• From: Crystal Lake, Il.
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 5,120

Topic: Venues we miss

I listened to a few live shows on my drive to & from work today.
Both shows happened to be recorded at Shank Hall in Milwaukee.
Shank Hall does not look like much when you walk in. A typical storefront type place, rectangular bar in front, stage in back, men's & womens toilets to one side. Holds a maximum of 300 people and your first reaction would be "one step short of a dive".
But there was something magical about it when Joe came out and took the stage. The place was intimate and came alive with his music. It was more too. Joe seemed to have a special connection with Shank Hall or at least it appeared that way to me. I remember Joe talking about playing there early in his solo career with less than 50 people there and how good it felt to come back there and see "sold out" on the marquee. I absolutely loved that place.

Change and progress is good. I like Joe's path towards theaters (although I like the club type venues and look forward to the House of Blues show) and have enjoyed those  recent shows.

Listening to those Shank Hall shows today though, I was feeling a bit nostalgic...almost feeling like I had lost something that I'd never find again. I don't like to say it or even think it, but Joe has outgrown Shank Hall and it's ilk. I have known this for awhile, but listening to these shows today hammered home the point.

Are there venues that you miss too? Are there other places that Joe used to play that were dear to your heart, where he will not play again? I for one would love to hear about them.
And Joe, if you read this, are there places that you'll miss playing?

Bill S
P.S. Shank Hall still stands, still puts on shows with some very talented musicians. I speak of it in the past tense only as it relates to Joe.

"Rock ON & Keep the Faith"
  • From: Crystal Lake, Il.
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 5,120

Re: Venues we miss

Bump.
Wow, posted a full year and a half before RAH. A pre-cursor to the "Joe in a small club" topic.
Anyone?

"Rock ON & Keep the Faith"
  • Lee
  • Lee
  • BONAMETAL
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  • From: Minnesota
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 2,476

Re: Venues we miss

The Surf Ballroom. My favorite venue! We've seen Joe there 3 times - twice headlining and the first when he opened for Tesla. The Surf has a stated capacity of 2100, but you wouldn't know it because it feels more intimate than that. Hard to guess the size of the crowd when Joe headlined there in '06 and '07, but it was far short of 2100. Today, I think he could easily fill it. Since Joe has played there, a number of pretty big names in the blues world have graced the Surf's stage - BB King, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Jonny Lang - so I'm holding out hope for Joe's triumphant return, but it will certainly be later than sooner if it does happen.

4 Reply by ohiodawg13 (edited by ohiodawg13 2011-08-19 22:29:32)

  • From: Benicia, Ca.
  • Registered: 2006-05-08
  • Posts: 5,828

Re: Venues we miss

Two venues in NorCal come to mind, first the long gone, but not forgotten Winterland in San Francisco. The other was Konocti Harbor up north on the shores of Clearlake in Kelseyville, Ca. a very unpretentious, knockdown, just about anything goes, fun place to spend a day or two sandwiched around a "Classic Concert". Here's a couple of sights to explore for some background on these beloved venues with so many memories for generations of NorCal concert goers.
http://www.thrasherswheat.org/rns/winterland.htm         Definitely click on the performers page to see why this place was THE place to go for awesome shows.
http://www.konoctiharbor.com           To see this place come back to life would be music to my ears, once again.

What is success? Is it do yo' own thang, or is it to join the rest?   -Allen Toussaint
  • From: Amsterdam
  • Registered: 2007-10-06
  • Posts: 5,249

Re: Venues we miss

The Rainbow, Finsbury Park, London

RIP  sad

Site of too many legendary performances to mention.

RIP Iron Man

Rock On and keep the Faith
  • From: Massachusetts
  • Registered: 2007-10-23
  • Posts: 1,929

Re: Venues we miss

Lennie's on the Turnpike in Saugus, MA - my Dad used to take us there to see Buddy Rich.  What a tiny little place that was.

Miss seeing Joe in places like the Stone Church in NH (he had to go thru the kitchen to get to the stage - too cool.)

Sandy

"There's a lot of people that are in so much of a hurry to be, I guess, to be famous or that they don't want to take the time to learn to play and do all that.They'd rather just knock it down off a computer and maybe get on a game show and get famous..That's fine if that's what you want to do.
"We're more old school than that. We like creating the sounds."  - Tom Petty
  • gsj
  • gsj
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  • From: North Essex, England
  • Registered: 2006-09-21
  • Posts: 2,149

Re: Venues we miss

Amsterhammer wrote:

The Rainbow, Finsbury Park, London

RIP  sad

Site of too many legendary performances to mention.

Yep, agree with that, I saw Eric here back in '73. I also miss the Crystal Palace Bowl - host to Pink Floyd, James Taylor, Eric, Beach Boys, Joe Cocker.....so many great artists. I saw John Lee Hooker, Charlie Musslewhite, John Hammond Jnr, Albert Collins and Robert Cray all on the same bill one fantastic summers day back in the 90's ( I think it was the 90's....I lose count  smile ) .

never give up, never slow down
never grow old, never ever die young
  • From: Indianola, IA
  • Registered: 2006-07-26
  • Posts: 4,429

Re: Venues we miss

Lee wrote:

The Surf Ballroom. My favorite venue! We've seen Joe there 3 times - twice headlining and the first when he opened for Tesla. The Surf has a stated capacity of 2100, but you wouldn't know it because it feels more intimate than that. Hard to guess the size of the crowd when Joe headlined there in '06 and '07, but it was far short of 2100. Today, I think he could easily fill it. Since Joe has played there, a number of pretty big names in the blues world have graced the Surf's stage - BB King, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Jonny Lang - so I'm holding out hope for Joe's triumphant return, but it will certainly be later than sooner if it does happen.


