What's/where's your favorite live venue? [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

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Jimmy C
10-22-2005, 06:29 AM
I know there are some fellow New Yawkers in here, so they would probably be familiar with one or more of my choices...

My overall pick would be IMAC (Inter-Media Arts Center) in Huntington... an old converted balcony theater. Mostly Jazz shows, you can even bring drinks back to your seat! Acoustic Alchemy was just there (I missed 'em), but I wouldn't mind seeing Stanley Clarke in November. Plenty 'o restaurants within a short walk.

Next, there is "Paula Jean's Supper Club" in Setauket. Half-way decent 'Nawlins-type food, and some live Blues while you dine. Some un-amped stuff as well. Food is a bit on the high side, you're essentially paying for the music.

Finally, you'll always have a good time at "Jones Beach" in Wantagh. Relatively "big" shows there - Van Halen, Aerosmith, Duran Duran, etc. Not sure of the seating capacity (maybe 5K?), but it's outside and right on the water.

Well, those are my picks. Anyone else?

hifitommy
10-23-2005, 10:05 AM
in LA. the room holds 200 people and you can see the whiskers on mose allisons face when he playas there. you can get a light meal there and a beer, water, wine, or soda. a true bargain at $25 a head.

ive seen ahmad jamal, mose, blossom, anthony wilson, and too many others to recall.

http://jazzbakery.com

Jimmy C
10-24-2005, 01:36 PM
in LA. the room holds 200 people and you can see the whiskers on mose allisons face when he playas there. you can get a light meal there and a beer, water, wine, or soda. a true bargain at $25 a head.

ive seen ahmad jamal, mose, blossom, anthony wilson, and too many others to recall.

http://jazzbakery.com

...about those small venues. Probably the eating and drinking :*) In all honesty, I can't think of a better night with wifey and friends than listening to live Jazz while eating stuffed oysters prepared six different ways. That "Paula Jeans" even has Chimay and Duvel!

How's the Bellari? I want to try some different tubes as well (saw the AA post)

L.A. area, eh? I was in your neck of the woods over the summer. What... you mean most people visiting Vegas DON'T drive to Los Angeles to see the Brady Bunch house?

Err... yup, I did.

Woochifer
10-24-2005, 03:09 PM
I second the Jazz Bakery. Fabulous venue that books great acts and keeps ticket prices very reasonable. I believe that the venue operates as a nonprofit foundation, and they did a great job at retrofitting a space that used to serve as an industrial bakery. Even though the venue itself is a brick building, they did a great job with treating the room and balancing out the acoustics. I saw the late great Elvin Jones there a couple of years ago, and sat about 10' from the legendary drummer.

Up in the Bay Area, the Fillmore is a veritable shrine and a nice venue in its own right. The list of musicians who've played the place represent a who's who of rock history. And the hallways have a gallery of concert posters encompassing a huge range of music genres. One of the concerts featured a twin bill of Miles Davis playing with the Grateful Dead. One of the long-standing traditions at the Fillmore is providing a bucket of free apples at the entrance for anyone who's got the munchies. (I'm sure that it was popular whenever the Dead played the Fillmore)

Bimbo 365 Club over in SF's North Beach is another long-time favorite of mine. It's supposedly the oldest continuously operating supper club in the country (dates back to the late-30s), and it just oozes gangster nostalgia. This place ain't retro because it's real. By far the best venue I've been to for big bands and lounge acts.

Another favorite in SF is the Great American Music Hall. This venue dates back to the early-1900s with its ornate Victorian flourishes and balconies. Was featured in the Boz Scaggs Greatest Hits Live DVD if anyone wants to see the interior.

A couple of other favorite venues are The Green Mill in Chicago, and the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. Both places are former speakeasies with a lot of character, and great music bookings.

