New York City is a place of many hidden doorways, but how about hidden concert seats? The Forest Hills Stadium, which dates back to the 1960s with legendary performances from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and more, is the former home to the US Open and was revived as a concert venue in 2013. In recent renovations came the brilliant idea to include a few hidden hangouts throughout the venue.
One of them includes a porta potty. This particular VIP room isn’t your average box viewing, members only, password-protected establishment. It’s a hidden room beyond the doorway of an ordinary porta potty that you need a 9-volt battery to get into.
The porta potty VIP room can be accessed by using a special battery given by the all-knowing venue staffers (and other Very Important People), which is then used to open a makeshift lock. Once inside the room, there’s a concert haven complete with comfy couches, prime viewing of the show, and free-flowing booze galore. Though, it’s not very easy to find.
[photos by Ron Asadorian via NYPost]
“We thought it’d be funny if people standing in line for the [real] porta-potties suddenly saw 20 people come out of one, like a clown car,” explained Mike Luba, president of Madison House Presents, who recently teamed with the venue for a series of upcoming shows. “Half the time, people trying to find the room open the door to a potty and just find somebody taking a leak,” a staff member of the stadium security crew told the New York Post.
Apparently, the stadium hosts a few of these strangely-located hangouts around the stadium floor. Another spot goes by the “Raccoon Room” because of the family of raccoons that were discovered inside, with one of them reportedly munching on a Milk Dud. With its recent renovations, it now holds a self-serve bar and is password-protected with a new term assigned to every event. According to the New York Post, “sitting atop the bar is a taxidermied raccoon holding a box of Milk Duds.”
Then there’s the Sign Room, also password-protected, which used to be where the US Open’s sign painter once worked. “We’re pretty sure he was living or at least sleeping in [it],” Luba explains. “When we found this place, there was a cot in it.” The room is filled with hand-painted signs with the names of professional and amateur tennis players, alongside the new age concert posters that promote shows by the Replacements, Ed Sheeran, The Who, and Mumford & Sons. “Without naming names,” Luba says, “it’s not unknown for artists to utilize these spaces to party well after the crowd has gone home.”
Needless to say, the Forest Hills Stadium is way cooler than we initially thought — and they have some pretty awesome shows coming up in conjunction with Madison House Presents beginning with Flight of the Conchords and Chris Stapleton this month. See here for all show info and ticketing details!