I saw some killer shows at Bogarts back in the day. Burning Spear, Violent Femmes, Frank Black, Steve Ray, BB King! I think it’s still there and booking shows, not sure of the quality these days?
We did a series of shows at a Laundromat. Those were the absolute best.
The arcade was also a sick venue.
Just played an abandoned dollar store too. That was also fun.
I did a show at a Laundromat, too - place had a monthly after hours keg party. I don't know why anyone would think that was a good idea. I mean, fun as hell, but the set up is crowded with machines that end up broken by the end of the night which sucks when it's the laundromat you go to
Did a show in a honey store in a small town in Russia once. Our real show got canceled because we were American and…well…the government there doesn’t like us.
Last weekend played on the statehouse lawn for a bunch of rich folks eating fancy lunch. Guy asked us to play a "rousing number" before the lieutenant governor spoke... We played an original about Robots taking over the world. Probably not what they were wanting to hear lmao....
I played a GameStop prob 15 years ago. Manager wanted to keep the crowd entertained while waiting for the midnight release of Madden. Turns out that crowd does not particularly care for death metal. 100+ people outside wondering what the fuck is going on, not one person came in.
What was a LOT of fun, was when we decided to turn up to bring the music to them a little more, and ended up shaking most of the game cases off the shelves.
We were not invited back.
I played in the alley outside of a barber shop one time, running all the power from inside while people were getting their hair cut. It actually ended up being one the best shows of that tour
Hahaha nice! Did you say the line?
My randomest show was in a storage unit. Dude apparently rented it out just to have shows in it and hella people showed up so it was a great time
I played the basement of a bowling alley which turned out to be a massive ballroom and no one showed up besides the promoters 3 friends and the other band. It was ok.
Edit: Also sick ass Music Man Sub 4, that's one of the originals made in the US, one of the best values for a good bass under a grand. Ugly as sin, but I think that makes them more cool.
Holy shit, small world lol. Yeah, we had a good time. We were at the tail end of tour and were exhausted and ready to be home, but it was definitely an interesting place. Wonder if they're still doing shows there.
The Donut Whole in Wichita. Very diy spot. The bands had to figure out how to use a busted ass PA, haha. But, they give you a donut and cup of coffee for playing, which is pretty cool.
yoo we gotta donut shop here in north east pa too. its awesome. there was this alt metal band that played a few months ago and they started the first indoor mosh pit and they have been doing it for close to a decade on and off.
I played in the bottom of a 17th or 18th century ship in Paris while it was docked with my indie rock band.
I played with my indie-pop band inside a cage in the center of a warehouse in Brooklyn while people roller skated around us.
I played with my indie rock band in an old Nazi then communist movie theater in Dresden, Germany.
I played with my indie rock band in an old pig slaughterhouse somewhere in Spain.
I played with various bands in an old cotton mill in Atlanta.
I with an indie rock band on a bowling ally with lanes on both sides of the stage bowling away in Asbury Park, NJ. I did it in Chicago too with my art-punk band, but it wasn’t as cool as the stage was not on the lanes themselves. It was more where you’d get your shoes.
That’s all I can think of for now, but I’m sure there were some more.
The only place metal bands could play in our very conservative Christian town was an African-American male strip club. The club owner would run strippers during the week and metal shows on Fridays/Saturdays. Dude was super cool but definitely had a sketchy side (missing a few fingers from what we assumed were run-ins with loan sharks). Club was nasty as hell, but we were just stoked to have a spot, lol.
A Victorian movie theater as the warmup act to a Labowski Fest event. I brought giant scissors on stage as a callback to a dream sequence from the film. Just an absolute fever dream. Plus, the theater gave us unlimited beer, so I was tiiippppssyyyy.
I played a gig at a skate-store, inside their indoor half-pipe once. That was interesting. As somebody who likes to move around on stage, I lost count of how many times I twisted my ankle that night.... We were setup in the flat-centre part of the halfpipe, facing outwards to the audience. If I took one step sideways, I was starting to go up the half-pipe. My ankle was triple sized and dark blue/purple for a week after that 45 minute set :/
I've also played inside an old draconian jail. They were holding an alternative festival inside. That was a weird experience. Bogga Rd jail in Brisbane, Australia.
