I didn’t know it at the time, but when Sean Casey walked into the jean shop where I was working in Kensington High Street that morning, my life would change.
We got talking whilst he tried on various pair of denims “ I’m
in the middle of re-opening the Rainbow Theatre”, he casually mentioned…
BING!.. “ Oh! have you… sorted out your security yet?”
I asked. You see this ploy had worked for me a few months earlier when
the same thing had happened, only that time the guy had said, “I’m
opening a club in Covent Garden called The Rock Garden”. I ended
up as Head of Security with Big Mick as my cohort – probably something
to do with being 6’ 6” XXL.
I gave Sean my number and really thought nothing further would happen. Just before Christmas 1976 he called “Remember me?” he asked ”Fancy Assistant Front of House Manager”. Sounded good I thought. “When?” “Come down January 1st, you can start then”
So, that cold winter’s morning, I took the tube into the wilds of North London,
(me being a “Souff London” boy from Tooting, the “Norf” of town was always a foreign land)
Not knowing quite what to expect, as I emerged from Finsbury Park Station, there in the sky was that soon to be familiar red Kelloggs-style Rainbow sign.
Now I’d heard of The Rainbow I remember my mates Rob and Los going to see Argent back in 1973 and I vaguely remembered them talking about the décor. But nothing could have prepared me for the sight that greeted me upon entering those glass brown wooden framed doors.
For those who have never seen the inside of The Rainbow, the first thing
you see is an illuminated fountain set within an eight-sided raised star
pool. Then everything else sort of hits you one thing at a time - a bit
like the contestants in Changing Rooms; “Oh! Look at that,”
and “ I like what’s been done there,” or “and
look at that light”. Yes, you are in a Moorish Harem (in Finsbury
Park?) complete with a domed Byzantine cupola, and staircases and corridors
leading to what?…….. I just was drawn inwards. As I ascended
the stairs past Baroque mirrors and wall friezes, which could have come
from the India, Art Deco lanterns and a red tiled roofed courtyard, which
could have been stolen from The Alhambra.
I was now at the auditorium doors, would it continue? Was disappointment
waiting? Heck no! All it needed was Bob Hope and Bing Crosby and it would
have been The Road to Morocco, all under a twinkling star canopy.
Oh! One other thing………… Genesis were playing
on the stage!
