List of local Venues throughout Indy music history.

[indyfitz]

Everyone has played in venues before, how about we get a listing of some old places that we've all played at. See how far back you can remember, and see if those places have been refurbished or renamed. Also welcome to add any favorites from the present tense. Any if you're feeling good, some places you'd like to see a venue put in.

Here's a good list that will be updated.

the arlington theater, later the ritz (my first big punk show and first movie ever, song of the south)
hoosier ballroom
the ritz (the one that was connected to a hotel on shadeland, might have the name wrong)
the patio
the avenue
the vogue
nypd
an old school on lafayette rd. (jot, heretic lunch)
the moose lodge near 52nd & keystone
the out back bar (used to be the bar connected to the broad ripple steak house)
india community center
mugwumps
modern times
rhino's
second story
bluebird
mars
oliver's
dharma emporium
fall creek park pavilion
melody inn
flying tomato (muncie)
33 steps
the fountain room
radio radio
the underground (on 16th street across from O.P.s)
the upper room
blue velvet ? (tufty's place on b.r ave., short lived saw steve kawolski there)
there was a place where chumly's is now and was once an italian restaurant on b.r. ave.
the wellington
sitcom
the super secret spot aka mike farmer's place
ct pepper's
locals only
bentley's (south side metal bar) there was a place on the west side too, next to indoor soccer!
birdy's
the emerson
no bar and grill
zanies too

[Sean O'Neil]

COC was at (if I can remember correctly) 410 S. Walnut, right next to the Heorot. It's now called Doc's and has different owners than at the start. At the time, we somehow convinced Dr. John Peterson to buy this old building and a bunch of us college kids, hippies and punks alike, cleaned it up, worked for free and booked all the shows. I believe after the mid-90s Dr. John sold it and now it's a regular club-type place, I think catering to the basic blues-type crowd. Dr. John was in a band in the 60s that opened for the Doors somewhere in Indiana (may have been Muncie...) and he was still into the music scene and decided to help out our collective. He's a great guy (an actual M.D.) and I hope that venture didn't set him back too bad before he sold it. It had to have been losing money on a regular basis.

[indyfitz]

Fountain Square Theater was a cool place to see shows!

[Spencer (Shecky) Sundell]

I only went once (during a visit back from Chicago), but yeah The Compound was an old school, and I vaguely remember it being on the eastside.

Donuts and Gravy played the night I went, but I can't remember who else did.

[Spencer (Shecky) Sundell]

The Herron (sic) building I was referring to was Herron School of Art at 16th and Pennsylvania. [...] And the Academy was...well...the Academy..short lived venue on Vermont.

Gotcha. I saw a bunch of shows at the Academy. Come to think, Tha Paranoidz opened for Naked Raygun there in '84/'85, impromptu-style cuz whoever was scheduled couldn't get their car started or something. It was the coldest day of the year, which was sayin' something. That whole winter was a brass monkey's nightmare. (Ask Whybark about the frozen toilet story.)

And what year was that Legal Weapon show? I only remember them playing in Indy in '86 (we opened, see the pics in my profile for the flier.)

That woulda been the summer of 1983, it seems. I remember they did "Equalizer", which was off the album they were supporting on the tour.

I found an interview with them done by Marvin and Carl Haynes after that show, originally published in ye olde Midwest Uprising -- http://www.pacificwebjournal.net/legal_weapon_2_004.htm

[Spencer (Shecky) Sundell]

Come to think, I believe you're right. I'd forgotten they'd done the Cosmo's show, too.

The Modern Times gig was the day before they went in to Hit City to record the album (Screams from the Gutter). They were touring with a Finnish band who had an unpronounceable name something like "Rystjstittk" or some shit. They kept picking fights with the Raw Power guys. They also sucked.

I think I may still have a cassette I semi-surreptitiously recorded on a Walkman in the booth while Paul was laying the instrumental tracks. That was an amazing session to watch -- the whole band was set up and played live to multitrack. Like two, maybe three takes of each song. Tight. I'm not even sure they overdubbed the lead breaks, but I guess they must've. (And the vox later, of course.)

[suade99]

I got know (sorta) know Bob Stinson after I moved back to Minnesota... He was really nice but kinda sad and lost after the Replacements kicked him out.. Just before he died I was at the Uptown Bar and he sat next to me... I bought him a beer and we chatted a bit... When I mentioned Indiana he kinda perked up and asked about Bill Levin... He said a lot of nice things about Bill, but then he would do this chuckle and say "The Ghost." Finally I asked what was "The Ghost"??? He said Bill was great but would "dissapear when it came time to do the money" so the guys in The Replacements called him "The Ghost" after playing Indianapolis...

Only time I ever drank with Bob.

[suade99]

Pizza Castle! in Castleton Square (well, next to it in a stripmall) - Didn't they have bands for a while?

[Stephen Lee Canner]

See farther up the thread. They definitely did: The Future, Zero Boys, etc.

Also here's a 10 minute clip of the Zero Boys at the Pizza Castle from 1981.

[indyfitz]

Even though it's called Birdy's.. the whole hummingbird in the logo makes a lot of sense now.

[Spencer (Shecky) Sundell]

Re: Fortville Lions Club -- Yes! Line up included JOT, Pontius Pilate and the Naildrivers, and an early gig by Chainhead. I wanna say there was a fourth band, but I can't remember who and also can't seem to find the flier.

Scott Free (sorry, I forget his "real" last name) put the show together -- he was originally from Fortville. It was the first and last show there. The brethren there were convinced we were all Satanists because of the name "Pontius Pilate and the Naildrivers." Silly Lions. We weren't Satanists; we didn't even believe in their silly Christian god, so how could we possibly be Satanists? Duh!

[indyfitz]

I THINK PERSONALLY.. I KNOW THE ULTIMATE #1 BOOYAH! YOU KNOW IT!!! KIND OF VENUE THAT YOU'LL NEVER EVER BEAT EVEN IF YOU TRIED!!!!

Paramount Pizza Palace on the East Side. That place fuckin RULED!!!!!!! Especially as a 7 year old, I think I might have found out what a musical orgasm was way before I knew what a real one was. Do you remember the big light up board that told you when your pizza was up, or the gigantic disco ball that would make the reflections dance around that gigantic room so magically. Those damn stairs that had gaps in between, and freaked me out to walk up them. Bubbles, and birds chirping, and horns blasting, and drums clashing, all while some dude was payed to play requested sounds out of a huge brandy glass.. while just going ape shit on the Mighty Wurlitzer organ.... THAT WOULD RISE UP FROM THE FLOOR!!!!

memories flooding back.

[Tony Philputt]

HMMMMM.
Not EXACTLY true now is it Chris?