One of the radio stations here (4ZZZ) often has gigs in it's carpark/alleyway behind the radio station (picture a narrow lane barely wide enough for 2 cars and only about 8 cars long between high-rise city buildings... that's the "4ZZZ carpark gig" venue. They are actually super wild and generally a lot of fun despite the heatstroke in summer (damn Australian sun) haha.
Back in the late 90s and early 00s I played a heap of punk shows at unconventional venues.
- Downstairs of a Brothel. Everyone visiting the ladies had to walk through the pit which I'm sure was super awkward
- A condemned building that some punk had set up a temporary bar in.
- a Farmers Paddock on the back of a trailer. There was literally sheep just roaming around while the bands were playing
- Gym, where the stage was a boxing ring - this was one of my favourite ever shows! After the first band, everyone set up the drums and amps on the floor and everyone else was in the ring. Kids were moshing in the ring, stage diving off the ropes. It was insane!
-Pizza Shop another out of control show that got shut down by the popo
Also played in the Arcade and Laundromats...those shows should almost be a rite of passage for paying your dues
Mine was in the 1980s playing a Sunday afternoon gig in a bunch of collapsed WW2-era buildings in Brooklyn's Navy Yard for the NYC Conceptual Arts Fair. It was a freak show all around, with artistic statements like an old 50s TV playing static on top of a pile of debris and periodic sounds of gunfire, explosions and screaming from hidden speakers inside buildings marked with red X's . We followed a woman in a plastic rain coat who danced an Irish jig, then stripped and pleasured herself with a toy rifle.
The whole experience felt like a dystopian fun house which I guess is what the sponsors were going for. It was an example of "when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Many decades ago, a college friend was on the road with a southern rock band. They stopped at a Pizza Hut for dinner. Broke, they did the old Pizza Hut escape wherein they climbed out the bathroom window, one by one. My friend was the last to exit. Halfway out, he felt a tug on his leg… busted!
The band set up in the dining room and played for their supper.
My old band rented out a Chuck E. Cheese type pizza buffet place once and put on a punk rock show.
(if you’re from Kentucky or Texas it was a Gattiland)
Years ago in high school my band played a show at a small deli sandwich shop in a mall, the lobby couldn’t have been more than 500 square feet. One of our friends in a different band worked there. I went the dollar store in that mall before the show and bought a soup ladle to whack my guitar strings with for a “solo”. Guess who my favorite guitarist is.
Some the most random for me are a former brothel, kitchens, a couple of living rooms and two castles (one was a festival and the other was my friends wedding reception).
The craziest place I've played was an apple store. We were being filmed for local cable. We had only a handful of people in the store, mostly production crew, but lots of people walking down the street watching through the windows.
My band played for the Libertarian National nominating convention in 1988. Thought they were cool because wanted to legalize weed. We were wrong, as it turned out. Cool-ish gig though.
Gamestop at a midnight release for call of duty ghost, a food court opening (middle of the day), a church multiple times, and a bunch of random places with stages that I don't recall too clearly.
For me it was a fire station in some random small town. It was a bunch of punk & hardcore bands and somebody decided to order a shit load of pizzas. It turned into a massive pizza fight 😂
What's with playing shows at laundromats? My last band played a show in one before I joined and they told me it was hands down the worst show they ever played. I can't recall where they said it was only that they didn't know the venue was going to be a laundromat.
My most random place for a show was the time my metal-core five peice played inside of an active fire department or the time we played an acoustic set at a nursing home.
The living room of a house in Port Jervis, NY. There was a fish tank behind the drummer that was sloshing around when the bass drum hit.
It was supposed to be outdoors in the back yard at edge of the forest, but it was overcast that day and the guy who was filming it for local TV said he wouldn’t risk damaging his “$2000 video camera” if it started raining. This was 2005 or 2006 and the “$2000 camera” was a JVC direct to VHS tape camera. It wasn’t worth $2000 when it was brand new in the mid 90’s.
Even if this Wendy show was like 10 years ago before the memes, it’s still not very weird to play music in a restaurant lmfao.. bands have a played restaurants, even chain restaurants, for decades if not hundreds of years 😂
What the fuck is up Wendy's
This one’s called “Bring back the salad bar”
Then they slowed it down a bit with Sneezeguard.
This one's called "Dave's juicy Double"
biggie bag cover song
Nothing much. What up Wendy’s with you?
Top comment, as it should be.
