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.

[PJ Christie]

All right my story for The Block.

I was playing in The Blacklisted and we had a tape and would play all around Indiana, although mostly in Indy. We booked a show at The Block, somehow, and we had another band on the bill called Steve Kowalski. Now I had heard their demo recorded at the Engineering school at IU and didn't think much of it, of course in the meantime they had become the band that we all know now.

So I went over to Peaches, I think that was the record store Tom Shover was working and we had the discussion over who would open for who. It was our second Muncie show, we were in the local record store and had played there before, so we agreed to split the money in half and that they would play first.

Needless to say they completely blew us off the stage. I never felt so stupid following any band since. It was seriously like why bother?

But the interesting thing other than that was that the venue was holding a theme night, and this night was Goth Night. Nobody told us so I was left with a great misunderstanding of what the Muncie scene was like. From then on I said about Muncie, it's the kind of place that makes you want to wash your hands.

Also it's where I first met Scott Hall I believe.

[Sean O'Neil]

[Mark Urschel]

The first time I was in the building that would eventually be know as the Block was when my friend Jeff Crowder lived there. Jeff lived in the back of the building on the same floor as the room that bands eventually played in. His apartment, if you could call it that, consisted of a bedroom and a large space. The space was about as big as the room in the front of the building. I think this was on the 3rd floor. Jeff was an artist and he began creating these giant paintings in his big room. Giant, like 20 or 30 feet long and as tall as would fit in the room. Then he started making these giant bugs that littered the space amongst the giant paintings. It was a really strange place to visit.

At some point bands started playing in the front room on the 3rd floor. I remember a really great Atomic Butterfly show. Right to Left played. Bramble Grit. Tragic Mulato. There were other events besides bands. I went to a poetry reading there once. At some point the room was known as the Greylight. Then the Block.

My band, Modern Vending played here on a number of occasions. We played with Rapeman and their drummer, Ray Washam, played on top of a scaffolding that seemed to be 20 feet high. On another memorable occasion, our guitar player was carried out to the stage in a casket at the insistence of some locals and emerged sporting fish nets, BVDs, and a misshapen yam. Wow, this even freaked me out.

Here are a couple photos my wife, Heather, took of Modern Vending playing the block in 1990.

[Linda B]

I remember some great shows there circa 87/88 when it was the Greylight. Didn't Jeff Green live there, as well as Crowder? Also, I think React to Art moved there in 87 as well as the annual architecture party (aack -- what was that called?).

[Mark Urschel]

Bozarts Ball.

Alot of the local music scene migrated to the Graylight / Block after the No Bar closed.

[suade99]

The Beaux Arts ball... I have the poster for the show that Adrian Belew played! And, taped to the corner is Adrian's autograph... Each year that party was THE party to be at... all the Architecture students and all... my dorm roomie and Valpo native Jay Troy and I went to all the Beaux Arts Balls in the early 80's.

[Ian Rans]

ahh, and the great Joe Seltzin (sp?) lived in a closet on the second floor!

a lot of great memories in that building. Mark Patrick was in charge of the joint when it was known as "the Block." the Gra-light was more of an arts space with bands.. if memory serves.

[Bill Zink]

The Belgian Waffles! were also on that bill with Vending and Rapeman. I think I told that story back on the Hello Muncie blog post, so no need to repeat it . . .

[PhilG]

That was Joe Zelson who was one of the second-floor residents in the Block. Smallest little space. His piano took up about 20% of the room -- or so it seemed. Cooked food on a hot plate. Once, during a party Joe lost his collection of Belly Button Lint when someone dumped it down a drain ( the collection was stored in a mayonaise jar if I remember right). Joe got frantic, started tearing the pipes apart. Someone calmed him down by saying, "Joe! Joe, don't worry. There's always more where that came from." Simple enough, but the story's always been very Zen to me.

I don't think Joe Z was the only one who lived on the second floor at that time. Still, most people who rented there used the area as art studio space.

Anyone remember the name of the out-of-town band whose lead singer was dry-humping her tuba during their show????

Of course, thinking about the Block also makes me remember the "Shake and Bake" shows that combined the energy of the Mystic Grooveys and Oxford's Love Cowboys.

[Bill Zink]

Tragic Mulatto had a tuba player. I didn't see that show, however.

[Sean O'Neil]

Jeff Crowder also had a lot to do with starting the COC/Dead Pigeon. I'll start a thread on that place in a bit. He did a lot of the hands-on gritty work in there. I think he built the restrooms, if I remember right. Here's a Crowder story:

When I finally met him, he had already been around the scene forever and a bit older than me. He was a bit abrasive, opinionated and intimidating, especially for a guy of his stature. He seemed to be constantly covered in paint. Anyway, one day a bunch of us were in the dank basement of the COC (which was on S. Walnut downtown ... Crowder was living across the street in the top of a skinny building I think he was renovating or something). There was trouble with the main line of the sewer line for the old building (it probably hadn't been used in decades) ... it was totally clogged. He busted open the pipe, which traveled down the wall of the basement about halfway from the floor to the ceiling. It was completely packed with solid waste. Crowder looked at that, said something accurate like "Well, shit!" or something, rolled his sleeve up and slid his bare arm into the pipe all the way past his elbow through the sludge ... I guess just to see what was going on in there.

I saw some hardcore bands in that building, but that was probably the most hardcore act I saw there.

[Robert Scally]

Wow, I guess missed the golden age of the Patterson Block.

I worked with various bands that occupied four different rooms on the 2nd floor at various times and then the 3rd floor (though not the ballroom which was locked up at the time) in era from 1977 to early 1983.

We did a ton of recording and rehearsing there and this was where I stored my gear for my light and sound equipment rental business. In those days a really creepy Ite named Charley lived in the building. He smelled bad and the site of him terrifed even the strongest women.

I fondly remember the gentlemanly old attorney who owned the building and was happy to rent to all the odd musical types.

The PB was a sort of vortex of some aspects of Muncie underground culture at the time. Just to the left (as you fase the building) of the long, narrow staircase that led up to the 2nd floor was the Mark IV Tap Room. This was one of Muncie's primary gay bars. The cops often kept both varieties of queers (musical and sexual and some who were both) under surveilence from the parking across the street.

One of my most vivid memories of what kind of place Muncie is/was was watching the robed Klansmen march down the pedestrian mall in broad daylight in celebration of Hitler's birthday.

Ah, Munice.

(P.S. If anyone really cares, I'll try to unearth some photos from that long ago epoch, digitize them and post them here)