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What happened to you favorite rock club/bar?


zrock63

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I turned 18 in 1981, and in my area Philly/South Jersey, you could see a live band just about every night of the week, clubs & bars that had live music were everywhere ( now I'm lucky if I can find a band I want to see every 6 months or so)...so what happened to all the clubs ?

 

Club Heaven / Menagerie......Pennsauken, NJ ......huge club, had at least 10 or more bars, Dead End Kids played there regularly, World War III, Saints in Hell, I think on Sundays they had .25 beer nights,....the building is still standing and is now a huge Church....I believe thee club closed in the late 80's....

 

Empire Rock Club......NE Philly........now a bingo hall and take out beer place......I heard a story, years back, that every band that played there over the years, the show was taped. A few have popped out over the years, Heaven Edge, Cinderella and a few others, Anyone know if there is any truth to the taping story?

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Most, if not all, of my old haunts are gone now. A few off the top of my head...

 

L'amour in Brooklyn closed in the early 90s, re-opened, closed again, then re-opened again and closed again several more times throughout the decade. No idea what's in that spot now, but the name has been revived at a new club somewhere on Staten Island.

 

The Redspot! on Staten Island - according to its Facebook page, there's some sort of health-food superstore in the space where that used to be.

 

Mother's in Wayne, NJ (also known as FM Station for a time) - closed in the mid 90s (I think the last show I saw there was a Kix gig in late '95)... the property is now used as a "park and ride" lot for NJ Transit commuters. The building was still standing empty till three or four years ago when it caught fire and had to be torn down.

 

Birch Hill in Old Bridge, NJ - last I heard, there are now condominiums on the spot.

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There were a few places I used to go

 

My favourite was called The Banshee and was in Manchester. It was a few doors down from Jilly's/Rockworld (which is still there) which was another of my favourites.

The Banshee was cool upstairs was all the newer stuff was played (this was the 80's) like Kix, Winger, Journey, Tesla, Black n Blue, Enuff Z Nuff, Vain, Aerosmith, Starz, D.A.D., .....mainly U.S. stuff but also the good bands from the UK of the day like Tobruk, Thunder, Romeos Daughter. It had a great mix from AOR to Sleaze.

Downstairs was more classic stuff like Purple Zep e.t.c.

It got closed and maybe even pulled down as part of redeveloping the area.

 

Jilly's/Rockworld happily is still alive and kicking and is probably the premier Rock Club in the centre....but I haven't been for about 8 years!!!

 

My other favourite place was a pub called the Phoenix further down Oxford Road than the Banshee/Rockworld near the polytechnic/university campus. Upstairs it was a regular pub but downstairs you paid a quid or so to get in and Wed thru to Sunday they had rock nights .... great dancefloor, not a big place and everyone kinda knew each other. I used to go there when I was around 17 yo in 1979. I always thought that it served the greatest beer ... Carling Black Label...ice cold in a hot club like that was nectar (Now I can't stand the stuff!). It's still there but the rock nights are looooong gone.

 

One last one was Tiffany's in Rochdale .... awesome...again another place I used to go regular in 78 and 79 onwards it started every Wednesday night and moved to Mondays ... gtenerally played everything from classic to newer stuff. They didn't generally have bands on but I actually did a couple of gigs there (one of which they had to turn people away at the door from ... now that was an ego booster haha).

That place fizzled out but it was great.

 

Honorary mentions amongst the mighty clubs/discos that have fallen

 

The Farmyard Hotel (great rock night on a Thursdays ... I think .... upstairs in the pub function room)

Heywood and Middleton civic halls .... the venues where the mighty John Brent used to hold the huge Headbangers Balls ... hope you're ok John ...Zelda!

Osborne House /Arms again a John Brent venue.

The White Lion pub Heywood ... another John Brent venue and a place my old band played countless times!

 

 

Great times....I salute all the DJ's and punters who used to go there (except the ocassional prick hahahaha!) Nick...sob!

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One of the big clubs in town was the Pomp Room. They always booked great acts, including lots of Canadian hard rock bands. Aerosmith played there one night unexpectedly after doing a concert in town. I didn't start getting down there until the mid-90's. Saw April Wine and a few other bands but by that time the place had become a biker hangout and there were some occasional stabbings. The bathrooms were absolutely awful and were never cleaned. Now the place is a parking lot, but one of the guys who had a hand in bringing bands in is now running the Dakota Rock Fest event.

