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Post by Johnny 5 on Sept 26, 2007 15:55:56 GMT -5
Anyone know what the deal is with that place? I heard rumors of it re-opening soon and being "bigger and better" than before (which shouldn't be hard). But I ahven't even been downtown in so long I don't know if it's opened back up yet or not. Or if it even will.
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Post by fcmonk on Sept 26, 2007 20:45:21 GMT -5
I didn't notice anything a few weekends ago when I was downtown.
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Post by Johnny 5 on Sept 27, 2007 8:46:03 GMT -5
I hope it comes back. That place was a major player in CT back in the day, but put too much emphasis on its name and not enough on the quality of the place and it fell through. I hope it can come back and be a cool place to see bands again.
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mark
Newbie
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Post by mark on Sept 28, 2007 8:12:36 GMT -5
Somebody told me a few months ago that it was closed down because of a major rat and bug infestation? I don't know how that could've happened, I mean the place was so clean especially the bathrooms, lol.
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Post by Johnny 5 on Sept 28, 2007 8:28:20 GMT -5
Haha, that's what I mean. The place did all its business on its name and not its quality. I'm hoping they turn that around if and when it re-opens.
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mark
Newbie
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Post by mark on Sept 28, 2007 14:11:10 GMT -5
You know, I think we talked about this before at a WC show. I, as a patron will not go into a totally disgusting club to see a local band. People judge your place by how well they are served and how clean it is, and sorry to say The Brickyard was pretty much none of those things before it closed.
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Mike
Scenester
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Post by Mike on Sept 28, 2007 17:07:34 GMT -5
Maybe they should have called it the Junkyard. Well, they did have the busted up car seats in the back and smelled like a hobo.
For the sake of Hartford, I hope they do something with it, It could be something big if they do it right.
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Post by gioiagregg on Oct 16, 2007 16:22:40 GMT -5
Last I heard, they are planning to re-open it as a higher-end dance club with VIP sections and all that BS crap. No plans to do anything with the 3rd floor and no plans for live bands. But who know, plans change like the CT weather.......it's a shame - was a great place to play.
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Post by gioiagregg on Oct 16, 2007 16:23:44 GMT -5
Maybe they should have called it the Junkyard. Well, they did have the busted up car seats in the back and smelled like a hobo. quote] And don't forget the overflowing urinals by about 11:00 ....
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Post by Johnny 5 on Oct 16, 2007 16:37:44 GMT -5
And don't forget the overflowing urinals by about 11:00 .... Haha true. At one point some dude smashed the 3rd floor toilet to pieces, it took them weeks to put a new one in. What's up with that? I pray that they reopen the 3rd floor as a rock room in true rock style. No making it half sports bar half rock room. Leave the sports fans to the 1st floor and make it a true stage.
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Mike
Scenester
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Post by Mike on Oct 17, 2007 13:49:52 GMT -5
And don't forget the overflowing urinals by about 11:00 .... Haha true. At one point some dude smashed the 3rd floor toilet to pieces, it took them weeks to put a new one in. What's up with that?. I think it was a crime scene. ;D
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Post by mrscotti on Oct 29, 2007 18:40:21 GMT -5
The Brickyard was a great place to play? Are you sure you mean the Brickyard in Hartford? I could probably write a book on reasons not to go there at all let alone play there. Here are the notable ones:
(1) The stairs. Im sorry, but most bands have a lot of equipment. Most of which is neither light or easy to carry. Add to that narrow stairways full of people most times covered in beer, puke, piss and everything else that winds up on the floor(mostly the stairs, but also some of the people, actually a LOT of the people) and it just wreaks of 'God why am I here?' (and the steep fire escapes are no better(ala russian lady/blu) especially in February covered with ice and snow).
(2) The Layout - narrow brick building, narrow staircases, long narrow rooms, and the bands are on the third floor so anyone coming for music has to walk through the "pub" floor and all the people there, the "dance" floor and all the people there and finally the "rock room"(which is either completely empty or theres 300 people). It's like walking through some wierd haunted house filled with all kinds of surprises, wrong turns dead ends, narrow passageways and all the freaks you can shake a stick at. (like DisneyLand meets Elm Street meets a rave meets every bad high school party you ever went to)
(3) The people. Not just the club go-ers but most of the staff, management and owners. Not that theyre all bad, maybe not even half, but that place seems to attract the worst of the worst. Not only are you packed in there like sardines, but youre there with everyone you could possibly have a reason to not like. Mr.Spilling 60% of whatever he's drinking all over the place, Mr or Mrs I spent 6 hours getting myself ready to come here(who usually gets into a scuffle with Mr Spilling by the end of the night) Mr AND Mrs Eau de TooMuch (seriously, you do NOT need that much cologne/perfume, EVER[and the mixing with the berr-puke-piss smell adds a nice touch]) the Jocks the Cheerleaders the Preps the Dweebs, you name it, its probably there. The management that refuses to clean, upgrade, replace, paint or otherwise do anything to make it better(and theyre making money hand over fist) And they book the same half dozen bands that play the same dozen songs for the majority of the time. No offense to anyone out here but there is a lot of redundency across most of the major player bands out there, perhaps that's a different thread.
