Roxie and The I-Beam

Roxie and The I-Beam

Shortly after I move to San Francisco some friends from Eugene came down for a visit. Along with a couple of other friends of mine, we all decided to go out dancing. I was still living at my friend Larry's place in the Haight-Ashbury district of the city. Right around the corner was a dance club called the I-Beam. The club's clientele was largely gay and it had a cover charge but it was the logical choice as we were a mixed group (straight and gay) and it was convenient. When we got in we were pleased to find a quite large dance floor affording us lots of room to dance. The music was good to dance to, after all, this was the disco era. We had fun dancing the evening away with each other and as a group. At one point I went over to the bar to get a drink. When the bartender brought me my drink he handed me two free passes for another night.

Shortly after this my friend Roxie moved down to San Francisco from Oregon. I knew Roxie from Eugene and she was someone I liked. I found her to be a very interesting person, and I mean that in a good way. She was thoughtful, inquisitive, and often looked at things from an unconventional angle. Roxie would notice seemingly ordinary things and comment on them with a fresh spin that was both simple and intriguing. I don't think of Roxie as an artist but in many ways she had that same kind of unique view of the world around her. She was completely unaffected. Current trends had little influence on Roxie and she was never compelled to dress in a way that accentuated her femininity, but she couldn't hide that she was a very attractive woman. I wouldn't say Roxie had a particular style exactly but she was quietly unique in her own way.

Roxie moved into an apartment in the Pacific Heights neighborhood with another Eugene alum (Liz). As I recall Liz had also been one of Roxie's roommates in Eugene (Roxie you can correct me if I'm wrong). Roxie and I started going out together. I hadn't been at my new job for long. I was short on money when I moved to SF and in order to get by I borrowed from a number of my friends. I was still in the midst of paying everyone back and attempting to add to my meager work wardrobe. My job required me to wear a suit or at least a dress shirt with a tie and jacket. When I started I only had one suit, two ties, and three dress shirts. I couldn't even make it through the week without needing to do laundry. Roxie liked to dance, and she was good at it. I had those free passes to the I-Beam. So, the I-Beam was an easy choice for a night out.

With Roxie being a very good dancer, guys would ask her to dance but due to the make-up of the I-Beam's clientele they truly were only interested in dancing. I was generally more the object of their intentions. Perhaps I should have taken it as a comment on my dancing that they asked her rather than me but I was not really interested in dancing with another guy so it all worked out. I have to say that it was nice being at a club where I didn't have to worry about some guy hitting on my date. (It turned out to be a great place to take a date for me.)

With the hope of scoring some additional passes I made sure to go up to the bar alone and sure enough the bartender was kind enough to give me two more. Some of the guys were pretty friendly and I sometimes experienced something a little more personal as a few guys seemed think it was necessary to make sure my ass was a real thing. But I really never had a problem as no one really got out of line.  We ended up going to the I-Beam fairly regularly for awhile and I continued to score free passes.

As Roxie and I continued to go to the I-Beam the guys at the front door began to get wise to me. They started making it harder and harder for her to get in, like requiring her to have two picture ID's. I now had more discretionary money but I liked the I-Beam because it was such a good place to dance and although I was no longer living at Larry's I knew the area and local neighborhood parking tricks. Finding parking can be difficult in many parts of San Francisco. However it eventually became clear that the “jig was up”. Of course Roxie and I also did other things together too but it's the I-Beam that I most fondly remember.

I liked Roxie. She seemed to like me but as they say “not in that way” so we were never really anything more than just friends. I enjoyed spending time with her even though romance seemed to be off the table. Unfortunately for me Roxie didn't last long in SF. Within a year she moved back to Grants Pass, Oregon where her parents lived. I like to think it didn't have anything to do with me.

Roxie was always fun to be with and I visited her a few times up in Grants Pass. Her house is up on a ridge not far from I-5 and I still look for it whenever I drive up that way. I haven't seen Roxie in probably 40 years. I don't have a single picture of her. I didn't take many pictures back then and, as I recall, Roxie was not a fan of having her picture taken. Roxie still lives in that house in Grants Pass and thanks to Facebook we are in touch with each other. I hope to visit her again someday after our current predicament clears up of course.

As for the I-Beam: It evolved into a New Wave and Punk venue in the 80's. I did go back to the I-Beam a time or two after Roxie, usually when friends came to visit. I hadn't been there for a few years when I noticed that a punk/alt-rock group called the “Violent Femmes” were appearing there. My girlfriend at the time, Heidi, her friend Sue, and I decided to go see them. We liked their music and listened to their self titled album all the time. The album had songs like “Kiss Off”, “Blister in The Sun”, and “Add It Up”. The lyrics on that album could be a little rough or crude. We got in, it was a standing affair. We were standing on what was the dance floor in the middle of the crowd when the band came on. They started to sing songs with a sort of mild country style with heavy Christian themes. These were the same guys who called themselves “Violent Femmes”? We were stunned and we started laughing, mostly at ourselves. We became rather boisterous giggling while commenting on what we were hearing. The crowd around us got quite annoyed and let us know they were not pleased with our behavior. But we just could not contain our laughter. It probably didn't help that we may have taken something to enhance the experience which no doubt amplified our animated reaction to the group's “new” music. We were soon encouraged to leave, although I'm not sure encouraged is exactly the right word.... That turned out to be my last visit to the I-Beam.