music
DANCETERIA LIVES AGAIN
Montclair DJRafe Gomez gets listenersdancing on his Twitchchannel WRITTEN BY JIM BECKERMAN
COURTESY OF RAFE GOMEZ
Clubs are an important part ofNew York ’ s night life . Always have been , always will be . But the city never had aclub scene like the one in the 1980s . And that scene never had another venue like Danceteria — five floors of DJs , live music , multimedia displays and performance art that helped shape American pop culture in ways no nightspot islikely to again .
“ In the early ’ 80s , everything was happening at the same time ,” says Montclair DJ Rafe Gomez . “ Rock bands , hip hop , new wave , punk . And every one of those scenes flowed through that club .”
In case there ’ s any doubt , check out Gomez ’ s new live mix show that streams on his Twitch channel : Danceteria REWIND ( twitch . tv / danceteriarewind ). Every Thursday , from 8to10p . m ., Gomez lays out a sampler of the kind of eclectic sounds you might have heard on any floor , at any night , at the influential but shortlived venue at West 21st Street ( the club had several other locations , both previous and subsequent , but that ’ s the one everybody remembers ). The shows are interactive , with listeners posing questions Gomez answers
RAFE GOMEZ
26 FALL 2022 MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE