The evening of January 2, 1993, was a chaotic shitshow at the Silver Dollar. Two inches of toilet water from a stopped-up men’s room toilet had flooded out onto the middle of the dance floor. In the mosh pit, countless pairs of Chucks were getting drenched. Mohawks were mussed. Performing onstage to the crowd of about 400 was Green Day, less than one year from the release of
Dookie, the breakthrough album that would catapult the Bay Area punk act to superstardom. Many of the songs in the band’s setlist that night would eventually become radio anthems.
The show was also the final hurrah for the Silver Dollar. Starting in December 1990 — 30 years ago this month — the now-legendary downtown Phoenix venue burned bright for two years, hosting underground shows and dance parties at a dive bar near Fourth and Madison streets. In those days, downtown Phoenix was a nightlife wasteland with a reputation for being a ghost town after sundown.