Toad's Place

Last updated
Toad's Place
Toad's Place
Location300 York St # 1
New Haven, Connecticut, United States
OwnerBrian Phelps
Type Nightclub
Capacity 1000
Opened1976(48 years ago) (1976)
Website
www.toadsplace.com

Toad's Place is a concert venue and nightclub located in New Haven, Connecticut.

Contents

History

The building, located on York Street down the street from Ashley's Ice Cream and across an alley from Mory's Temple Bar, was the original location of the Yale Co-op. During the 1960s, it was a popular restaurant called Hungry Charlie's and then the location of Caleb's Tavern. In 1974, Mike Spoerndle, formerly a student at the Culinary Institute of America, rented the building for a French and Italian restaurant, which opened in March 1975. He named it Toad's Place, after a childhood joke. He said, "When my parents were going out to dinner, they would tell me they were going to such-and-such, and I thought it would be funny if they said, 'We're going to Toad's Place.' Plus, people who didn't go out and stayed at home, we'd call them 'toads.' It was the equivalent of a couch potato." [1] In 1976, Spoerndle turned the restaurant into a live music venue, [2] working with a local musician named Peter Menta to bring in bands. Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker and Koko Taylor were some of the first performers. [1] In 1976, Brian Phelps joined as manager and eventually co-owner. Phelps took control in 1995, after Spoerndle's numerous problems with alcohol and drug addiction. [2] Spoerndle died on May 6, 2011. [3] [4]

In 1983, a second location opened in Waterbury, Connecticut, although it lasted only three years. In 2007, a franchise location in Richmond, Virginia opened with a concert by the Squirrel Nut Zippers. It included a restaurant and club for up to 1,500 visitors. [5] The principal owner was Charles Joyner, a local physician who was a disc jockey at Toad's Place while he was a Yale undergraduate in the 1980s. On 9 March 2009, Toad's Place Richmond was closed. [6] All scheduled shows were canceled and/or moved to The National, another venue in Richmond. A third location was planned for Trenton, New Jersey. [7]

Jeff Lorber, a jazz keyboardist, included an instrumental piece called Toad's Place on his album Water Sign. [7] Through mutual friends, singer Rob Zombie met future wife, actress Sheri Moon, at Toad's in 1989. They married on Halloween of 2002.

Notable concerts

A long wall inside the venue the names of the many famous artists to have played there Toad's Place interior 2009.JPG
A long wall inside the venue the names of the many famous artists to have played there
DateBandNotes
July 10, 1980 Billy Joel Billy Joel recorded the song "Los Angelenos" from his album Songs in the Attic at Toad's Place.
December 14, 1980 U2 U2 played during the second leg of the Boy tour. This was only their eighth tour date in North America.
May 27, 1981 U2 U2 played during the fourth leg of the Boy tour. This was their first public performance of the song "Fire". [8]
November 15, 1981 U2 U2 played during the second leg of the October tour.
April 2, 1984 Allan Holdsworth Allan played tracks from the upcoming album Metal Fatigue
February 13, 1989 Dream Theater According to the "I Can Remember When" documentary taken from the When Dream and Day Reunite bootleg, Dream Theater played there during the When Dream and Day Unite tour. [9]
April 24-5, 1989 Cyndi Lauper The April 24 concert was the second one on the A Night to Remember tour. Earlier that evening, Brian Phelps (owner of Toad's Place) took Cyndi Lauper to dinner at Mory's Temple Bar, where the Whiffenpoofs serenaded her with an a capella performance of her song "Time After Time". She invited them to join her onstage the next day. [10]
August 12, 1989 The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones played a surprise hour-long concert for 700 people at Toad's Place. They had been rehearsing for the Steel Wheels tour for six weeks at the Wykeham Rise School, a girls' school in Washington, Connecticut, that had closed earlier that year, and performed the concert as "a thank-you to Connecticut for the hospitality." [11]
January 12, 1990 Bob Dylan Bob Dylan started a tour with a Toad's Place performance including four sets that lasted over five hours, his longest show to date. It was his first club performance in 25 years. [1]
January 24, 2002 Slayer Original drummer Dave Lombardo performs with the group for the first time since 1992.
March 17, 2005 The Black Crowes The concert was called "Mr. Crowes Garden" and was one of five tour dates at small Northeastern clubs. The concerts were intended as a warm-up for their 2005 tour, after not having toured for almost four years. [12]

Incidents with under-age drinking

In September 2002, Toad's Place was fined $25,000 and closed for a week after underage drinkers were found on the premises. In May 2007, it closed for ninety days, after a November 5, 2005 inspection by the state Liquor Control Commission found 142 underage drinkers were present. The owner paid a fine of $90,000 in addition to the ninety-day closure. It reopened on August 4, 2007 with a concert by Badfish, a Sublime tribute band. [13]