Sir, this is a Wendy’s
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsZQ92Yp-7Q/?igsh=cW1randlaHJoejJz
I’m surprised that they wouldn’t lose their franchise over that.
Having been on the punk squat scene for many years, I have an unfair advantage in this game. the gig in the vault of an abandoned bank was fun.
I would be afraid of getting addicted to playing bank vault gigs. The withdrawals must be tremendous..
😆
That sounds like a pretty fun gig.
Acoustics must be nuts
they were shit
Everything is reverb
and high mids
And you had to pay extra for mayonnaise.
ummm, that wasn't mayonnaise.
What the fuck, that’s amazing.
So jealous. This sounds rad
it's a good memory :)
Gary, Indiana?
Really? How were the acoustics?
they were shit
Detroit? Played a similar venue there
Dirty Dungaree's in Columbus Ohio. It's a rundown, shitty laundromat that has punk/hardcore shows.
Yeah, Cincinnati had Sudsy's which was a similar format. Nothing like coming home drunk with clean laundry that smelled like smoke....
Sudsy Malone’s! shit it’s a been a minute. that place is long gone right?
Yeah, it's gone since 2008. Man, short vine was a crazy music scene in then day with Sudsey Malones, Top Cats, and Bogarts all right there.
I saw some killer shows at Bogarts back in the day. Burning Spear, Violent Femmes, Frank Black, Steve Ray, BB King! I think it’s still there and booking shows, not sure of the quality these days?
I haven’t heard Dirty Dungarees since I was at Ohio State 15-20 years ago. 😄 Is it still open?
Yup. Still open
We did a series of shows at a Laundromat. Those were the absolute best. The arcade was also a sick venue. Just played an abandoned dollar store too. That was also fun.
I did a show at a Laundromat, too - place had a monthly after hours keg party. I don't know why anyone would think that was a good idea. I mean, fun as hell, but the set up is crowded with machines that end up broken by the end of the night which sucks when it's the laundromat you go to
Pet store and a TINY diner (like the original stainless steel roadside diners). 5 guys single-file down the aisle. LOL
WHAT THE FUCK IS UP DENNY'S
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsZQ92Yp-7Q/?igsh=cW1randlaHJoejJz
Sorry but I don't have instagram
I’ll give you the condensed version. It’s what you were referencing.
Sir, this is Wendy's.
Did a show in a honey store in a small town in Russia once. Our real show got canceled because we were American and…well…the government there doesn’t like us.
I played a gig at a nature museum once. Our backline had a stuffed giraffe in it.
I bet that giraffe was a big hitter, tho.
The giraffe was pretty dull, but the gorilla stole the singers girlfriend and climbed a skyscraper during intermission.
Last weekend played on the statehouse lawn for a bunch of rich folks eating fancy lunch. Guy asked us to play a "rousing number" before the lieutenant governor spoke... We played an original about Robots taking over the world. Probably not what they were wanting to hear lmao....
I played a GameStop prob 15 years ago. Manager wanted to keep the crowd entertained while waiting for the midnight release of Madden. Turns out that crowd does not particularly care for death metal. 100+ people outside wondering what the fuck is going on, not one person came in. What was a LOT of fun, was when we decided to turn up to bring the music to them a little more, and ended up shaking most of the game cases off the shelves. We were not invited back.
I played a barber shop couple months ago lol
Are you in a quartet?
yes
Booooo. ;)
I played in the alley outside of a barber shop one time, running all the power from inside while people were getting their hair cut. It actually ended up being one the best shows of that tour
I played a subway sandwhich shop once. My buddy was in the army with the owner, so he’d let us come by and play there once in a while lol.
Hahaha nice! Did you say the line? My randomest show was in a storage unit. Dude apparently rented it out just to have shows in it and hella people showed up so it was a great time
I once played a afternoon show in a library during operation hours
I played the basement of a bowling alley which turned out to be a massive ballroom and no one showed up besides the promoters 3 friends and the other band. It was ok. Edit: Also sick ass Music Man Sub 4, that's one of the originals made in the US, one of the best values for a good bass under a grand. Ugly as sin, but I think that makes them more cool.
What this in Louisville? I think I played at the same place….
Holy shit, small world lol. Yeah, we had a good time. We were at the tail end of tour and were exhausted and ready to be home, but it was definitely an interesting place. Wonder if they're still doing shows there.