So if you asked me to sum up an evening at the Brickyard you might hear something like, "it took us an hour to get from the front door, through the dance crowd and wedged through the neon blue hallway to the rock room upstairs. we waited 30 minutes at the bar to get a beer and a drink for fifteen dollars because the bartender kept talking to the same 5 people all night. we made it to the stage where we could finally hear the music instead of the deafening hum that was everywhere in the room except directly in front of the stage. then i was mometarily blinded by a cloud of halston z-14 and some 20-something who was jumping around in front of the stage spilled his beer all over my pants and shoes and stepped on my girlfriends foot. we figured we'd call it a night but somehow we got stuck in the dance room, i think we made it out by 1:30, but yeah, that was fun."
Sorry to ramble on but I hate everything about that bar. It IS a crime scene. Probably a health hazard and a few dozen fire hazards at a MINIMUM. Seriously, whether or not they replaced the toilet is irrelevant, it's probably better without the toilet, less area for bacteria to be growing on. I don't think we even went there back in it's heyday (think Bahama Bobs, GoodNight Hartford, etc) because it was always overcrowded and overfilthy.
And maybe for that reason it would be fun to play(always a good crowd) but it has too many cons to justify the one pro. We've had a pretty good following over the years and I would say more than half of them would NOT come to the BY to see us play there. Likewise I think that if you took your typical BY crowd and dropped them in any other club we have played they would turn off a lot of the regulars.
I think that it is simply not that kind of place. They don't even try to be, like every other bar they have some frickin identity crisis that prevents them from being anything but a mess. One part dance club, one part sports bar, one part rock club, one part juice bar/cafe.. cmon. And maybe thats why they book the bands they do, don't bother to fix the sound, etc. People go there because it's a meat market, they could care less about whats on the 90 TVs or the band playing or the DJ spinning. But people come. In droves. It's like the big party that everyone wants to be at. Kind of like a 'transitioning ground' after high school, sort-of a college bar/keg party kind of thing.
But seriously, all bars have this type of problem in CT. I can't think of a single one that has come flat out and said, We Are A Music Club. Not, We have a stage, sortof. Not even, we have a music "floor/room", just a plain flat out club for musicians. I think it's a bit of a catch 22 being that theres not much of a music "scene" apparent here to support it, but it's kind of like an "if you build it, they will come" type of thing too. We're a bit stuck because those who have tried to do this, and done it right, have all but disappeared.
Up or On the Rocks is a pretty decent club, in part because its owned by former owners of other bars, like the Brickyard. But there you have many of the same issues that the other bars have, and they still can't commit to being a full blown "rock club" (but at least they put the bands on the first floor). It would be refreshing to see a nice, open, clean bar in Hartford that had a decent size stage, maybe even a sound system and a load in/out area. You could actually get some heavy hitters in here and support the local scene at the same time.
I think I remember hearing that the Pour House now owns the BY though, personally I would like to see it reduced to a pile of bricks but if they want to put some money and effort into fixing it up into something other than it was, that would be cool.
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Post by Johnny 5 on Oct 30, 2007 8:40:06 GMT -5
When I say it was a good place to play, I mean like 10 years ago. I totally agree that it fell off in the last 5 years of its existence. Before then it was clean, had a great crowd and there really was no competition. It relied on that pull for far too long and they let the place fall apart. It became horrible in the last year. If you looked at the schedule it was mostly bands no one ever heard of. All of the major bands that played there decided to stay away from it, and for good reason. That's why I'm hoping it reopens and becomes a decent club again.
Up or On the Rocks is ok, but they don't really have a variety of bands there, mostly just heavier original bands. Not that I'm against that, but I'd like to see all kinds of different bands in there. Hartfored doesn't really have much to offer in live music right now, and it's a real shame being that it's the state's capitol.
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Post by fcmonk on Oct 30, 2007 8:43:41 GMT -5
Didn't they used to have bands on the first floor of the Brickyard?
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Post by Johnny 5 on Jun 26, 2008 11:57:18 GMT -5
I figure it's time to resurrect this thread since the "New Brickyard" is now The Palace. I haven't seen it yet, has anyone been there that can say whether or not it's any different/better?
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