Related Research Articles

<i>Tres Hombres</i> 1973 studio album by ZZ Top

Tres Hombres is the third studio album by the American rock band ZZ Top, released on July 26, 1973 by London Records. It was the band's first collaboration with engineer Terry Manning. The album would be ZZ Top's commercial breakthrough in the United States charts. It peaked at number 8 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 1974. Its lead single "La Grange" reached number 41 on the Billboard Hot 100. It is the first of many ZZ Top albums to incorporate the use of Spanish terminology in their branding. "Tres Hombres" means "three men" in Spanish.

Virginia's musical contribution to American culture has been diverse, and includes Piedmont blues, jazz, folk, brass, hip-hop, and rock and roll bands, as well as the founding origins of country music in the Bristol sessions by Appalachian Virginians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Haven Green</span> United States historic place

The New Haven Green is a 16-acre (65,000 m2) privately owned park and recreation area located in the downtown district of the city of New Haven, Connecticut, United States. It comprises the central square of the nine-square settlement plan of the original Puritan colonists in New Haven, and was designed and surveyed by colonist John Brockett. Today the Green is bordered by the modern paved roads of College, Chapel, Church, and Elm streets. Temple Street bisects the Green into upper (northwest) and lower (southeast) halves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Haven Coliseum</span> Sports and entertainment arena in Connecticut, U.S.

New Haven Coliseum was a sports and entertainment arena located in downtown New Haven, Connecticut. Construction began in 1968 and was completed in 1972. The Coliseum was officially closed on September 1, 2002, by Mayor John DeStefano Jr., and demolished by implosion on January 20, 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woolsey Hall</span> Primary auditorium at Yale University

Woolsey Hall is the primary auditorium at Yale University, located on the campus' Hewitt Quadrangle in New Haven, Connecticut. It was built as part of the Bicentennial Buildings complex that includes the Memorial Rotunda and the University Commons for the Yale bicentennial celebration in 1901, and was designed by Carrère and Hastings in the Neoclassical style of the Beaux-Arts. With approximately 2,650 seats, it is the university's largest auditorium and hosts concerts, performances, and university ceremonies including the annual freshman convocation, senior baccalaureate, and presidential inaugurations. The building is named for Theodore Dwight Woolsey, President of Yale from 1846 through 1871.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Campus</span>

The Old Campus is the oldest area of the Yale University campus in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the principal residence of Yale College freshmen and also contains offices for the academic departments of Classics, English, History, Comparative Literature, and Philosophy. Fourteen buildings—including eight dormitories and two chapels—surround a 4-acre (1.6 ha) courtyard with a main entrance from the New Haven Green known as Phelps Gate.

The PNC Bank Arts Center is an amphitheatre in Holmdel, New Jersey. About 17,500 people can occupy the venue; there are 7,000 seats and the grass area can hold about 10,500 people. Concerts are from May through September featuring 45-50 different events of many types of musical styles. It is ranked among the top five most successful amphitheatres in the country. It is one of two major outdoor arenas in the New York City Metropolitan Area, along with Jones Beach Theater on Long Island. Both venues are managed by Live Nation.

Mrs. Jay's was a popular bar and restaurant located in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquee Club</span> Former music club in London, England

The Marquee Club was a music venue in London, England, which opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. It was a small and relatively cheap club, in the heart of London's West End.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The NorVa</span>

The NorVa is a performing venue located in Norfolk, Virginia, the name being a syllabic abbreviation of the city and state of its location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour</span> 1989–90 concert tour by the Rolling Stones

The Rolling Stones' Steel Wheels Tour was a concert tour which was launched in North America in August 1989 to promote the band's album Steel Wheels; it continued to Japan in February 1990, with ten shows at the Tokyo Dome. The European leg of the tour, which featured a different stage and logo, was called the Urban Jungle Tour; it ran from May to August 1990. These would be the last live concerts for the band with original member Bill Wyman on bass guitar. This tour would also be the longest the band had ever done up to that point, playing over twice as many shows as their standard tour length from the 1960s and 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battell Chapel</span>

Battell Chapel is the largest chapel of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Built in 1874–76, it was funded primarily with gifts from Joseph Battell and others of his family. Succeeding two previous chapel buildings on Yale's Old Campus, it provided space for daily chapel services, which were mandatory for Yale College students until 1926. Together with Durfee Hall and Farnam Hall, the chapel was part of a program begun in the 1870s to build up the perimeter of Old Campus and separate it from the rest of the city. These three buildings, all by the same architect, were among the first at Yale to be named for donors rather than function, location, or legislative funding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mory's</span> United States historic place

