Over the years, though, the Purple Onion passed through a string of owners, and the club experienced a steady decline. By the time it closed in the mid-1990s, it had become a chaotically run punk music venue.
Some affectionate regulars from this period might have considered it the club's finest. For Mario, it was a sign that the Purple Onion was reaching rock-bottom. "That's when the place started to go down," Mario says. "Everything was broken – broken toilet, a hole-in-the-wall. The place was like a dump."
There is some pride in knowing that Brett and his friends did that.
See you there tonight!
