Got to get a few in for us old schoolers. Anybody used to hang out at Glam Slam Minneapolis (or any of the other Glam Slams)? Remember the Erotic City afterparties? March 1994 was my first trip to Minneapolis. I was there for a professional conference that was to take place from a Sunday to a Thursday, so my sister, another girlfriend and I arrived on the Friday before the conference so that we'd have the weekend to check out all the Prince sites. I had a few friends that I met via the old Prince Mailing List (PML)that lived in Minneapolis (a couple were transplants from here in Detroit) so they were ready to show us a good time. Friday during the day we got to "sight-see": the old Purple House, Paisley Park and First Ave., the street where Theives in the Temple was filmed, the NPG Store on Lake St. and a lot of other Prince sites, big and small.

Well, Friday night we go to Glam Slam. The place was packed and the crowd was excellent. They always had a good d.j., too. Anyway, after the "regular" club night closed, we'd have to go outside and line up for the after party, which usually started around 1 a.m. in an awesome upstairs clubroom. We got in, found a table and hung out. After about an hour, I had to go pee. When I came back from the bathroom, my sister and my girlfriend come up to me and say, in a low tone, "There he is!" And I'm like, "Where?" They point to the d.j. booth about 5 feet away from us and I went . They were both like, "Calm down, or we'll get kicked out!" I was in absolute shock. And then I noticed that not only was this man SMALL, but that night he was WAY heavy handed with the ol' pancake makeup.

I can't remember if he performed that weekend(I think he did)--but several times when we returned to Minneapolis to hang out at Glam Slam he did. I think we caught at least four performances. He would also grab some lucky lady and join us on the dance floor every now and then. Got to meet the old NPG members, too (Sonny, Tommy, Morris). And those Erotic City dancers. . . Never saw Mayte, though. Although, after one club night, we did go out to Paisley and got in for a birthday party Prince was throwing for her. I think that was in '95.

Great memories. . . Anyone else?

wonders where lavishh is

I liked GlaM SlaM - remember that big inlayed symbol in the floor? And there was that time when he got up on the bar and walked up and down playing a solo during a gig! Too cool.

Met Ingrid and hung out with TC there (whatever his music was like TC was a really nice guy). I remember headbanging away 2 'Let's Go Crazy' in a world of my own on the dancefloor and then hearing his voice come across the PA: 'let me see y'all play your air guitars!'

So, I figured he'd get a kick out of it - and went 4 it.

Im sure he laughed his ass off - but what the hell - in 4 a penny, in 4 a pound!
(This was way back when I HAD hair by the way!!!)

Still got my GlaM SlaM T-shirt - one of my friends shelled out hundreds of dollars 4 one of those airbrushed leather jackets - nice, but like where else would u wear it? Sucka.

Still have my Diamonds & Pearls 'Launch party' poster somewhere. Good times.
[This message was edited Mon Nov 10 18:04:26 PST 2003 by bananacologne]

wow...ummm, as for me, when glam slam was still open i wasn't here in mpls yet and even if i was, i wouldnt've been able to get in at all cuz i was too young at the time. it's so weird now, cuz the building i work in downtown is about a block away from where the club used to be...i take the outgoing mail downstairs each day at my job to a mailroom on the 4th floor, and the mail pallet for my office sits right by a window where you can look across the way and see the building. i always look at it everyday and think to myself, "hi, glam slam!"

me and lavishh went there sometime late last year and she showed me around--she used to frequent the club a lot when it was still open. she showed me the spot where the huge symbol inlay was on the dance floor (the symbol's gone now but you can still see where it was if you look real hard) and pointed up to the spot on the balcony where p would sometimes sit and watch everybody on the dance floor...cool stuff.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Good times! Cool that u can still the symbol - I didnt know that.

Wasn't the 'My Name Is Prince' video filmed down that side alley?