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Hammerjacks!!!!!!!!!!! This was THE PLACE to be in the 80's and early 90's!! Seen KIX there a zillion times and countless other awesome shows. Man I miss that place. They tore it down and the spot became a parking lot for the Baltimore Ravens. It reopened as a dance club (ack!).

 

The Rage in Baltimore was also an awesome club!! Saw Lizzy Borden there back in the day!!

 

The Thunderdome in Baltimore was a more recent club that was around in the early 2000's but they booked plenty of great 80's bands. The owner sold the club and it turned into a Latin dance club. :puke:

 

It's really depressing not being able to see bands anymore because there really isn't anywhere for them to play!

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I turned 18 in 1981, and in my area Philly/South Jersey, you could see a live band just about every night of the week, clubs & bars that had live music were everywhere ( now I'm lucky if I can find a band I want to see every 6 months or so)...so what happened to all the clubs ?

 

Club Heaven / Menagerie......Pennsauken, NJ ......huge club, had at least 10 or more bars, Dead End Kids played there regularly, World War III, Saints in Hell, I think on Sundays they had .25 beer nights,....the building is still standing and is now a huge Church....I believe thee club closed in the late 80's....

 

Empire Rock Club......NE Philly........now a bingo hall and take out beer place......I heard a story, years back, that every band that played there over the years, the show was taped. A few have popped out over the years, Heaven Edge, Cinderella and a few others, Anyone know if there is any truth to the taping story?

 

 

 

i'd give an arm and a leg to be in city garden,trenton, 84-86. but alas i didn't choose my birth place....

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I turned 18 in 1981, and in my area Philly/South Jersey, you could see a live band just about every night of the week, clubs & bars that had live music were everywhere ( now I'm lucky if I can find a band I want to see every 6 months or so)...so what happened to all the clubs ?

 

Club Heaven / Menagerie......Pennsauken, NJ ......huge club, had at least 10 or more bars, Dead End Kids played there regularly, World War III, Saints in Hell, I think on Sundays they had .25 beer nights,....the building is still standing and is now a huge Church....I believe thee club closed in the late 80's....

 

Empire Rock Club......NE Philly........now a bingo hall and take out beer place......I heard a story, years back, that every band that played there over the years, the show was taped. A few have popped out over the years, Heaven Edge, Cinderella and a few others, Anyone know if there is any truth to the taping story?

 

 

 

i'd give an arm and a leg to be in city garden,trenton, 84-86. but alas i didn't choose my birth place....

I saw a few bands there myself, Loudness, Megadeth, some others I can't remember... I even played there once or twice. :)

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Here are a few:

LA'MOURS-BROOKLYN (CARNIVORE, AMERICAN ANGEL, KIX, TT QUICK, SEA HAGS, LAW & ORDER)

Great club!! It was open on & off so many times, I lost interest in goin'

 

 

CLUB BENE-(KIX,JETBOY,SCATTERBRAIN,MORBID ANGEL, RIPPING CORPSE,BIOHAZARD,SPREAD EAGLE, LAW & ORDER, RAGING SLAB,THE LOST and hundreds of others) It kinda went down hill after a kid was killed with a cymbal stand.

It still stands, but a hollow shell.

 

BIRCH HILL (MORBID ANGEL, GRIP INC, RATT,SLAUGHTER, MALMSTEEN, SEB BACH, L.A. GUNS, THOR and many more)

To much underage drinking took the place down. As Keith said before, it is now a condo complex :crying:

 

ONSTAGE -STATEN ISLAND (BOLTHROWER, GRIM LEGION, VITAL REMAINS, MASSACRE, GRAVE, BELIEVER, and many underground Death bands) One of the biggest stages I've ever seen (Purfect for stage diving). Like many clubs-here today, gone tomorrow. Such a real shame!!!

 

NERI'S-STATEN ISLAND (Countless of unsigned Death Metal groups) This was once considered my church. Good memories & bad ones as well. I've heard it became a furniture store.

 

Some places I've been to, I've only been there once. These places leave a lasting impression.

