SANTO DOMINGO.- Today we come to stir up the nostalgia of our readers who were teenagers in the 80s and early 90s, who gathered in flocks on Sunday afternoons to attend a date with music and fun at the Neon disco, in the Hotel Hispaniola, in Santo Domingo.
The idea of going to a disco in the afternoon might sound strange to younger people, but those matinees were massive, eagerly awaited and very popular gatherings among middle and upper-middle-class teenagers and young adults who could not yet legally enter nightclubs at night.
From 3 in the afternoon until 7 or 8 at nightat the latest, the party was on, and the doorman, "De la Paz," made sure no one snuck in. Inside, amidst the whirlwind of lights and mirrors, dozens of teenagers from high schools and colleges in the capital swayed to the rhythm of Madonna, Boy George, Michael Jackson, Wham!, The Police, Forekner, Cyndi Lauper, Laura Branigan, Scorpions, AC/DC, U2, Guns N' Roses, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Air Supply, Queen, and many more.
The star drink was the "large glass of red punch with ice," an iconic symbol of the matinee at Neon. A fruit punch, which some cleverly transformed into a rum punch, since selling alcohol to minors was prohibited. But it so happened that some ended the evening staggering. Perhaps it was the excess sugar, as piña coladas, juices, and sodas dominated the bar, served in tall glasses adorned with colorful paper umbrellas.
If you're craving one, here's the recipe for Neón's signature drink, the fruit punch— affordable, colorful, and sweet. An explosive mix of tropical flavors that was the liquid soul of the place, with a cherry at the bottom. The alchemy transforms it by adding white rum to the following mixture:
Orange and pineapple juice
A touch of grenadine
Liquid sugar (optional)
A splash of lime or lemon juice
Lots of ice
With the addition of rum, it was a drink that "went up fast but went down smoothly," according to the few adults who ordered it, ID in hand.
Music, fashion and energy
The silence felt when passing by the west sidewalk of the Hotel Hispaniola contrasts sharply with the bustle of Sunday afternoons behind its doors. (External source).
In that hormonal frenzy of restless boys and first kisses, they danced like there was no tomorrow on a dance floor packed to the rafters, in groups, in pairs, or alone. Blazers with enormous shoulder pads, skinny jeans, white sneakers, and hairspray were everywhere. Earrings with crucifixes, every bracelet imaginable, and leather jackets were all the rage.
It was time to finish high school and a step closer to the adult world, with parental permission and enough confidence to attend without direct supervision. Are you smiling? You remember your mischievous moments. Like you, many today remember their first kiss, their first dance, or their first "pick-up" at the Neon matinee.
These activities have disappeared from the cultural radar, supplanted by others or by immersion in social media, video games, private parties, and other forms of leisure. But in the memories of an entire generation, the Sunday matinee at Neón is a luminous chapter of a youth with its own rhythm, innocent and vibrant, where every Sunday tasted of adventure, of freedom for four hours, until a few cars or trusted taxis arrived to pick up the luckiest ones. Others walked home, which was nearby.
Neon no longer vibrates
The silence felt as you walk along the west sidewalk of the Hotel Hispaniola contrasts sharply with the bustle of Sunday afternoons outside its doors. For decades, it was the mecca of the capital's youth, a space free of labels that still resonates in the memories of so many.
Over the years, Neón was eclipsed by newer, more sophisticated offerings in terms of branding or aesthetics, and eventually faded away. It was more than just a nightclub: it was the setting for first dates, student laughter, fleeting first loves , and the feeling that urban life had a life of its own in the capital. Those were afternoons without social media, with lights that spoke for themselves and rhythms that defined generations.
The grown-up nights
While the Neon matinee was one of the most popular in Santo Domingo in the 80s, at night it was one of the most emblematic and exclusive spaces for adult entertainment in the city, thanks to the university Wednesdays and the famous 20 peso open bar.
Historical accounts equate this place with Maunaloa, Embassy, Ommi (Sheraton Hotel), and Lafuente (Hotel Jaragua), as part of the collective memory of nightlife for a population coming of age while simultaneously searching for its identity. If you didn't go to Neón in the '80s and '90s, you were out of touch.
