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No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes: An Oral History of the Legendary City Gardens
How did a lifeless, concrete bunker in the inner city come to be a cornerstone of the underground music scene? How did a club stuck between nowhere foster an atmosphere of creativity and promote a vibrant music scene ready to explode? Simply: with dedication, drive and passion.
The story of City Gardens is a multifaceted tale of community, history and, tradition. While one man, the inimitable Randy Now,
is credited (and rightly so) with growing and cultivating the scene at the Gardens, it took a community of freaks, weirdoes, and misfits to truly make it a home.
No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes is the story of how that bunker became an oasis for wayward iconoclasts and cultural
outcasts while witnessing some of the most compelling performances in music history. Told through the memories of bands, bouncers, stage management, bartenders, and fans—as well as the man who oversaw it all—No Slam Dancing is part history, part sociological study, and part legend. It is a document of times and events that occurred during the last great music age before technology changed everything.
Over the course of hundreds of interviews, the authors pull together the narrative City Gardens during its nearly-20-year run. Whether they were the New Wave-crazed dancers who populated 90 Cent Dance Nights, or the punks and skins who caused mayhem during the hardcore shows, they were the ones who made every event a happening and every show something to behold. The individual memories merge to tell the story of a city, of a scene, and of the indomitable force of creativity.
The Kindle edition of No Slam Dancing includes a complete calendar of shows at City Gardens.
The story of City Gardens is a multifaceted tale of community, history and, tradition. While one man, the inimitable Randy Now,
is credited (and rightly so) with growing and cultivating the scene at the Gardens, it took a community of freaks, weirdoes, and misfits to truly make it a home.
No Slam Dancing, No Stage Diving, No Spikes is the story of how that bunker became an oasis for wayward iconoclasts and cultural
outcasts while witnessing some of the most compelling performances in music history. Told through the memories of bands, bouncers, stage management, bartenders, and fans—as well as the man who oversaw it all—No Slam Dancing is part history, part sociological study, and part legend. It is a document of times and events that occurred during the last great music age before technology changed everything.
Over the course of hundreds of interviews, the authors pull together the narrative City Gardens during its nearly-20-year run. Whether they were the New Wave-crazed dancers who populated 90 Cent Dance Nights, or the punks and skins who caused mayhem during the hardcore shows, they were the ones who made every event a happening and every show something to behold. The individual memories merge to tell the story of a city, of a scene, and of the indomitable force of creativity.
The Kindle edition of No Slam Dancing includes a complete calendar of shows at City Gardens.
434 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2014
23 people are currently reading
448 people want to read
About the author
Amy Yates Wuelfing
4 books6 followersAmy Yates Wuelfing has been a music journalist since 1985 when she helped publish the punk ‘zine Hard Times. Since that time she has written for other music publications including B-Side and HITS. She is a graduate of Temple University and is currently Vice President of Marketing at business consulting firm.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
July 11, 2014
I wasn't that excited to read an oral history of a club I never went to, but found this to be a page turner. In a lot of ways it covers more ground in a more entertaining way than "Our Band Could Be Your Life." The oral history format gives you a great feel for all of the people involved because they are allowed to speak in their own voices. And because City Gardens was booking every alt/weirdo/underground act in every possible style, if you were a alt/weirdo/underground/punk/whatever during that era, you're bound to see some of your favorite acts represented on these pages.
April 30, 2015
Loved it! This book is basically about the club City Gardens, it is also a great chronicle of a time when punk rock and hardcore were still considered underground, dangerous and a lot of fun.
The authors assembled a calendar of all the shows at the club and then interviewed the bands, patrons, and staff about their experiences. There are stories of amazing bands, friendships, fights, riots, and alterations in the parking lot. Most of the stories are incredibly funny, scary, or at least interesting. Each chapter covers a couple of years of the club’s 15 year history from the innocent new wave days of 1979 to its final days with hardcore in 1994.
There’s stories about the community that supported the club, including college radio stations, d.j’s and record stores. What a great time it was to be a music fan, when you really had to seek out the music and the people you identified with. There’s a fun chapter on the club’s Thursday dance nights, and a chapter dedicated to the many Ramones appearances at the club.
If you grew up going to rock clubs in the 80’s and 90’s, a lot of this book will resonate with you, even if you never went to City Gardens.
