Because I was underage during its run, my personal memories of Club Space Fish are few but vivid. The first time I tried to go there was for an all-ages (I think) show, where I spent all night on the streets of a pre-gentrification Parramore waiting in a line of punks and skaters to see 7Seconds. We did not blend. Sadly, my curfew kicked in before doors even opened, which I later heard finally happened after midnight.
Another time when I actually made it into the club, I went to see Pigface, where I remember watching a girl lick En Esch’s boot onstage right in front of me. And of course, there was that infamous GG Allin show in 1991. Unfortunately — but also fortunately — I was not at that one. Due to the actual shitshow and the expected official backlash to mixing rock music with feces, that was the Waterloo of Club Space Fish, which was shut down shortly thereafter.
But it was a wild place where wild things happened, the kind of stuff that was already crazy in the moment but would later blossom into legend. The product of an era when “alternative” was an ethos and not a commodity, Club Space Fish — which ran from the late 1980s to the early 1990s — was a true outpost of counterculture in Orlando. More than just a spot for touring acts though, it was an incubator for local artists. In fact, Space Fish was more than just a nightclub, even. It was a tent that covered the creative capers of Mike Brown (of synth-punk pioneers Damage) and Michael Bales (of Love Gods in Leisure Suits and Rocket 88), which included a music label (Space Fish Records) and a zine (Splash Magazine). Space Fish was essentially a micro-scene unto itself.
Now, 35 years later, Club Space Fish comes back to life this weekend for one historic night at Conduit (6 p.m. Saturday, May 16, $15-$20). This won’t be just another basic reunion with DJs. No, it’ll be a total blowout event that’s practically a mini-festival. The concert bill is studded with reunion sets by five classic Space Fish acts: Love Gods in Leisure Suits, Damage, Target Earth, The Riddlers and Bloody Mary. Current local bands Stiletto and Deficit of Dreams will also be featured. In addition to all that, there’ll be the “Wheel of Fish” trivia game hosted by the original Quiz Master Al, themed “Kiss the Cook” cookout, Punk Rock Flea Market and some surprises. The two Michaels might wrestle, wieners may get tossed, who the fuck knows? What’s certain, though, is that it’ll be nuts…