 

CLUB BABYHEAD-RODE ISLAND (VITAL REMAINS, DROP DEAD, DISHARMONIC ORCHESTRA). I've been there once and it was a cool place. R.I.'s premier rock club

 

CLUB SCAR-WASHINGTON D.C. (DESEASED, MORBIUS) What more can a drunken roadie ask for.

Bands played below and a go go bar up top!!

 

 

CBGB'S-NEW YORK -I've only been there once to see a couple of Death bands from my neck of the woods. Bodies were flying everywhere. Members of PRONG used to work there and they weren't to happy with the show.

CBGB's is a part of americana like THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, GRAND CANYON, and DISNEY LAND.

1000's of bands played there. To be a little part of it, is amazing!!!

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ONSTAGE -STATEN ISLAND (BOLTHROWER, GRIM LEGION, VITAL REMAINS, MASSACRE, GRAVE, BELIEVER, and many underground Death bands) One of the biggest stages I've ever seen (Purfect for stage diving). Like many clubs-here today, gone tomorrow. Such a real shame!!!

 

NERI'S-STATEN ISLAND (Countless of unsigned Death Metal groups) This was once considered my church. Good memories & bad ones as well. I've heard it became a furniture store.

 

Went to both of these places during my college days too, saw mostly local acts at them if memory serves. I remember seeing the mighty KILLEN (ehehehehe) at Onstage, plus locals like Rising Star, Pythian, Supremacy, and several others I can't remember....

 

A frat brother of mine played at Neri's with his band opening for local punk faves "New Rose" many many years ago... I remember very little of the performances cuz the beer was a-flowin' nicely that evening...

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I turned 18 in 1981, and in my area Philly/South Jersey, you could see a live band just about every night of the week, clubs & bars that had live music were everywhere ( now I'm lucky if I can find a band I want to see every 6 months or so)...so what happened to all the clubs ?

 

Club Heaven / Menagerie......Pennsauken, NJ ......huge club, had at least 10 or more bars, Dead End Kids played there regularly, World War III, Saints in Hell, I think on Sundays they had .25 beer nights,....the building is still standing and is now a huge Church....I believe thee club closed in the late 80's....

 

Empire Rock Club......NE Philly........now a bingo hall and take out beer place......I heard a story, years back, that every band that played there over the years, the show was taped. A few have popped out over the years, Heaven Edge, Cinderella and a few others, Anyone know if there is any truth to the taping story?

 

 

 

i'd give an arm and a leg to be in city garden,trenton, 84-86. but alas i didn't choose my birth place....

I saw a few bands there myself, Loudness, Megadeth, some others I can't remember... I even played there once or twice. :)

 

 

 

actually i would love to see there heathen's rage and tantrum.... :tumbsup: and then steal the tee from tony lee....(clumsy rhyme i know)

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  • 3 years later...

This topic died a few years ago without much response. Anyone has any venues to add..?

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GALAXY in Somerdale, NJ.....the heartbeat of the whole South Jersey scene, SAINTS IN HELL, BRITNY FOX, TANGIER, TEEZE, HEAVEN'S EDGE, FUNHOUSE, IVORY TOWER, CINDERILLA,KRANK and hundreds of other bands over the years, closed and reopened a few time and closed for good 1990 or 91. Sat empty for over ten years before becoming a pet store.

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Any East Coasters ever go to the Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ? I went there once for a Kix show in '92 or '93... cool place, but it was located in the sickest, scariest looking crack house ghetto neighborhood I've ever been in (yes, worse than Studio One in Newark...) so I never went back. The whole time we were there, my brother couldn't enjoy the show cuz he was too busy worrying about whether or not his car was still going to be there when we got out.

 

I have no idea if the place is still in business, but it doesn't matter cuz I wouldn't set foot in there again even if it was...

 

Another long-gone Jersey club that I went to a few times was the Fastlane in Asbury Park, NJ. I saw W.A.S.P., Type O Negative and Fight (w/Rob Halford) there. It was a total dump, but at the time (early 90s) it was one of the few clubs in N.J. that was still booking "80s" metal bands. I will say they had a great sound system, though-- that Fight gig remains one of my all time favorite concerts. I'd seen Rob live four times previously w/Judas Priest and once afterwards w/the Halford band, but I NEVER heard Rob in better voice than I did at that gig. Besides, it was quite a rush being ten feet away from ROB FUCKIN HALFORD in a little dump club on the Jersey Shore!!!

