question from live journals writer's block question of the day.
"When it comes to bebop, you want to take it straight, no chaser. And a smoky jazz club is the best place to get it. What's your favorite kind of place to see live music?"
it's been a very long time since i actually worked up the motivation to go see a live band, and jazz or bebop wouldn't be on my list of music to go out and see.
hands down my favorite place to see bands was the original penguin pub in youngstown. it was dark, divey beyond belief, and rowdy. legend has it the owner won the bar in a poker game. he didn't really care much about the place and would sometimes stop in to make sure it was still there. he left a couple of responsible screwballs in charge. pokey, hate tank, JFK, and a few others. things were good for years and many good bands passed through the place, and much fun and mayhem was had by one and all.
notable bands that tore the place apart: scarlet picnic, as big as love, pitchblende, southern culture on the skids, the cowslingers, GG allin and the murder junkies, boogie man smash, the februaries, etc... the crowd was very passionate about the music and it was so different than shows now where people seem to stand around like zombies. i guess it was a different time a different crowd?
the pub was a dark grimey filthy place i called home for years. for awhile i lived maybe 500 feet from the place and would spend afternoons there ditching classes drinking $2.50 pitchers of PBR listening to the jukebox shooting the breeze with the regulars. bands through the week and every friday and saturday. trivial pursuit nights, star trek nights, nights with random tapes popped in, it was home for many people.
i still remember all the bands that tagged up the place with their names and lyrics, the walls were covered in marker and paint. you could spend days reading their walls and trying to decipher the words left there in a drunken haze.
its a shame that the owner in the end left some irresponsible fucks in charge that stole money from the bar and couldn't book good bands to save their lives because they earned a reputation as someone that didn't pay the talent.
well at least i have my memories... and the piece of the ceiling i stole the last night they were open.
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