The authors assembled a calendar of all the shows at the club and then interviewed the bands, patrons, and staff about their experiences. There are stories of amazing bands, friendships, fights, riots, and alterations in the parking lot. Most of the stories are incredibly funny, scary, or at least interesting. Each chapter covers a couple of years of the club’s 15 year history from the innocent new wave days of 1979 to its final days with hardcore in 1994.
There’s stories about the community that supported the club, including college radio stations, d.j’s and record stores. What a great time it was to be a music fan, when you really had to seek out the music and the people you identified with. There’s a fun chapter on the club’s Thursday dance nights, and a chapter dedicated to the many Ramones appearances at the club.
If you grew up going to rock clubs in the 80’s and 90’s, a lot of this book will resonate with you, even if you never went to City Gardens.
March 15, 2014
Out of the dust rises a bible.
CG patrons have heard it a million times: who would have expected such a legendary club to have such a crappy address? It's a cliche, albeit a 100% accurate cliche. But the true grunge was part of what made City Gardens so perfect. It kept some of the Zadar TSC and Rider College riff raff up the river.
Second best memory: Meat Beat Manifesto doing Radio Babylon. Best memory: meeting my wife for the first time in front of the speakers to the right of the stage. She was avoiding a mini pit that had broken out, and managed to keep dancing. Funniest memory: the brief period when they started erecting a huge cage on the dance floor. Worst memory: the night the lights came up on the checkered dance floor for the last time with Fat Boy Slim's Praise You.
Thomas, James, Debbie ... if I could go back in time.
The book is extremely well done. It lives up to the online hype. Randy Now has a catalog in his brain as extensive as his basement record collection. It's amazing that folks committed to pulling this together. It truly is a bible for a place that few people could ever comprehend. A place that could never be recreated. If Rollins has the Spoken Word, then Amy Yates Wuelfing and Steven DiLodovico have created the Written Word.
- Cole Alpaugh, author of The Spy's Little Zonbi
CG patrons have heard it a million times: who would have expected such a legendary club to have such a crappy address? It's a cliche, albeit a 100% accurate cliche. But the true grunge was part of what made City Gardens so perfect. It kept some of the Zadar TSC and Rider College riff raff up the river.
Second best memory: Meat Beat Manifesto doing Radio Babylon. Best memory: meeting my wife for the first time in front of the speakers to the right of the stage. She was avoiding a mini pit that had broken out, and managed to keep dancing. Funniest memory: the brief period when they started erecting a huge cage on the dance floor. Worst memory: the night the lights came up on the checkered dance floor for the last time with Fat Boy Slim's Praise You.
Thomas, James, Debbie ... if I could go back in time.
The book is extremely well done. It lives up to the online hype. Randy Now has a catalog in his brain as extensive as his basement record collection. It's amazing that folks committed to pulling this together. It truly is a bible for a place that few people could ever comprehend. A place that could never be recreated. If Rollins has the Spoken Word, then Amy Yates Wuelfing and Steven DiLodovico have created the Written Word.
- Cole Alpaugh, author of The Spy's Little Zonbi
January 10, 2015
Good book about a rock club I heard about but never went to located in Trenton New Jersey.
It has short answers and paragraphs in each section so there's no long exposition. You get the quick bit answers and the entire image.
It wasn't something to read straight through. It was enjoyed reading bit by bit.
It has short answers and paragraphs in each section so there's no long exposition. You get the quick bit answers and the entire image.
It wasn't something to read straight through. It was enjoyed reading bit by bit.
March 19, 2014
The authors did a great job of documenting one of my favorite teenage (and on) haunts. From the day the doors opened to the night they closed, this book presents the shows and events in chronological order. If you ever attended a show or dance night there pick this up and relive a night from 20 or 30 years ago.
Read
May 2, 2023I have many fond memories of City Gardens, and so I was happy to pick up a copy of this book. Yeah, it went a bit long in places, a little too short in others, but it's a nice history of the place with some good stories.
July 12, 2017
Most of my childhood and alleged adult life.
May 23, 2014
As a long time patron of City Gardens, I was excited to read this book. But upon reading it, I was disappointed - it reads like a punk rock version of VH1's Behind the Music.
July 17, 2017
Let's be honest - Trenton might be the capital of my state but the only crowning achievement is that Taylor Ham was invented there.
