Area was a themed nightclub that was extremely popular in downtown Manhattan in the 1980's. The theme of the club would change every six weeks, and the interior would be redecorated to reflect the new theme: specific themes included "Night" (with a masked welder), "Surrealism", "Suburbia", "Red", and "Gnarly" (with skate ramps and boarders.
New York artist (and former boyfriend of Madonna) Jean-Michel Basquiat displayed his work here. Andy Warhol often mention Area in his diaries.
When the Beastie Boys were making the transition from a hardcore band to a hip-hop band, they were hanging out with Rick Rubin quite a bit. After Beasties drummer Kate Schellenbach returned from an out-of-town trip one weekend, she went to Area and saw the members of the Beastie Boys. Rubin had purchased the boys (MCA, Ad-Rock, and Mike D) matching red Adidas sweat suits and sneakers. Kate was not given a suit, and it became clear she was not welcome in the new group.
Kate S. later played drums for the band Luscious Jackson.
