Peabodys Dies
The long-standing Cleveland rock club Peabodys is closing its doors on Halloween. Scheduled shows past that date are moving to the Agora; it's not immediately clear to me if the people who run Peabodys now run the Agora or if the promoter for those shows just struck a new deal.
When the Odeon closed back in 2005, I was able to pick my favorite five shows pretty easily. Here I don't need to pick, because between the old Flats location and the newer Cleveland State room I only went to Peabodys fourteen times. Of those, five were to see Freekbass, who for many years held the record for "band I'd seen the most times" until The Black Keys passed them in 2012. The vast majority of the other shows I went to were simply not very good.
The club's shift to almost exclusively metal bands didn't help. I enjoy some metal but very few of the recent up and coming bands do much for me so there was rarely a reason for me to go to Peabodys, and it only made occasionally appearances on my concert calendar in recent years. The last time I walked through the doors of the club was back in 2007 when my ex and I ran into exilejedi at a VNV Nation show. Clearly its departure won't have much effect on my concert going experiences.
In any event, here are my notes on the shows I saw at Peabodys.
Peabodys in the Flats
Freakbass w/3 Penny Pussy - The day after my 21st birthday, way back on Thanksgiving of 1998. Phil dragged me to this show, and without it I'm not sure I would have ended up being a frequent concert attendee, so in some ways it is the most important show I've ever been to. Freakbass stilled spelled his name with an 'a' back then. 3 Penny Pussy was the most profane band I have ever seen; their opening song included multiple repetitions of the line "I wouldn't suck my dick if I were you". Actually, that might have been the only line in the song.
Red Elvises - I believe this was the first night I met darlox.
Peabodys at CSU
Geronimo's Cadillac w/Qwasi Qwa - The Cadillac was my friend Tre's band. They were pretty good, albeit a little jam bandish for my taste.
Slash's Snakepit - Slash is the greatest rock guitarist I have ever seen live, and has a magnetic stage presence; it is impossible not to watch him when he's on stage. Mike & I had a great time.
WRUW Metal Benefit with Domestic Violence, Bioaxident, Environmental - I don't remember the bands at all, but I remember hanging out with a whole bunch of my favorite WRUW metalheads.
LA Guns w/Mimsie & Shock Cinema - I honestly did not remember that I had seen LA Guns until I was putting this list together.
Freekbass - All the Freekbass shows more or less merge together in my mind as loud raucous good times. Most of the time I was with pussygalore66; once I was with JenW, other times I went by myself. Over the years the quality got lower, and finally they had a disastrous Grog Shop show that turned me off them.
Freekbass
Mustard Plug w/Digger - Mustard Plus is another band I saw a bunch of times; this particular show doesn't stand out in my memory as much as their Springfest appearance or their gig at the Euclid Tavern, or the sad last time I saw them at the Agora Ballroom.
Freekbass
Stiff Little Fingers w/Brain Failure, Tokyo Storm Warning - Jean and I went to show either when we were doing Punk Rawk Delirium together or right near it. My favorite Irish punks put on a much better show than the nostalgia gig we were expecting. We also got to watch 4 skinny teenagers attack a towering musclebound Marine. Earlier in the show the Marine had been throwing his girlfriend up in the air and catching her. I don't remember what triggered the fight, but when the bouncers went to intervene, they saw the Marine cleaning the floor with them and opted to stay the fuck out of it until it was done. It's still the biggest fight I've seen a show.
Liquid Soul - My brother Phil was in Liquid Soul for a few years ago; this was the first and best of the two times I saw him.
Freekbass
VNV Nation w/And One - My ex wanted to go to this show, and who was I to say no? It was good, but not great.
Of these, Stiff Little Fingers, Slash's Snakepit and that first Freakbass show were the clear favorites. And that's it. If nothing else, this is a pretty clear indication that clubs do prefer certain kinds of music, and Peabodys general music wasn't my thing. Still, they were an important part of the scene for many years, just not my scene. R.I.P.
When the Odeon closed back in 2005, I was able to pick my favorite five shows pretty easily. Here I don't need to pick, because between the old Flats location and the newer Cleveland State room I only went to Peabodys fourteen times. Of those, five were to see Freekbass, who for many years held the record for "band I'd seen the most times" until The Black Keys passed them in 2012. The vast majority of the other shows I went to were simply not very good.
The club's shift to almost exclusively metal bands didn't help. I enjoy some metal but very few of the recent up and coming bands do much for me so there was rarely a reason for me to go to Peabodys, and it only made occasionally appearances on my concert calendar in recent years. The last time I walked through the doors of the club was back in 2007 when my ex and I ran into exilejedi at a VNV Nation show. Clearly its departure won't have much effect on my concert going experiences.
In any event, here are my notes on the shows I saw at Peabodys.
Peabodys in the Flats
Freakbass w/3 Penny Pussy - The day after my 21st birthday, way back on Thanksgiving of 1998. Phil dragged me to this show, and without it I'm not sure I would have ended up being a frequent concert attendee, so in some ways it is the most important show I've ever been to. Freakbass stilled spelled his name with an 'a' back then. 3 Penny Pussy was the most profane band I have ever seen; their opening song included multiple repetitions of the line "I wouldn't suck my dick if I were you". Actually, that might have been the only line in the song.
Red Elvises - I believe this was the first night I met darlox.
Peabodys at CSU
Geronimo's Cadillac w/Qwasi Qwa - The Cadillac was my friend Tre's band. They were pretty good, albeit a little jam bandish for my taste.
Slash's Snakepit - Slash is the greatest rock guitarist I have ever seen live, and has a magnetic stage presence; it is impossible not to watch him when he's on stage. Mike & I had a great time.
WRUW Metal Benefit with Domestic Violence, Bioaxident, Environmental - I don't remember the bands at all, but I remember hanging out with a whole bunch of my favorite WRUW metalheads.
LA Guns w/Mimsie & Shock Cinema - I honestly did not remember that I had seen LA Guns until I was putting this list together.
Freekbass - All the Freekbass shows more or less merge together in my mind as loud raucous good times. Most of the time I was with pussygalore66; once I was with JenW, other times I went by myself. Over the years the quality got lower, and finally they had a disastrous Grog Shop show that turned me off them.
Freekbass
Mustard Plug w/Digger - Mustard Plus is another band I saw a bunch of times; this particular show doesn't stand out in my memory as much as their Springfest appearance or their gig at the Euclid Tavern, or the sad last time I saw them at the Agora Ballroom.
Freekbass
Stiff Little Fingers w/Brain Failure, Tokyo Storm Warning - Jean and I went to show either when we were doing Punk Rawk Delirium together or right near it. My favorite Irish punks put on a much better show than the nostalgia gig we were expecting. We also got to watch 4 skinny teenagers attack a towering musclebound Marine. Earlier in the show the Marine had been throwing his girlfriend up in the air and catching her. I don't remember what triggered the fight, but when the bouncers went to intervene, they saw the Marine cleaning the floor with them and opted to stay the fuck out of it until it was done. It's still the biggest fight I've seen a show.
Liquid Soul - My brother Phil was in Liquid Soul for a few years ago; this was the first and best of the two times I saw him.
Freekbass
VNV Nation w/And One - My ex wanted to go to this show, and who was I to say no? It was good, but not great.
Of these, Stiff Little Fingers, Slash's Snakepit and that first Freakbass show were the clear favorites. And that's it. If nothing else, this is a pretty clear indication that clubs do prefer certain kinds of music, and Peabodys general music wasn't my thing. Still, they were an important part of the scene for many years, just not my scene. R.I.P.