Maybe it was the distance (about an hour away) or the bad vibe that seemed to emanated (you felt like you could get jumped either in the parking lot or inside the club - from two completely different groups of people) but I only hit City Gardens about a dozen times back in the day. But they put together some great shows and were able to book bands that had gotten too big for the smaller clubs by me (like The Pipeline in Newark and Maxwell's in Hoboken).
(After one ska show there was complete chaos I had one good friend that ended up in the hospital - definitely not fun to eventually get back up to North Jersey at 4 in the morning when you're a teen.)
Anyway... the book is a blast to read and really took me back to just how insane 'the scene' used to be. Loved to hear about some old and forgotten classics from the likes of The Butthole Surfers or Wendy O. Williams. And hearing nuggets like R.E.M. and Hüsker Dü playing to a mostly empty club are priceless (although not as strange as Grant Hart's angry non sequitur aimed at Bob Mould that seemingly comes out of left field).
"He said to me, 'Do you know what punks are?!' And I'm like, 'No.' He points at the hole in the wall he was fixing and goes, 'You see this?! Punks kick holes in the wall!' That was my impression of punks when I was a kid."- Nikki Nailbomb (whose parents owned City Gardens when she was a kid)
Maybe it was the distance (about an hour away) or the bad vibe that seemed to emanated (you felt like you could get jumped either in the parking lot or inside the club - from two completely different groups of people) but I only hit City Gardens about a dozen times back in the day. But they put together some great shows and were able to book bands that had gotten too big for the smaller clubs by me (like The Pipeline in Newark and Maxwell's in Hoboken).
(After one ska show there was complete chaos I had one good friend that ended up in the hospital - definitely not fun to eventually get back up to North Jersey at 4 in the morning when you're a teen.)
Anyway... the book is a blast to read and really took me back to just how insane 'the scene' used to be. Loved to hear about some old and forgotten classics from the likes of The Butthole Surfers or Wendy O. Williams. And hearing nuggets like R.E.M. and Hüsker Dü playing to a mostly empty club are priceless (although not as strange as Grant Hart's angry non sequitur aimed at Bob Mould that seemingly comes out of left field).
"He said to me, 'Do you know what punks are?!' And I'm like, 'No.' He points at the hole in the wall he was fixing and goes, 'You see this?! Punks kick holes in the wall!' That was my impression of punks when I was a kid."- Nikki Nailbomb (whose parents owned City Gardens when she was a kid)
August 25, 2023
This is an incredibly fun read and a great time capsule of an era and part of New Jersey I didn’t know much about. The wide breadth of interviews led to a lot of insightful and funny anecdotes and painted a pretty clear picture of what life was like at City Gardens at the time.
That side, while I think organizing the book by show was a great idea, the execution was a little lacking. I think the best oral histories weave together disparate interviews to form a narrative, while this was more disjointed. There were also some shows with big names that surprisingly had maybe one anecdote, sometimes not even really about the show itself, most strikingly a just-pre-mega-fame Nirvana. Some of the quotes also start getting repetitive when it’s just various versions of “a lot of people there were tough guys” and nothing specifically about the show in question.
While it’s one of the downsides of the format—and is also just part of the punk ethos—there’s also little to no refutation of some of the more problematic things that were going on at City Gardens, most nakedly Nazi skinheads. There were plenty of stories about how they got their asses beat and lots of quotes about how they weren’t liked, but also a couple of the primary voices were… vague about how they felt about it in a way that I think deserved more insight.
But overall, this was a blast to read and well worth the time for fans of that era of punk music or music history in general.
That side, while I think organizing the book by show was a great idea, the execution was a little lacking. I think the best oral histories weave together disparate interviews to form a narrative, while this was more disjointed. There were also some shows with big names that surprisingly had maybe one anecdote, sometimes not even really about the show itself, most strikingly a just-pre-mega-fame Nirvana. Some of the quotes also start getting repetitive when it’s just various versions of “a lot of people there were tough guys” and nothing specifically about the show in question.
While it’s one of the downsides of the format—and is also just part of the punk ethos—there’s also little to no refutation of some of the more problematic things that were going on at City Gardens, most nakedly Nazi skinheads. There were plenty of stories about how they got their asses beat and lots of quotes about how they weren’t liked, but also a couple of the primary voices were… vague about how they felt about it in a way that I think deserved more insight.
But overall, this was a blast to read and well worth the time for fans of that era of punk music or music history in general.
May 12, 2021
Thoroughly enjoyed this.
