lauantai 10. huhtikuuta 2010

Onko aikakone sittenkin keksitty?

Upstage Club will rise again?

Aloitetaan muisteloilla. Seuraava on Southside Johnnyn debyyttilevyn I Don't Want To Go Homen (1976) kansiteksteissä julkaistu:

There was this place called the Upstage Club, open 8pm to 5am on Cookman Avenue in Asbury Park. There were a lotta musicians 'cause the bands that came down from North Jersey and New York to play in the Top 40 clubs along the shore would usually end up there after their regular gig, along with a lotta different guys from the local areas. Everybody went there 'cause it was open later than the regular clubs and because 1 and 5 in the morning you could play pretty much whatever you wanted, and if you were good enough, you could choose the guys you wanted to play with.


The Upstage was run by this beat type guy named Tom Potter who plastered the walls with black light and pin-ups and showed '50s smokers to the kids in between the bands... It was a great place. He'd sleip you five or ten bucks to sit in, and you could work it so you'd never have to go home, 'cause by the time you got out of there it was dawn and you could just flop on the beach all day, or you could run home before it got too light, nail the blankets over the window of your room and just sleep straight through till the night.


There were these guys... Mad Dog Lopez, Big Danny, Fast Eddie Larachi, his brother Little John, Magaret&The Distractions (house band), Black Tiny, White Tiny, Miami Steve, and assorted E Streeters plus the heaviest drummer of them all, in terms of both poundage and sheer sonic impact, Biiiig Baaaaad Bobby Williams, badass king of hearts, so tough he'd go to the limit for you every time, all night. You will never see most of these names on another record besides this one. But nonetheless, they're names that should be spoken in reverence at least once, not 'cause they were great musicians (thruth is, some of them couldn't play nothin' at all), but because they were each in their own way a living spirit of what, to me, rock'n'roll is all about. It was music as survival, and they lived it down in their souls, night after night.These guys were their own heroes and they never forgot.

Bruce Springsteen


Lyhyesti sanottuna Upstage oli siis lyhyen, vajaan kolmen vuoden elinkaarensa aikana, paikka, jossa E Street Bandin perustukset valettiin niin ihmissuhteiden kuin soittotaitojenkin puolesta. Lisäksi paikka, jossa kuka tahansa voi soittaa kenen tahansa kanssa, ei kuulosta ollenkaan huonolta.

Taannoin vastaan tuli lista paikoista, jonne ei pääse. Upstage on ollut aina minun "paikkoja, jonne ei syystä tai toisesta pääse"-listallani.

Mutta nytpä sinne on ehkä sittenkin mahdollista päästä. Backstreets.com kertoo.

The epicenter of Asbury Park music in the late 1960s and early '70s was The Upstage -- the free-spirited club on the third floor of 702 Cookman Avenue where Bruce Springsteen, Southside Johnny, Steven Van Zandt and a generation of Shore musicians jammed long after "last call" closed the rest of the town. Now, nearly 40 years later, the new owner of building plans to bring back the music -- and has run into a local buzz saw.

Owner Richard Yorkowitz wants to reopen The Upstage, with live music on the second and third floors. That is at odds with an Asbury Park ordinance prohibiting live music above ground level. Yorkowitz has promised to soundproof the building, an expensive offer that so far has failed to sway some of the city's newer business owners, who contend that now is the time for Asbury Park to move beyond its musical past.

"The Upstage holds a unique place in American musical history," says Joe Petillo, who used to play and help manage the club. "It should at least be given a chance to reopen. Once it's gone, it's gone forever." Much of the original day-glo paintings on the walls and the stage area, Petillo said, are still intact.

Both sides get a public airing April 12 before the Asbury Park Planning Commission, which meets at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Jos kauniit suunnitelmat toteutuvat, niin sehän on pakko lähteä katsastamaan. Ja ihan turha sanoa, ettei se ole sama asia kuin 70-luvun taitteessa. Ainakin minulla on tarve nähdä tuollaisia "pyhiinvaelluskohteita". Niiden kautta kun on välillisesti tullut luotua identiteettiään. Taannoinen video paikasta ei aivan riitä tyydyttämään nälkää, jos olisi mahdollisuus edes ripaus saada aistia aidon Upstagen henkeä


Jos suunnitelmat toteutuisivat, olisi jännä nähdä millainen uudesta Upstagesta tulisi. Taisi se olla niille soittajillekin aika tärkeä paikka tärkeään aikaan. Vuonna 1991 Southside Johnnyn Better Days -levyltä löytyi tällainen ralli, jossa taisi olla rahtunen totuuttakin mukana.


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