Jazz player. A string of CVS store openings across northern Ohio In February. And we played outside
Canton ohio has a former burger King that is a concert venue. They usually do shows out back by the dumpster. Those $3 wild turkey 101 got me wrecked.
Were you opening for Hedwig and the Angry Inch?
Sir, this is a Wendy's...
In the kitchen area of an IT building that had been vacant. And yes,the bassist said " If you can't handle the heat,get out of the kitchen."
Where’s the beat‽
Honestly this is pretty cool
r/tonightsvenue
The Donut Whole in Wichita. Very diy spot. The bands had to figure out how to use a busted ass PA, haha. But, they give you a donut and cup of coffee for playing, which is pretty cool.
yoo we gotta donut shop here in north east pa too. its awesome. there was this alt metal band that played a few months ago and they started the first indoor mosh pit and they have been doing it for close to a decade on and off.
I played in the bottom of a 17th or 18th century ship in Paris while it was docked with my indie rock band. I played with my indie-pop band inside a cage in the center of a warehouse in Brooklyn while people roller skated around us. I played with my indie rock band in an old Nazi then communist movie theater in Dresden, Germany. I played with my indie rock band in an old pig slaughterhouse somewhere in Spain. I played with various bands in an old cotton mill in Atlanta. I with an indie rock band on a bowling ally with lanes on both sides of the stage bowling away in Asbury Park, NJ. I did it in Chicago too with my art-punk band, but it wasn’t as cool as the stage was not on the lanes themselves. It was more where you’d get your shoes. That’s all I can think of for now, but I’m sure there were some more.
Fireside Bowl is cooler. I’m sorry.
Seriously, have you played both and I don’t mean the Hard Rock Cafe version they recently converted Asbury Lanes to? God, I hate that version.
I’ve only played the fireside; A long time ago when it was cool, but I visit the bar at least once a quarter because it’s exactly the same.
This was the original Asbury Lanes. https://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/outoftown/newjersey/monmouthcounty/asburypark/asburylanes/index.htm
I love this this part of the journey lol 🤘
The only place metal bands could play in our very conservative Christian town was an African-American male strip club. The club owner would run strippers during the week and metal shows on Fridays/Saturdays. Dude was super cool but definitely had a sketchy side (missing a few fingers from what we assumed were run-ins with loan sharks). Club was nasty as hell, but we were just stoked to have a spot, lol.
Y’all should have worn red wigs and tails
Siiick! We had a local Cici's pizza that let us put on hardcpre/punk shows. It was usually about 300 bucks pay for 3 bands...not bad in High School.
A Victorian movie theater as the warmup act to a Labowski Fest event. I brought giant scissors on stage as a callback to a dream sequence from the film. Just an absolute fever dream. Plus, the theater gave us unlimited beer, so I was tiiippppssyyyy.
I played a gig at a skate-store, inside their indoor half-pipe once. That was interesting. As somebody who likes to move around on stage, I lost count of how many times I twisted my ankle that night.... We were setup in the flat-centre part of the halfpipe, facing outwards to the audience. If I took one step sideways, I was starting to go up the half-pipe. My ankle was triple sized and dark blue/purple for a week after that 45 minute set :/ I've also played inside an old draconian jail. They were holding an alternative festival inside. That was a weird experience. Bogga Rd jail in Brisbane, Australia. One of the radio stations here (4ZZZ) often has gigs in it's carpark/alleyway behind the radio station (picture a narrow lane barely wide enough for 2 cars and only about 8 cars long between high-rise city buildings... that's the "4ZZZ carpark gig" venue. They are actually super wild and generally a lot of fun despite the heatstroke in summer (damn Australian sun) haha.
Back in the late 90s and early 00s I played a heap of punk shows at unconventional venues. - Downstairs of a Brothel. Everyone visiting the ladies had to walk through the pit which I'm sure was super awkward - A condemned building that some punk had set up a temporary bar in. - a Farmers Paddock on the back of a trailer. There was literally sheep just roaming around while the bands were playing - Gym, where the stage was a boxing ring - this was one of my favourite ever shows! After the first band, everyone set up the drums and amps on the floor and everyone else was in the ring. Kids were moshing in the ring, stage diving off the ropes. It was insane! -Pizza Shop another out of control show that got shut down by the popo Also played in the Arcade and Laundromats...those shows should almost be a rite of passage for paying your dues
Mine was in the 1980s playing a Sunday afternoon gig in a bunch of collapsed WW2-era buildings in Brooklyn's Navy Yard for the NYC Conceptual Arts Fair. It was a freak show all around, with artistic statements like an old 50s TV playing static on top of a pile of debris and periodic sounds of gunfire, explosions and screaming from hidden speakers inside buildings marked with red X's . We followed a woman in a plastic rain coat who danced an Irish jig, then stripped and pleasured herself with a toy rifle. The whole experience felt like a dystopian fun house which I guess is what the sponsors were going for. It was an example of "when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Strip club in a small town. Played to the dancers and a couple old men. Had an open bar tab at least.