Right there with you Lee!  First place I saw Joe at...funny we were at the same shows, probably ran into each other and didn't even know it.......I will never forget the look on the faces of the Tesla fans when we gave up our front stage spots after Joe was done.....
"What, your not staying for Tesla?"      I proudly said after my Bonabaptism, "No, we came to see Joe Bonamassa!"  And then proceeded over to the merchandise table to hound Dennis on when Joe was coming out....poor soul, I must have asked him a million times   lol

Had some fun Joe escapades with Rhonda @ The Surf!  And a certain Christmas early in Iowa with Joe & band still warms my ♥

Not sure if Joe will ever be there again, but it still is something to dream about....it's not about fanciness, it's the nostalgia.

                                                                                                          pattyluvsjoe

P.S.  And I bet we could even get them to say Bonamassa correctly next time around  tongue

"I'm not nice to any guitar!"      lol
                 Joe Bonamassa 05-03-12

JBLP CHILD #184
  • From: Wisconsin
  • Registered: 2008-08-15
  • Posts: 7,284

Re: Venues we miss

Bill S wrote:

Shank Hall does not look like much when you walk in. A typical storefront type place, rectangular bar in front, stage in back, men's & women's toilets to one side. Holds a maximum of 300 people and your first reaction would be "one step short of a dive". But there was something magical about it when Joe came out and took the stage. The place was intimate and came alive with his music. It was more too. Joe seemed to have a special connection with Shank Hall or at least it appeared that way to me. I remember Joe talking about playing there early in his solo career with less than 50 people there and how good it felt to come back there and see "sold out" on the marquee. I absolutely loved that place.

Bill S

Wow, how did I miss this thread?

I don't go back as far as Bill does seeing Joe at Shank Hall, as a matter of fact, I only got to see Joe's last performance there in December of 2006. That also happens to be the very first time I saw Joe live. Yeah, I know, not very long ago, but my wife Dawn and I were busy raising two children and we never seemed to have enough time to make it to Joe's previous shows there. My great friends from Two Rivers, Jacque and Ken, were quite fortunate to have followed Joe darn near since he began playing in Wisconsin, telling me of times when they saw him and only 20 people would be watching. Jacque specifically told me of a show when Joe was actually laying on stage while playing Hendrix and when he walked off stage, she nearly jumped in his arms! Yes, like me, my friends are both devout Bonaholics! wink 

Even though I had followed Joe's music back to the  "Blues Deluxe" album, I hadn't felt the impact of his live show until the fateful day of December 10, 2006. The really odd thing about that show too is, Dawn, my friend Mark and I stood right behind Bill and his daughters who were lucky enough to have grabbed the last few seats up front at Shank Hall, so we were the first row standing. We never met or talked to them that night, instead becoming good friends down the road. That's how it goes when you see Joe, so many wonderful people walk into your life! smile

Anyway, I still remember that first glimpse of Joe appearing on stage AND I was lucky enough to preserve that image for all time. I had a very old 35 mm camera with me at the time and snapped his picture. Later, I had that same picture blown up into a 20 X 30 poster and eventually gave it to Joe who graciously signed it for me. The caption below this picture pretty much to this day sums up my feeling whenever I see him play...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/8384830@N0 … 399006021/

By the way, it really is the only picture that turned out good that night. Maybe it was a sign of things to come? cool   

Roy

Joe is the Best!
  • From: Washington State
  • Registered: 2006-03-30
  • Posts: 1,593

Re: Venues we miss

I don't know if it's fair to list venues I've never been to, but I miss them anyway - because now they're gone, and I'll never be able to see a show there.

Places like The Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, or the Winterland Ballroom in SFO. Probably not so much for the venues themselves now that I think about it...probably more for the bands that played there, and the era of music they represent. I don't know?

  • From: Burke VA
  • Registered: 2008-02-08
  • Posts: 252

Re: Venues we miss

Used to enjoy the Bayou in DC.  Also the old Fairfax theater had some killer sight lines.

Awestruck
  • From: Crystal Lake, Il.
  • Registered: 2006-04-22
  • Posts: 5,120

Re: Venues we miss

Stu Craig wrote:

I don't know if it's fair to list venues I've never been to, but I miss them anyway - because now they're gone, and I'll never be able to see a show there.

Places like The Apollo Theatre in Glasgow, or the Winterland Ballroom in SFO. Probably not so much for the venues themselves now that I think about it...probably more for the bands that played there, and the era of music they represent. I don't know?

There was a place in Chicago just before my time, called the Kinetic Playground. Wish I could have seen at least one show there. Lots of great bands went through.

"Rock ON & Keep the Faith"