Local fans of amusement complexes most likely shed a tear last week when it was announced that, after 40 years of business, Alief indoor theme park FunPlex has officially closed its doors.
Formerly known as Fame City, the mega-playland had been on the decline during these post-COVID years. But, in its prime, it boasted up to 200 arcade games, a bowling alley, an esports area, and a roller rink where Beyonce once filmed a music video. But, for all the young ones who populated the city’s rave scene in the ‘90s and ‘00s, it was also a cool place to party at night.
Back in the day, FunPlex hosted all-night dance parties where local DJs would play all over the complex, while rave kids bounced from one spot to another. For years, FunPlex nocturnally welcomed Houston’s rave culture with open arms, even when officials tried to get the park to turn these hopped-up hooligans away. When his 2000 “Funtastic Voyage” rave at Funplex rubbed the sheriff’s department the wrong way, DJ/event promoter Charles Cherkui told Houston Press in 2001, "Raves have such a negative image, thanks to the news, local folklore — partly factual, partly not — [about] what goes on there and what they're all about."
A flyer documents the lineup of Thriller.Courtesy of Daniel Cusma
In 2000, event organizer Daniel Cusma held a rave three nights before Halloween, called “Thriller.” DJs from in and around Texas played all throughout the complex. However, it took a while for the evening to start.
“Someone involved with another [rave] that was happening the same night called seven bomb threats on my show,” says Cusma. “We had to hold the line at 10 pm, while the sheriffs brought two bomb-sniffing dogs and myself and [owner] Frank Kahn had to walk every square inch of FunPlex to make sure that there were no bombs in the venue. There were about 2,500 people in line to get in, while the line was held up to almost 11:45 at night. We lost more than 2,000 people who decided to not wait in line at our party and go to the other party that was happening the same night.”
The headliner for “Thriller” was rap legend Method Man, and Cusma recalls a very messed-up incident involving the Wu-Tang Clan crewmate. “When Meth was on stage, he was spitting in a water bottle,” he remembers. “He made an announcement from the stage that if anyone gets up on the stage and drinks his water bottle full of spit, he’ll give him the Rolex off his arm and $1,000. So, this kid from the crowd jumped up on stage. He had a joint in his hand. He took a big hit off the joint, passed it to Method Man, and he drank the entire bottle of spit in front of everyone. Method Man told him to wait until the show was over, and the kid could follow him back to his hotel to give him the $1,000.”
Unfortunately, Cusma says things got more messed-up when the kid hit the hotel lobby. “Hotel security shows up and says that Method Man is not coming back down and he would like the kid to leave. He doesn’t get the thousand dollars that he was promised. Then, he takes the Rolex to a pawnshop a couple days later and finds out that the Rolex is fake.”
DJ/ex-raver Squincy Jones remembers that night quite well. “When Method Man performed in the big room, someone passed him a blunt on stage,” says Jones. “He hit it and the crowd went wild. He said it was s— weed or something along those lines, and threw the blunt back into the crowd.”
Jones was a rave regular back then; he was even at a FunPlex rave that happened the month before. Titled “Infrastructure 2000,” it was another turntablist-filled experience featuring hip-hop icons Run-DMC in the big room, and Jones wasn’t going to miss that. “I kept running back and forth, from downstairs to upstairs, to the jungle room to see another headliner performing,” he says.
Singer Karina Nistal was also there, doing vocals with her GrooveMatters crew. “The event was absolutely legendary,” says Nistal. “Run-DMC crushed the show with their neck-snapping rhymes and endless DJ cuts. I was glad I got to see them do their thing before Jam Master Jay passed two years later.”
Nistal will always have love for “Infrastructure” organizers Dance Junkies and all the local talent who came and represented, as well as the entertainment center that let them get their rave on until the wee hours. “For us, FunPlex was our teenage haven on the southwest side where we could hangout, play games, and meet new friends,” she says. “It was the cool spot to go for a long time. Now, imagine it as a rave with all your favorite DJs and supporting acts.
“Dance Junkies was one of the most prolific rave crews from that era,” she adds. “H-Town knew how to throw a party and we had the most epic rave flyers. From Rebel Crew, Kung Fu Pimp, Brotha Jibril, Jake Childs, Audio 3, Swift, and my old GrooveMatters crew – Sista Stroke and Annette Musick, plus so many more – I was beyond excited to be a part of it.”