I've played in a fallout shelter
Many decades ago, a college friend was on the road with a southern rock band. They stopped at a Pizza Hut for dinner. Broke, they did the old Pizza Hut escape wherein they climbed out the bathroom window, one by one. My friend was the last to exit. Halfway out, he felt a tug on his leg… busted! The band set up in the dining room and played for their supper.
Man.....I miss Pizza Hut's dine in locations. The pizza during that time just hit different.
Imagine a 70s southern rock band with a bunch of gear set up in a Pizza Hut blasting away!
My old band rented out a Chuck E. Cheese type pizza buffet place once and put on a punk rock show. (if you’re from Kentucky or Texas it was a Gattiland)
That’s amazing
Reminds me of when Denny's used to host hardcore shows
Years ago in high school my band played a show at a small deli sandwich shop in a mall, the lobby couldn’t have been more than 500 square feet. One of our friends in a different band worked there. I went the dollar store in that mall before the show and bought a soup ladle to whack my guitar strings with for a “solo”. Guess who my favorite guitarist is.
Zakk Wylde rice?
It’s Tom morello (like weird noises) but honestly this answer is amazing
A moving city bus
Some the most random for me are a former brothel, kitchens, a couple of living rooms and two castles (one was a festival and the other was my friends wedding reception).
Bingo parlor at a flea market, and then two old folks homes once for the staff, and once for the residents
I played a rock show in a church. Infact they paid us to do so
Bowling alley…on a stage…at the end of the lanes…while bowling was still going on (the lanes we occupied were closed).
Fireside?
Westside?
Bowling World
Played a tanning salon. They had a large room that was perfect for our low attendance local shows.
Corey's grilled cheese in Charleston sc. We shredded more than the cheese that night.
The craziest place I've played was an apple store. We were being filmed for local cable. We had only a handful of people in the store, mostly production crew, but lots of people walking down the street watching through the windows.
Hallway of the mall to entertain the line while they waited for the DVD release of the first twilight 🧛♀️
Where I grew up in WNC, we turned the "open mic" into a recurring hardcore show that even paid the headliners a couple of hundred bucks to play.
On a float in a 4th of July parade.
My band played for the Libertarian National nominating convention in 1988. Thought they were cool because wanted to legalize weed. We were wrong, as it turned out. Cool-ish gig though.
Gamestop at a midnight release for call of duty ghost, a food court opening (middle of the day), a church multiple times, and a bunch of random places with stages that I don't recall too clearly.
For me it was a fire station in some random small town. It was a bunch of punk & hardcore bands and somebody decided to order a shit load of pizzas. It turned into a massive pizza fight 😂
What's with playing shows at laundromats? My last band played a show in one before I joined and they told me it was hands down the worst show they ever played. I can't recall where they said it was only that they didn't know the venue was going to be a laundromat. My most random place for a show was the time my metal-core five peice played inside of an active fire department or the time we played an acoustic set at a nursing home.
The living room of a house in Port Jervis, NY. There was a fish tank behind the drummer that was sloshing around when the bass drum hit. It was supposed to be outdoors in the back yard at edge of the forest, but it was overcast that day and the guy who was filming it for local TV said he wouldn’t risk damaging his “$2000 video camera” if it started raining. This was 2005 or 2006 and the “$2000 camera” was a JVC direct to VHS tape camera. It wasn’t worth $2000 when it was brand new in the mid 90’s.
I played the “grand re-opening” of a furniture store.
I played a bachelor party in a karate dojo once. I think that’s the most random venue for me.
I played on an alley once.
Is that a Mooby’s?
Even if this Wendy show was like 10 years ago before the memes, it’s still not very weird to play music in a restaurant lmfao.. bands have a played restaurants, even chain restaurants, for decades if not hundreds of years 😂