roof,” the reunion’s organizers said in a statement. “The club quickly grew into a cultural crossroads for people searching for music and community outside the mainstream.”
Despite its short run and small size, Phazez boasted an outsize influence.
DJs spun sounds ranking from EDM and dance-oriented industrial to post-punk and underground hip-hop, becoming local tastemakers. The club also hosted touring acts such as Firehose, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult and punk forefather Jonathan Richman.
Original Phazez DJs David Milne (DJ Substance) and DJ Raleigh will spin at Saturday’s reunion. The event also will include a memorial to the late DJ Jesse, a pioneering member of San Antonio’s post-punk music scene who started his career at The Country, one of the city’s earliest LGBTQ+ clubs.
The gathering is free, but attendees are requested to RSVP via the Phazez Reunion event page.
Free, 8 p.m.-2 a.m. Saturday, May 2, The Bang Bang Bar, 119 El Mio Drive, (210) 320-1187, thebangbangbartx.com.
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