Devil House, 1981 - 2006
So I'm driving to ASU yesterday morning, I exit the 202 south onto Rural and look to my right (because I like to see Tempe Town Lake and the ASU Rowing club is often already out training. That's dedication!). Anyhoo, yesterday I look over and -- holycow! The Devil House± was gone. It was there when I left work last week. Sometime over the weekend its imminent day of reckoning had come.
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The thing about the Devil House is that it was one of just a handful of clubs in the Valley when I was in high school. That was the place every teen went to dance and hang out. Even if you lived on the West side, you made the trip to Devil House. For those of you who did not grow up here, I will put it in perspective. Every native Phoenician has been to the Devil House. Just ask one.
It's interesting how our standards for clubs have changed. The Devil House structure really was rather nondescript. It was large; a big rectangular building about the size of a skating rink. The inside was one cavernous room with a small, slightly elevated dance floor in the middle. There were lots picnic type benches scattered throughout and four or five bars lined the outer walls. |
Later on, sometime in the early 1990's the Devil House was rechristened Club Rio (and last April one last time as Arizona Beach Club). By then had graduated college and was no longery into the club scene (not that I ever was into the club scene). I might have gone once or twice after that. Club Rio booked some fun shows, bands such as The Cramps and The B-52's among others.
| Well, it is sad to see it go. Makes me nostalgic. When the Devil House was in its heyday, this area of Tempe was still rather undeveloped. There were no freeways leading to it. The 202 and 101 were years and miles away, as was Tempe Town Lake. The club sat at the base of a dry Salt River and it was surrounded by empty, vacant land.
The photo to the right will give you and idea of where the property sits. |
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You can see Sun Devil Stadium in the background. Sorry for the grainy photo. Suffices to say it's a bit dark out when I get to ASU in the morning.
± For me, it will always be the "Devil House", not Club Rio.