I grew up in the area but only ever went to City Gardens once. Wish I'd gone more. Hardcore punk wasn't really my wavelength, but there were rock bands (including big names on their way up) who passed through there who I've liked. Wished I'd been more plugged in to seeing those shows, but I just wasn't much at that point ('89-'94). So I most enjoyed the stories this book has about these artists' appearances there, not as much stuff about who beat who up in the mosh pit and why.
It was a fun surprise to learn that Henry Rollins used Trenton as a home base for his band, I had no idea, and often went to the Crystal Diner a lot around the same years I was also going there a lot. I did know who he was then, I think, but somehow never spotted him there or crossed paths. Probably was in my own little world at that time.
This is told in an oral history format by many of the artists, the fans, the regulars, the organizers and bookers of the shows. That format always makes a subject a faster read and more involving by using firsthand accounts. There are 2 particular anecdotes about big music artists who almost popped in but didn't (one to perform and one to watch a band there), that had head smacking ironies of the type that make for great legends.
I'm glad this book exists.
I grew up in the area but only ever went to City Gardens once. Wish I'd gone more. Hardcore punk wasn't really my wavelength, but there were rock bands (including big names on their way up) who passed through there who I've liked. Wished I'd been more plugged in to seeing those shows, but I just wasn't much at that point ('89-'94). So I most enjoyed the stories this book has about these artists' appearances there, not as much stuff about who beat who up in the mosh pit and why.
It was a fun surprise to learn that Henry Rollins used Trenton as a home base for his band, I had no idea, and often went to the Crystal Diner a lot around the same years I was also going there a lot. I did know who he was then, I think, but somehow never spotted him there or crossed paths. Probably was in my own little world at that time.
This is told in an oral history format by many of the artists, the fans, the regulars, the organizers and bookers of the shows. That format always makes a subject a faster read and more involving by using firsthand accounts. There are 2 particular anecdotes about big music artists who almost popped in but didn't (one to perform and one to watch a band there), that had head smacking ironies of the type that make for great legends.
I'm glad this book exists.
September 13, 2025
Unfortunately, I missed this scene and don't know that many of the bands discussed, but I do know and love some of them. Enjoyed this book, written in the same style as the classic "Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk." I really liked how the local connections to my long-time work location (Trenton, NJ) and home for the last 20+ years (Bucks County, PA). Fun read.
January 31, 2020
This is a series of quoted stories that show the years go by at a music club between NYC and Philadelphia. It's like a weather vane for all things that were outside of the mainstream in the 80s and 90s. Especially food view the east coast scene.
June 26, 2017
Brought me down memory lane
Loved the first hand storytelling by the artists and staff of City Gardens. I also enjoyed reading about the shows I actually attended
Loved the first hand storytelling by the artists and staff of City Gardens. I also enjoyed reading about the shows I actually attended
November 27, 2017
If you grew up in central NJ in the 80s...
... you probably know somebody in this book. Outstanding history. I’m sorry it took me this long to get to it.
... you probably know somebody in this book. Outstanding history. I’m sorry it took me this long to get to it.
January 19, 2018
I loved this club.
March 12, 2019
Great stories from a venue I really under appreciated back in the day.
July 27, 2015
Although not as famous as CBGB, Trenton's City Gardens was a better example of the kind of punk club that flourished across America in the 1980s and 1990s, with the exception that, unlike so many of those clubs, City Gardens managed to stay open for more than a year or two.
An oral history in the vein of "Please Kill Me," this has perspective from everyone you'd want to hear from, ranging from heroic booker Randy Now to dance night regulars to local hooligans to many of the famous musicians, punk or otherwise, who passed through City Gardens. It even has Jon Stewart, who tended bar at the club in the 1980s!
It's a funny, engaging, well-assembled history that's worthwhile reading for anyone who experienced City Gardens or those (like me) who only heard stories about the venue. It captures a lot of what made going to shows so special in the pre-Internet era, and does so with the gritty, never-say-die attitude you'd expect of a Trenton institution.
I especially appreciated that the creators of the book don't shy away from the violence and racism that marred so many punk scenes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With almost no mainstream documentation at the time, books like these are more important than ever at capturing aspects of life in the American underground before they vanish entirely or get so encrusted with myth they become worthless.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in punk rock, New Jersey, American subcultures, or a good read.