Oh - and by the way! The fact u say 'Hi GlaM SlaM!' every day is just TOO cute 4 your own good Ms Thang!
[This message was edited Mon Nov 10 18:13:56 PST 2003 by bananacologne]

I went to the Glam Slam in MPLS on June 7 of 1993. I was fully expecting a performance that night, but all we got was a fashion show. Oh well. I think I was the only one there wearing blue jeans. hehe!

bananacologne said:

yup, it's still visible...


uh-huh!


hehehehe, thanx. i can't help it--i just look out the window, and it's there! some construction crew have been doin a bit of restoration work on the front of the building, but you can still see where the big symbol was on the front.

the building on lake st. that housed the old npg store is still around--nowadays it's a little home furnishings store called 'go home' (cute, i know). you wouldn't know it once was the npg store, save for one thing: the purple door is still there.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Cripes! U can still see the outline of that too? Wow.
I remember it filled most of that front window - looked so cool lit up at nite.

Still looked like a glorified warehoues tho!

Nite all!

bananacologne said:

'nite, 'nana-dahling!!!

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I'd do the same thing. Nice to know I'm not the only one.

NuPwr319 said:

I used to go to the LA Glam Slam...it was tight. I saw about 3 shows there, one of which is a boot, which one I can't remember. But it was cool cause he just went buckwild. First time I went, he wasn't performing. I had just bought a drink...the lights went down, dry ice smoke started into the club, and a spotlight came on, highlighting a woman taking a faux bath. I was like, damn. prince is doing a club right. Keep in mind that at the time, clubs in LA were all about lines, getting picked to go in, etc. And for nothing really. if you got in to Glam Slam, a good time was damn near gauranteed.
First time I saw him perform, he started off by dogging the VH-1 awards (the one where he performed Endorphinmachine), and he said shit was gonna get wild cause we were "in his muthafuckin house now!" I was like, "oh, shit!" I think that was the first time I heard "Papa" live. Oh, and the ladies were always 10+'s! I think that's what I miss the most.
All of the pics and shit were nice too...it definitely highlighted Prince's highly wild side. He was in full effect with the "Prince is dead" thing...I remember there was a fake grave with a headstone that said "Prince" and whatever his birthdate was, and the year he dropped the mane and went with the symbol. There was also this huge picture of Prince onstage in a guitar-god pose. It looked like a spontaneous pic, but it was very nice. I think Gam Slam LA the line was hella long, and they weren't going to let us in cause damn near half the people were smoking weed. First time I ever protested it! Cause it was cold that nite...

Has anyone been to the Glam Slam in Yokahama, Japan?

NWF said:

I know my friend Bill (who used 2 be one of Controversy's 'Area Organisers') went there a number of times as He is based in Yokohama - he saw the afetrshow there in 92...

I made my first pilgrimage to Minneapolis back in about 1990/91ish and went to Glam Slam for New Years Eve. Best party ever - it was wild, spent the night dancing with some of the boys from 90210, funny thing was I don't think many people there knew who they were as 90210 hadn't really taken off stateside but was huge in Europe. I clearly remember the first somg they played after the countdown was Everyday People, Arrested Development and everyone was up on stage. This was followed by Rump Shaker and people were dancing on the bars etc - wild!! There was a recorded message from the man himself which was more than I was expecting as I had heard he was in LA that year for NYE.

The club was great, I have postcards, stickers and badges all bought at the shop there.

Minneapolis kicks arse, would love to live there but I really couldn't handle the cold for more than a few weeks. The amount of musical talent that was in all the clubs etc etc. Went to so many bars and saw so many acts I din't think I slept for a month. Met some amazing people who I am now such good friends with and visit them every couple of years.

But above all Glam Slam was definitely one of the highlights, beautiful premises, best music selection and his presence was everywhere.

I remember going to some kind of convention there in '92. I think that it was a Controversy magazine get-together. There were shitloads of fans there. It was packed.

The DJ previewed cuts from the as-yet unreleased Symbol wrekka. I remember hearing Blue Light and going "what the... Prince does rasta-riddim". They were giving out 12" vinyl platters that were all black except for the word "Shhh" on them. Turns out that it was Prince's new protege's first single. I think it was Go Go Dancer with some extra remixes. I still have it around somewhere.

The coolest part of the shindig was that the entire NPG was there (sans Prince) signing posters and stuff. Still got that too.

Oh, and this stunningly beautiful chick was sitting with the NPG signing her poster. No one knew at all who she was... it was Carmen Elektra. Boooing.