Hawkeye
10-24-2005, 03:57 PM
One of the, if not THE, best venues, for sound, I've ever been to was the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, CT. I saw Yes and Alan Parsons there a few years ago, sponsored in part by DTS Theater Systems, the accoustics there were absolutely superb. I see now its now succombed to corporate sponsorhip and is now called The Chevrolet Theater.

Jimmy C
10-24-2005, 04:21 PM
I second the Jazz Bakery. Fabulous venue that books great acts and keeps ticket prices very reasonable. I believe that the venue operates as a nonprofit foundation, and they did a great job at retrofitting a space that used to serve as an industrial bakery. Even though the venue itself is a brick building, they did a great job with treating the room and balancing out the acoustics. I saw the late great Elvin Jones there a couple of years ago, and sat about 10' from the legendary drummer.

Up in the Bay Area, the Fillmore is a veritable shrine and a nice venue in its own right. The list of musicians who've played the place represent a who's who of rock history. And the hallways have a gallery of concert posters encompassing a huge range of music genres. One of the concerts featured a twin bill of Miles Davis playing with the Grateful Dead. One of the long-standing traditions at the Fillmore is providing a bucket of free apples at the entrance for anyone who's got the munchies. (I'm sure that it was popular whenever the Dead played the Fillmore)

Bimbo 365 Club over in SF's North Beach is another long-time favorite of mine. It's supposedly the oldest continuously operating supper club in the country (dates back to the late-30s), and it just oozes gangster nostalgia. This place ain't retro because it's real. By far the best venue I've been to for big bands and lounge acts.

Another favorite in SF is the Great American Music Hall. This venue dates back to the early-1900s with its ornate Victorian flourishes and balconies. Was featured in the Boz Scaggs Greatest Hits Live DVD if anyone wants to see the interior.

A couple of other favorite venues are The Green Mill in Chicago, and the Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco. Both places are former speakeasies with a lot of character, and great music bookings.

...Miles playing WITH the Dead, or do you mean two shows on the same night? Yeah, either way, I would pay money to see that show... a bit difficult to see at this juncture. I had my chances - blew 'em all. Wasn't into either at the time.

Live and learn, I suppose.

My sis and bro-in-law are in the restaurant biz, they're going to San Fran (in Nov.) to eat for a week... I have never been there. Looks pretty wild...

Woochifer
10-25-2005, 11:25 AM
...Miles playing WITH the Dead, or do you mean two shows on the same night? Yeah, either way, I would pay money to see that show... a bit difficult to see at this juncture. I had my chances - blew 'em all. Wasn't into either at the time.

Live and learn, I suppose.

My sis and bro-in-law are in the restaurant biz, they're going to San Fran (in Nov.) to eat for a week... I have never been there. Looks pretty wild...

Not sure if Miles was onstage with the Dead, but given that the concert occurred right at the outset of Miles' flirtings with electric instruments and rock rhythms, it would not surprise me at all to see the two on stage together. For all of the notoriety that their fans brought to the Dead, the band itself has always had a reputation as one of the great jam bands. Their diverse playlists and long drawn out jam sessions were legendary. The only band that knew as many songs as the Dead and could almost change their playlist from night to night might have been the E Street Band in their heyday.

I have seen Miles live before (in the late-80s), and the way that he did his live arrangements and built them around extended jams/improvisations would have fit in perfectly with the Dead. Would have been quite a show indeed, and epitomizes why the Fillmore has such a legendary and iconic status in rock history. Even now, national touring bands clamor to play the place, even though it holds less than 1,000 people and they might be able to fill any of the larger venues elsewhere in the Bay Area.

Hope your sis and her husband have a great time out in SF. It's quite a town, and definitely one of the top spots anywhere for dining out. A lot of the best restaurants are out in the neighborhoods away from downtown and the touristy areas. The town does roll up early though, and if anything the whole dotcom fiasco did transform a lot of unique neighborhoods into generic anytowns, and priced a lot of residents and businesses out of the city (doing a lot of damage to the city's live music scene in the process).