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Any East Coasters ever go to the Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ? cool place, but it was located in the sickest, scariest looking crack house ghetto neighborhood I've ever been in

Doesn't that pretty much describe ALL of New Jersey? ;):gone:

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Any East Coasters ever go to the Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ? cool place, but it was located in the sickest, scariest looking crack house ghetto neighborhood I've ever been in

Doesn't that pretty much describe ALL of New Jersey? ;):gone:

 

Dude, me and Pete are so gonna kick your ass.

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Any East Coasters ever go to the Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ? cool place, but it was located in the sickest, scariest looking crack house ghetto neighborhood I've ever been in

Doesn't that pretty much describe ALL of New Jersey? ;):gone:

 

Dude, me and Pete are so gonna kick your ass.

I couldn't stop myself, had to say it. I'm sure NJ is a fine state. :lol:

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I couldn't stop myself, had to say it. I'm sure NJ is a fine state. :lol:

 

If you don't mind the insanely high property taxes and auto insurance rates, rampant governmental corruption, and toxic waste, it's paradise...

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Any East Coasters ever go to the Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ? I went there once for a Kix show in '92 or '93... cool place, but it was located in the sickest, scariest looking crack house ghetto neighborhood I've ever been in (yes, worse than Studio One in Newark...) so I never went back. The whole time we were there, my brother couldn't enjoy the show cuz he was too busy worrying about whether or not his car was still going to be there when we got out.

 

I have no idea if the place is still in business, but it doesn't matter cuz I wouldn't set foot in there again even if it was...

 

Another long-gone Jersey club that I went to a few times was the Fastlane in Asbury Park, NJ. I saw W.A.S.P., Type O Negative and Fight (w/Rob Halford) there. It was a total dump, but at the time (early 90s) it was one of the few clubs in N.J. that was still booking "80s" metal bands. I will say they had a great sound system, though-- that Fight gig remains one of my all time favorite concerts. I'd seen Rob live four times previously w/Judas Priest and once afterwards w/the Halford band, but I NEVER heard Rob in better voice than I did at that gig. Besides, it was quite a rush being ten feet away from ROB FUCKIN HALFORD in a little dump club on the Jersey Shore!!!

 

Don't remember ever going to the Cricket Club, I think I was at Studio One a couple of times.

 

But, speaking of CITY GARDENS in Trenton, it was a basic cinderblock dump across from one of the worst housing projects in Trenton. I saw the RAMONES for the first time around 1981 or 82 there. Also, the PLASMATICS around the same time. They really didn't start booking metal acts until 84-85. I remember VENOM being one of the first metal shows, after that they had a ton of great shows SLAYER< MEGADETH, OVERKILL, SOD, NUCLEAR ASSAULT, DANZIG, and I'm sure I'm forgetting many more.

The CITY GARDENS always had a weird mix of Nazi Skinheads, Punks, Metalheads and just regular fans. It's still standing, I believe it is now a auto repair shop.

 

THE EXTENSION TAVERN in Trenton. A few blocks over from City Gardens,and a much safer area, had some goods bands for awhile TANTRUM, HEATHEN's RAGE (don't remember seeing them at City Gardens), DRUNKEN ANGEL, LOST, also a band called WITCHHAMMER which had Tim & Byran Kelly in the group. MASTER FURY was another great band that played there, awsome live group. The place is now a strip club called Stevie Tee's.

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Any East Coasters ever go to the Cricket Club in Irvington, NJ? I went there once for a Kix show in '92 or '93... cool place, but it was located in the sickest, scariest looking crack house ghetto neighborhood I've ever been in (yes, worse than Studio One in Newark...) so I never went back. The whole time we were there, my brother couldn't enjoy the show cuz he was too busy worrying about whether or not his car was still going to be there when we got out.

 

I have no idea if the place is still in business, but it doesn't matter cuz I wouldn't set foot in there again even if it was...

 

Looks like a good time....