Mory's, known also as Mory's Temple Bar, is a private club adjacent to the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, founded in 1849 and housed in a clubhouse that was originally a private home built sometime before 1817. Originally it was a restaurant, especially hospitable to Yale undergraduates, located at the corner of Temple and Center Streets, but in 1912, when the building was to be demolished, the owner and proprietor, Louis Linder, sold it to a group of Yale alumni who moved the bar to 306 York Street and turned it into a membership club. The building was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Double Door</span>

Double Door, a concert hall and nightclub, was located in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, United States. The venue was first opened on June 12, 1994, and was co-owned by Andrew Barrett, Sean Mulroney and Joe Shanahan. On June 12, 1994, under its current ownership, the Double Door hosted its first show, Lloyd Cole; the same week, the Smashing Pumpkins played under the name the Starchildren. The venue at 1572 N. Milwaukee Avenue had a capacity of 473 people. It was two levels with a stage, sound system, dance floor and bar on the main floor; the second was a mezzanine level, the most intimate area of the club with its lounge type setting. A second bar and dance floor, Door No. 3, was located downstairs in the basement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Haven Arena</span> Defunct American indoor ice hockey arena

New Haven Arena was an indoor arena on Grove Street in New Haven, Connecticut, that served as a venue for ice hockey, concerts, and circuses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Middle East (nightclub)</span> Venue and restaurants in Massachusetts, US

The Middle East is an entertainment complex consisting of five adjacent dining and live music venues in the Central Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Its three dedicated concert spaces, Upstairs, Downstairs, and Sonia, sit alongside ZuZu and The Corner, two restaurants that also host live music. Having featured a huge variety of musicians since 1987, the establishment was described in 2007 as "the nexus of metro Boston's rock-club scene for local and touring bands" by the Boston Phoenix.

The Empire Bar and Zoo Bar were two adjoining night clubs in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. First called The Zoo Bar, followed by the Rock Shed founded by Local Rock DJ - Jon Ingle, in the early 1980s, Ian Dobbs sold the venue in the latter part of the 1980s and then became "Theo's Zoo bar", in the early 1990s, and named after the head bouncer, the original venue was a standalone nightclub. The Tramshed and Zoo Bar were brought to national attention by the media as a "haven" for underage drinkers, when they became among the first establishments to be closed under the auspices of the Licensing Act 2003, which came into effect in England and Wales at midnight on 23 November 2005.

Dixwell is a neighborhood of New Haven, Connecticut. Named for Dixwell Avenue, the main thoroughfare of the neighborhood which in turn was named for regicide judge John Dixwell, it is situated generally northwest of and adjacent to Downtown New Haven.

Michael E. Spoerndle was an American businessman based in New Haven, Connecticut. Known as "the man who made Connecticut rock," he was the founder and original owner of Toad's Place, a New Haven concert venue and nightclub, in 1976. It is still in operation today.

Bob Dylan performed 93 shows in 1990 as part of what is popularly known as the Never Ending Tour.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Fried, Fran, "Twenty years of rock 'n' roll: Toad's Place hits milestone", New Haven Register, January 1, 1995, page A1
  2. 1 2 "yaleherald.com". www.yaleherald.com.
  3. http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/toad%27s-place-founder-dies%5B%5D
  4. McCready, Brian (8 May 2011). "Toad's Place founder dies, brought legends to New Haven". New Haven Register. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  5. Neman, Daniel, "Toad's Place opens on a smooth note", Richmond Times-Dispatch, June 22, 2007, page B3
  6. "Toad's Place In Richmond To Close?". March 12, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-03-12.
  7. 1 2 Verel, Patrick (November 19, 2006). "For a Hopping Club, the Beat Goes Onward" via NYTimes.com.
  8. de la Parra, Pimm Jal, U2 Live: A Concert Documentary, Omnibus Press, 2003, page 23
  9. "Dream Theater - I Can Remember when documentary". YouTube .
  10. Benninghoff, Eric (16 February 2018). "The Toad Keeps Hopping after 43 Years". The Yale Daily News. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  11. "Rolling Stones' Surprise For Fans in New Haven", New York Times, August 14, 1989.
  12. "Black Crowes Heat Up: The Black Crowes : Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone . September 7, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-09-07.
  13. Sirois, Kevin, "Toad Hops Anew: 90 days later and $90K lighter, an entertainment franchise is born", Business New Haven, August 20, 2007

41°18′41″N72°55′46″W / 41.311488°N 72.929511°W / 41.311488; -72.929511