Patterson Block/Gra-Light Theatre/The Block - Muncie, IN

[Sean O'Neil]

On the corner of Walnut and Main, downtown Muncie. Here's some history and photos I borrowed from http://b-levi.com/ball_state/muncie/patterson.php.

"The Patterson Block in Downtown Muncie is one of the largest pre-Gas Boom landmarks of the city. Minus Turner had built a brick building on the site in 1838. This building burned and was succeeded by the Patterson Block. Some sources give the date of construction as 1876 and some as 1881. At present I am not sure which is correct. The building was renovated around 2002 and a more extensive renovation is just now being completed."

I know from people on MFT that there was entertainment at the Block long before I got to Muncie ... I'd guess from the time it was built, since much of the third floor is actually a ballroom. Circa 1988, Rapeman played there. I saw some photos somewhere on this site of the show (with Modern Vending). Maybe those could show up here too.

When I got to Muncie in '89, this was the place for local bands, especially of the "alternative" genre, a term which was pretty new at the time. Besides tons of local bands, I saw Modern Vending (many times) and Datura Seeds there.

It was unheated in the winter and uncooled in the summer, structurally unsound, terrible sounding inside, dirty and dusty. And I loved it. Many fond memories of playing music here and meeting great people as a newcomer to Muncie from the East Coast.

[bryce]

Last but not least. Hanging out on the fire escape that looked down on Main St. and appears to no longer be there. The last two is the program from the inaugural production of the Gra Light Alternative Theatre, "True West". I was Copper Brass. Thank for looking. Thanks for caring. Thanks for remembering.

[PhilG]

Looking at the photos from Bryce, I don't even remember the street level of the building, with those columns and all. That's beautiful and surprisingly under-cared-for. I only remember walking up THOSE STAIRS to see whatever concert, party or social adventure might be happening in the dimly lit shadows of the floors above.

[Ian Rans]

wow. those were great shots. it was an amazing space in it's day.

strangely, Nancy Crouse was the theater teacher at my high school and ol' Ben Minkler was the stepson of my art teacher in elementary school. small world. i hope the building is still doing well. i had a lot of great memories there.

and is the Mark still there??

[Sean O'Neil]

Great photos, Bryce. It brings back lots of memories. I remember a bunch of sections of church pews in there. Were they there when you were renovating, or were those added?

Ian, pretty sure the Mark is still there (but Mark Gillette is in jail, case you were asking about THAT Mark.)

[Kmart]

Hmmm...

I remember shortly after FON broke up, Matt Hart doing some sort of open mic acoustic thing there (In a smaller room, notthe main live area). He played 4-5 songs and then I came up to sing backups for him while he busted out GnR's "Patience"...
WTF were we thinking?

I recall the Block having all the tables they had set out in the main live room covered with white butcher paper, and a bunch of crayons so that you could draw on the paper. I remember sitting at a table there one night with Matt, and (maybe) Chris Barton and/or Phil Barcio, talking about the band Matt and I wanted to form with them and Kriss Luckett, calling Todd Hamilton over to make him the final piece. I remember writing potential band names on the paper until someone said "Fire Hydrant Man", and everyone agreeing that sounded good, until I said "No, not like a super hero, it should be 'Fire Hydrant, Man', like a statement" or something along those lines. What can I say? I was minoring in Philosophy...
But yeah, The Block is the location that Fire Hydrant, Man was conceived/born at.
A few months later, we played our first show there at that year's Beaux Arts deal.

I also remember seeing the Datura Seeds there. they had laid all these flyers on the tables that contained their "Morality Quiz" (or something to that effect). It was pretty funny stuff. You got points for doing things like having gotten drunk, taken acid, and other taboo things. I KNOW you got points for sexual experiences, especially if you had "tounged the nether orifice"...
For some reason, that one stuck in my mind.

I recall seeing Steve Kowalski's Army there for the first time. As an avid fan of EARLY Who, I was blown away by them immediately. They were fucking brilliant, and especially so that night. They played for about 30 minutes or so, and then Tom yelled out "Any requests?" I thought I'd stump them and yelled back "Leaving Here" which is an early Who RnB number, at that point only available on the Who's Missing album...
Anyway, Tom launched in to the intro riff and Pat & Jake joined in, playing it like it was a regular part of their set. I was floored, and they killed it. I found out later they had never played the song before. Not once...
Amazing stuff. That's what I think of whenever I see Tom to this day. The cheeky bastard.

What else...

I think we opened when Alice Donut played there in between sessions with Jello Biafra and Al Jerkenson up in Chicago for a Lard album...

There's a great b&w photo on the cover of one of the Neurotic Box cassettes from a show they played there. Kind of an overhead crowd & stage thing. I remember meticulously going over that shot at the time and thinking "That's me. That's so and so. that's the other guy" and so on, eventually picking out the majority of the audience by name.
Doubt I could do so now.

[Art Croyle]

I remember seeing Steve Kowalski, Datura Seeds, Modern Vending and also the Vulgar Boatmen there as well. My band, Positively Subterranean played there several times on multiple band gigs with some of the bands I've mentioned and some I've probably forgotten. I recall that the sometime doorman dressed in drag, maybe he hung out at the bar downstairs. If I remember right, you could bring your own booze in (or maybe you couldn't and I just snuck it in anyway). I used to have a tape we made of us playing at the Block on a boombox set up right in front of the stage. At some point during one of our more energetic songs, some people at the front started slam dancing and someone had sent the boombox flying across the floor to the other side of the room. Someone not dancing was kind enough to bring it back and set it up front. The best part of the recording was that, because you get this tremolo effect as the tiny mic in the boombox was sent flying. I had the cassette until my last move a few years back where somehow it was lost, as with all of our other tapes.

[Steve Schuler]

Bastard! Find those tapes. History has been lost!!!
Actually, it is probably best. It would probably be like watching an old episode of the "Six Million Dollar Man". Was cool when you where 8 yo, but if you watch it today you realize how bad it actually was.

Art Croyle said:

I remember seeing Steve Kowalski, Datura Seeds, Modern Vending and also the Vulgar Boatmen there as well. My band, Positively Subterranean played there several times on multiple band gigs with some of the bands I've mentioned and some I've probably forgotten. I recall that the sometime doorman dressed in drag, maybe he hung out at the bar downstairs. If I remember right, you could bring your own booze in (or maybe you couldn't and I just snuck it in anyway). I used to have a tape we made of us playing at the Block on a boombox set up right in front of the stage. At some point during one of our more energetic songs, some people at the front started slam dancing and someone had sent the boombox flying across the floor to the other side of the room. Someone not dancing was kind enough to bring it back and set it up front. The best part of the recording was that, because you get this tremolo effect as the tiny mic in the boombox was sent flying. I had the cassette until my last move a few years back where somehow it was lost, as with all of our other tapes.

[Steve Schuler]

Old flyer from Block-Aid...circa 1989(?)...