Book Remembers Pittsburgh Club That Hosted World's Greatest Rock Stars
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A reunion filled with tears and laughter was recently held at a place now known as the Garage Door Saloon.
It used to be called "The Decade," an unlikely spot for an extraordinary rock club.
"We caught on fire here. We started playing just about every Thursday and Saturday night. For a long time. And the whole Pittsburgh music scene built up around the club," said Joe Grushecky with the Iron City House Rockers.
Local bands like the Iron City House Rockers honed their craft at The Decade. Club owner Dominic Disilivio made it happen.
"You'd learn to like 'em. They just captured everybody's heart here. They were just a great, great group," Disilivio said.
With a gruff manner and a fatherly soul, Dominic Disilivio ran The Decade like a family. Literally and figuratively.
His first wife Janet Chepes was his partner in The Decade. While they had five babies together, the marriage went off the rails. Soon Dom's ex-wife and new wife all worked together at the club. Imagine that.
"I said to the two of them and my manager, I said 'all these years you all profess you loved me and this and that and I just want you to help me out with this,'" he said. "The first wife said to the second ex-wife, 'I don't remember telling him I love him still.'"
Despite the family drama the club and the music were magic.
Gil Snyder was a frequent performer at the decade.
"He's one of the greatest guys. I always liked hanging out with him," Snyder said of Disilivio.
It wasn't just the local bands. The Decade built a national reputation, attracting big acts like an up and coming U2.
Dominic Disilivio: "When U2 was in town, they mentioned The Decade from the stage. I think I paid them $500. And now what do they cost."
Paul Martino: "You got U2 for $500?"
Dominic Disilivio: "Yeah."
Paul Martino: "How'd you do that?"
Dominic Disilivio: "A guy named Danny Kresky."
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Danny Kresky was a concert promoter who started using The Decade as a showcase place for upcoming talent like U2, the police, and many others.
Still others just showed up to jam there. On one amazing night Joe Grushecky brought his pal Bruce Springsteen into The Decade.
"You could feel electricity. We didn't have cellphones much in use then. They'd go to payphones and call people, he's here," Disilivio said.
Snyder was on stage with Springsteen.
"I could not wipe the smile off my face for about a week," Snyder said.
On another night Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito, who were in town shooting the movie "Hoffa," spent a night partying at The Decade.
Disilvio's granddaughter Gabby Means, who wrote the book as a labor of love, says a club like The Decade couldn't exist today.
"Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito couldn't show up at a bar today without a million people tweeting where they are," Means said.
Means said book brought her even closer to the grandfather she's always admired.
The stage at the former Decade is now silent. It's a mere shell of itself. But if you listen ever so closely, you might just hear the strains of some of the greatest live rock and roll, ever played in Pittsburgh.
