THE HISTORY OF THE MABUHAY GARDENS

Dirk Dirksen

[Punk - ContreCulture - San Francisco]

An autobiography of Dirk Dirksen as promoter of San Francisco's legendary Mabuhay Gardens, 1974-1984. Dirksen almost single-handedly made punk possible in SF by providing an all-ages, low-admission-charge venue where anybody could play and almost nobody was rejected. This is Dirk Dirksen's story told to us by Dirk Dirksen and some of his friends, enemies, onlookers and assorted hangers on. Dirk was a multifaceted person. Shut Up You Animals!!! The Pope is Dead. A Remembrance of Dirk Dirksen

"I came here in the early 70s and opened a venue at a place called Tge Mabuhay Gardens. We nicknamed our nightclub The Fab Mab because Mabuhay Gardens was the name of the Filipino supper club and piano bar that operated by day in the same space. I wanted to have a venue that could offer an open forum for ideas to performers and acts, musicians, dancers, comedians...I think we succeeded in that and allowed a lot of people who otherwise would have been considered outlaws in the arts to have a stage on which to do their things."

Last Gasp (2022) 224 p. 19 x 26 cm - En Anglais