“Those early days were definitely pretty wild. Back then,there was an above-ground pool. I swam in it a few times during the party and nearly broke my neck jumping into it. And usually what would end up happening is, instead of climbing into an Uber at 10:30, 11 at night, you’d be getting into the funkiest Scooby Doo school bus you can imagine and getting driven into Bushwick.”
That bus was a repurposed unit used by a friend for cross-country festival road trips. “It was posted up by McCarren Park for years. The guy would drive like 40 people to Burning Man, the whole back was one big bed with a huge mattress.” It helped to run it as a shuttle from the Jefferson L. In 2013, Knockdown Center was notably far off the beaten track for a music scene centered on Williamsburg. Even positive Yelp reviews from the area consistently flag the distance from the train: “It's a helluva walk from the L train at the Jefferson stop” said one person, while another admitted “my expectations were low when I realized Knockdown is in Ridgewood.”
Tiki Disco had started off at Roberta’s, the now-legendary pizza restaurant off the Morgan L. “In the winter of 2009, we came up with the idea to throw a party in the backyard of Roberta’s. It had been an old auto body shop back in the day, and their backyard was still filled with junk cars and pieces of scrap. At some point around that time, they got these characters to remove the old junk cars and it was this big open space.” Plans were hatched to throw a spring party. Around 50 people came, “and we had fun. I made a flier. My graphic design skills have never improved… I made the flier on Microsoft Word.” Within a week or three, depending on who you ask, a follow-up was in the works. Word-of-mouth spread and Tiki Disco quickly developed an avid cult following.
Everything was intuitive. The sound system was “thrown together” and people would spill out onto the street from the “old army tent” the DJs would play under. “People always ask… ‘what is Tiki Disco? Do you guys serve drinks in coconuts?’ We had to call it something. In early 2009, Roberta’s was real DIY style, rough around the edges. They built a glorified lemonade stand on the outside of the building and put a fake thatched roof over what they were using as a bar. Everyone started calling it the Tiki Bar, even though all they served was beer and shots. Tiki Bar, Tiki Disco… the name stuck.” The party’s boisterous reputation made it a perfect fit for Knockdown Center’s opening season, and the crew were invited to run an outdoor party.
At that time, Knockdown Center was a fledgling enterprise, without a consistent sound system and still in negotiations for a liquor license. Still, the affordances of the space were undeniable. “It was a big step up,” says Pry. “Our friend Danny brought in a big wall of Funktion-One.” The events were a success - perhaps too successful. Neighbors took note and soon thereafter, Knockdown was flagged by the Maspeth community board. “People were definitely getting loose in a way that maybe they wouldn’t in 2024,” Pry muses. “It was a wilder time in NY, and we hadn’t become completely inundated with the culture of, every second of your life will be recorded with some phone. But I still feel that people feel free at the party today.”
A longer-than-hoped for hiatus ensued while Knockdown negotiated for all required licenses and the broader blessing of the surrounding community, and Tiki moved locations again. But coming out of the pandemic, then connection was fostered anew and Tiki began a series of free parties in the backyard, now christened The Ruins. The chemistry between Pry, Escobar and Lloyd is undeniable, making Tiki Disco one of the summer calendar’s most sure-shot events. And yet, the loose, fun-loving spirit that made it such a hit at the outset remains intact. “We’re still doing the same thing we’ve been doing since day one,” says Pry. “We’ve made a nice home for ourselves at Knockdown.”
Tiki Disco returns to The Ruins this Sunday, 2-10pm. Last RSVPs on DICE.