In the early 1980’s, long before the internet was a glimmer in young Al Gore’s eyes, some movie theatres’ would have midnight showings of a rock and roll movie mostly on the weekend. On Saturday, May 22, 1982 a group of us went to see the AC/DC movie “Let There Be Rock” at the RKO Keith movie theatre on Northern Boulevard and Main Street in Flushing, Queens. The RKO Keith was a magnificent old time single theatre, before multiplexes broke out all over the country, that I mostly remember seeing lines wrapped around the block when “The Godfather” was released. (If memory serves me, I think I may have even seen “The Warriors” movie there; a film Twisted Sister payed homage to with the tag line “Twisted Sister, coma out and play” but I digress). The now dilapidated theatre in terrible ill repair still stands but has not been used for anything in decades. As the story I had heard goes, the theatre is a landmark and as such is protected from renovation. Supposedly someone purchased it to make it a mall, but when that project was not approved by the powers that be, the new owner dumped hazardous materials inside making it uninhabitable; but as it remains a landmark it is in some sort of commercial property purgatory which has left it empty for many, many years. It is a terrible shame that this occurred as the theatre in its heyday was an architectural masterpiece. On a Saturday night in 1982, AC/DC can say they played there, and a host of long haired metal heads can proclaim to have seen the show.

If You Want Blood

Rock on!

GQ