The Electric Circus, a nightclub on 19-25 St. Marks Place, was a wild and experimental hub for 1960s club culture. When it opened in 1967, owners Jerry Brandt and Stanton J. Freeman invited club goers to “play games, dress as you like, dance, sit, think, tune in and turn on.”
The Electric Circus became known for its light shows, music, and experimental theater. Trapeze artists and flame throwing jugglers performed between musical sets while strobe lights flashed. This easy going and accepting atmosphere greatly influenced the discos that came after it.
Iconic bands such as The Velvet Underground, The Grateful Dead, Blue Öyster Cult, the Allman Brothers Band, and Sly & the Family Stone regularly played the venue. The Circus became the site of Andy Warhol’s and director Paul Morrissey’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable, a light and music show starring the Velvet Underground. While the Velvets played their experimental compositions, light effects, projected photographs and movies shone onto the band.
By 1970, the free-loving bohemian lifestyle of the late 60s was losing appeal and the club began slowly losing popularity. The fatal blow to the venue was when a small bomb exploded on the dance floor in 1970. Fifteen people were injured in the explosion. While many believed that a member of the Black Panthers planted it there, the owners said that they didn’t believe the story being that they had good relations with the Panthers.
Unfortunately, the club never recovered from the attack and the reputation it adapted after the incident. A year later, the Electric Circus finally closed.
| internal | gDoc TBC |
| internal | Wikipedia |
| internal | Art Nerd article |
| internal | A Look Back at the Electric Circus, the Greatest Show on St. Marks Place |
| internal | The Exploding Plastic Inevitable |
| internal | EPI footage |
| link | Street View |