 

Another long-gone Jersey club that I went to a few times was the Fastlane in Asbury Park, NJ. I saw W.A.S.P., Type O Negative and Fight (w/Rob Halford) there. It was a total dump, but at the time (early 90s) it was one of the few clubs in N.J. that was still booking "80s" metal bands. I will say they had a great sound system, though-- that Fight gig remains one of my all time favorite concerts. I'd seen Rob live four times previously w/Judas Priest and once afterwards w/the Halford band, but I NEVER heard Rob in better voice than I did at that gig. Besides, it was quite a rush being ten feet away from ROB FUCKIN HALFORD in a little dump club on the Jersey Shore!!!

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  • 1 month later...

A lot of "Metal" pubs/places that did metal nights went tits up once Grunge had been going a few years. A fair few places I loved suddenly seemed to lose half their clientelle inside a few months.

Dougals - Stafford - . I spent a lot of Saturdays there and it was as close as I've ever got to having a "local". Marshall Law turned up one night and played a blinder. Turned into a wine bar for wankers. I almost wept.

Air Balloon - Portsmouth - Another place I spent some happy Saturday nights in. I stopped going for a bit and when I went back it was damn near empty. Briefly tried turning back into an old-mans pub then closed and got converted into flats.

JimmyZ Plub - Portsmouth - Started playing more and more "alternative" stuff. Lost interest and next time I walked past it was gone and they'd put a hotel up instead.

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

Due to the storm Sandy, my favorite Club is on Hiatus.. Starland Ballroom

They are planning to rebuild it and should be up and running by spring...

Few bands I've seen there:

 

Molly Hatchet, Blackfoot,Monster Magnet, Static X, Kix, DRI, Mucky Pup, Bang Tango, American Angel, Xenon, Fear Factory, Lords Of Mercy,

Motorhead, Clutch, Valient Thorr, ZO2, Leslie West, Uli Jon Roth, Steve Bello Band, Cinderella, Sepultura and Hundreds of others..

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From '87 to '96 I went wherever Great White was. I didn't care much the venue. I started in '87 at Harpo's in Detroit. It was an all-ages show, so I could still get in at 17. They were touring after the release of "Once Bitten" which hadn't done much on the radio yet. The did mostly tunes from "Shot in the Dark" and their self titled album. I also saw Molly Hatchet there in 1990 just before Danny Joe Brown left the band. Was right in front of the sage for both of those shows. Cool. Harpo's is still around, but the band better be damn good for me to go to that part of Detroit ever again.

 

Once they became popular, I'd stand in line to get front row at Pine Knob, in Clarkston (now DTE Music Theater), and The Palace of Auburn Hills (still there). I also saw the bands they'd tour with like Tesla, Warrant, and Ratt.

 

The last time I saw them was at the The Palladium in Roseville MI (now a K-Mart), again in front of the stage, while they were touring for "Sailed Away". That was the first time I heard my favorite GW tune "Hey Mister", which they hadn't yet released. I moved the north end of the state and we haven't crossed paths since.

 

It's all kinda spooky. If I'd lived in Rhode Island, I wouldn't be here to type this.

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I'll chip in here & give a big shout out toThe Esplanade in Southend -had so many awesome nights in there and saw amongst others, Thunder, Love/Hate, Pearl Jam, Crown Of Thorns. Awesome times & the DJ was a major fan of our genre.

 

Also The Astoria - now criminally torn down - I saw just about every band you care to mention in that joint including D2 (debut tour), Dare, Magnum, enuff z nuff, Dan Reed, Bonfire (point blank tour), motor head, little angels, Dio, alterBridge, Nightwish, disturbed, Papa Roach, Slipknot (debut tour & carnage), FM the list is endless.

 

A very sad day when that was tore down :-(

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When I first moved to Las Vegas in 1999 I used to go to a little club called PinkE's. Saw some pretty cool bands there... Bands like XYZ, Michael Sweet, Quiet Riot, Pretty Boy Floyd, Beautiful Creatures, Sofa Kings (Jeff Keith from Tesla), Faster Pussycat, Davy Vain, Onward, Lizzy Borden, Lazy Jane, and the Iron Maidens.

 

The place was torn down awhile back .. The Palms Resort and Casino was built where PinkE's used to stand.

 

Some great times I had there... miss the place.

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