An oral history in the vein of "Please Kill Me," this has perspective from everyone you'd want to hear from, ranging from heroic booker Randy Now to dance night regulars to local hooligans to many of the famous musicians, punk or otherwise, who passed through City Gardens. It even has Jon Stewart, who tended bar at the club in the 1980s!
It's a funny, engaging, well-assembled history that's worthwhile reading for anyone who experienced City Gardens or those (like me) who only heard stories about the venue. It captures a lot of what made going to shows so special in the pre-Internet era, and does so with the gritty, never-say-die attitude you'd expect of a Trenton institution.
I especially appreciated that the creators of the book don't shy away from the violence and racism that marred so many punk scenes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. With almost no mainstream documentation at the time, books like these are more important than ever at capturing aspects of life in the American underground before they vanish entirely or get so encrusted with myth they become worthless.
Highly recommended for anyone interested in punk rock, New Jersey, American subcultures, or a good read.
January 10, 2016
I moved to Philadelphia late in 1985. In the autumn of 1986 I saw The Circle Jerks and (I found out later from the book) Agnostic Front. A new friend had told me about City Gardens and I had (briefly) a car that worked so I drove them there. This was by far the scariest place I had been to see a punk show. I did not know the area and was still feeling new and not very confident in my first city living experience (grew up in the burbs). I remember being very cognoscente of where the exits were. The place had such a low ceiling and seemed to go on forever. I kept thinking that if a fire broke out I would have to find an exit quick or perish. The book is a fun read with many references to bands that I had seen or were at least familiar with. I liked the timeline aspect which gives you dates of shows. The book by the Ramones road manager had those listed on the back pages and I liked being able to look up when I saw them. The book also reminded me of The Butthole Surfers whom I had heard of in the 80's but never got a chance to really check out. I had only 3 of their later cd's so I made a mix cd for the car and have been thoroughly enjoying it for a few months now. It is nice to find new music even if from an old source and to enjoy it in a nostalgic sense. The book is certainly most enjoyed by people who went to City Gardens at least once but if you are a Punk fan then there are stories which you would enjoy digesting despite not having ever been there.
June 26, 2020
Really one of the great books on independent music. Better than Michael Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life and better than other books that focus on punk venues (e.g. Chris Daly's Everbody's Scene or Rich Dolinger and Shawna Kenney's Live At The Safari Club). Every story you want to read about is in here and the gradual accumulation of all these small stories add up to something greater than the sum of their parts.
May 19, 2014
Not a great work of modern prose ("oral history" = totally apt). But City Gardens was important, and I am grateful that someone took the time to sew this Frankenstein together. The last third of the book makes me giddy with memories of youth misspent, and the second third revives dormant indignation that no one lets 12-year-olds drive. Thanks, Mike, for living in the damn woods. Thanks, Hank, for chilling in plain view at the Crystal Diner, and for making the time for all those pull-ups. (No thanks at all to you, chubby fringe girl. You still have it coming).
July 8, 2014
This was a great read! I'd never heard of City Gardens but am always interested in books about the bands from this era. There were some really great insights and hilarious stories in here! Lots of behind the scenes moments involving lots of punk and indie personalities. I'm glad this book was able to get published.
November 14, 2014
It's fun to read about a place that was so important to me and my development. I could smell it. Shows were dangerous and I met many of my idols and we were almost always on the same level. I'm happy to have spent so much time there. Those days sustain me.
November 2, 2014
If you were there for any of it, you will enjoy this book. It provides a good history of City Gardens and most, if not all, of the shows. The authors do an excellent job of portraying the rise and sad, inevitable decline of a unique place and time in music history.
February 26, 2016
Another punk rock oral history, this one at a club I would go to from time to time. It gets redundant at times and therefore drags a bit, but I'm happy to see Randy (Now) get his props, and the book is an amazing chronicle of the "scene" subculture that has all but disappeared.
June 17, 2016
Thanks for the memories!!! The first show I saw there was Kreator/Biohazard(with special appearance by Roger Meet from Agnostic Front) in 1991. The last was the Youth of Today reunion show in 1994, and I probably saw 100 shows in between. Awesome!
April 4, 2014
This entertaining book brought back many memories of going to City Gardens in the late 80s - early 90s. It was fun to hear the different perspectives.
May 12, 2014
I miss music.
June 13, 2016
Great stories about City Gardens form the people that played there, worked there and partied there.
April 6, 2014
fantastic history of a club i was lucky enough to have taken a small part in.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews