The Fags, Student Nurse at Wrex, Seattle, WA, January 9, 1981

Helena Rogers (b. unknown), co-founder of Seattle band Student Nurse with then-husband John Rogers (b. unknown), screen-printed this poster advertising their January 9, 1981, performance with The Fags at Wrex, in Seattle’s Belltown, using her own footprints. Student Nurse performed between 1978 and 1984, reviving in 2022, and Helena Rogers, originally born in the Netherlands, created many of their poster designs over the years. 

Student Nurse started out playing improvisational Jazz and Pop but developed into an Art-Rock band. Their first live performance was opening for Enemy at Ballard Firehouse, and they self-released their first single, “Disco Dogs b/w Lies,” in 1979.  Their early lineups included bassists William Adam (b. unknown) and Joe Harris (b. unknown) and guitarists Al Davis (b. unknown) and Allan Evans (b. unknown), and they became a tight-knit group with the addition of bassist Eric Muhs (b. unknown) and guitarist Tom Boettcher (b. unknown) in 1981, a few months after the performance advertised here. 

The Fags were a punk band originally formed in Seattle, where they got their name one night from local promoter Steve Pritchard, who, not knowing the name of the band, introduced them as such. Siblings Ben (b. unknown), a drummer, and Barbara Ireland (b. unknown), a singer, bassist, and filmmaker, joined guitarists Paul Solger (b. unknown), who had started Solger, one of Seattle’s first hardcore punk bands, and Dahny Reed (b. unknown), as well as vocalist Upchuck (d. 1990), who had just left his band Clone, to form The Fags in 1980. The band also found success in NYC, where they were known for wild stage shows including vampire weddings and full body day-glow tattoos. They continued to perform In Seattle intermittently, including hosting macaroni and cheese bakeoffs. 

Wrex was established in 1979 by Michael Clay (b. unknown), Wes Bradley (b. unknown), and Aaron McKiernan (b. Unknown) at 2018 First Ave in Belltown. The venue was previously called Johnny’s Handlebar, a leather bar said to have been the oldest continuously open gay bar on the West Coast. Wrex had unique décor including old car and airplane seats, as well as Seattle’s first music video system curated by Ted Ladd (b. unknown), shaping it into an alternative dance club that appealed to the gay community and straight Punk fans alike. One night a week, Wrex hosted dance showcases featuring the latest Punk and Alternative Rock, with Upchuck and Dennis White (b. unknown), who was later part of the staff at The Rocket magazine, as DJs.  

Beginning in 1980, thanks to Showbox co-founder Mike Vraney (1957-2014), Wrex began to book live bands three nights a week, including Joan Jett, Grace Jones, and Romeo Void. The first live band to play at Wrex was The Fastbacks, with a young Duff McKagan (b. 1964) on drums, working out any kinks in the venue’s sound system in anticipation of a performance by Delta 5, the English Punk band who played Wrex’s first official show in 1980. In 1982 Wrex shut down due to cash flow problems, and a year later The Vogue took its place. Ross Bostwick (b. unknown), another popular Wrex DJ, continued spinning, while Ladd continued to curate Punk and New Wave videos in the new venue.