The Smithereens At The Court Tavern

The Smithereens At The Court Tavern

Feb 4, 2008

There's nothing pretty about The Court Tavern.  A tiny, rustic old building surrounded by concrete parking garages, the one lone survivor from the days before greedy developers infested the neighborhood with office buildings.  The inside hasn't changed a hell of a lot from when it opened 25 years ago, either.  Except the paint on the walls has faded to a dull drab, a few ceiling tiles are falling out, and there's a leak in the back when it rains.  It's the kind of bar that your grandpa would sneak in with you during a summer afternoon walk through town, enjoying a beer away from grandma while you sat at a table sipping a small glass of cola with a beef jerky.  No hot wings, maybe some pretzels on a tray, and no big screen TV running "The Game."  There's a little television on a shelf above the bar, and it's more likely to be tuned to an old movie than to the sports channel.  Settle in for awhile though, and you'll start to relax and feel a bit at home.  You'll notice the big poster sized pictures of Satchmo on the walls, and the jukebox that runs the gamut from The Ramones and The Clash, to The Monkees, Warren Zevon, up through The Move, Queen and The Yardbirds.  Behind the bar, just to the left of the jukebox, hangs a gold record for an album called Especially For You.

Lots of great acts, both local, and national, have played at The Court Tavern, and the place looms large in the legend of The Smithereens. They played there regularly in their early days, before major labels, MTV and gold records.  Even afterwards, they came back to The Court, to test out new material before recording God Save The Smithereens in 1999.  They've used The Court to try out various solo projects and make films.  The Smithereens can, and do, fill venues ten times the size of The Court Tavern's tiny basement.  But they always seem to come back, and the fans line up to see them come home.  Just don't think you're getting past Mark at the basement door any time soon.  You can beg with him, tell him Pat played at your daughter's christening party, or that you went to school with Jim and Dennis.  Mark doesn't care, he's not letting you in to that basement until he's good and ready!  He'll even psych you out a time or two, getting up from his perch to count the door money, ink up his stamp pads, and survey the crowd waiting impatiently for him to take their money.  Then he'll just pick up his paper, sit down again, and continue with the crossword puzzle.  It makes you feel like that basement is hallowed ground, and you've just got to get in there, if only you could get past the troll guarding the bridge!

The Smithereens returned to The Court Tavern for a four night residency, January 30th & 31st, and February 1st and 2nd, 2008, recording the shows for a live album.  It was hot.  Cavern Club hot.  Every steamy, sweat dripping from the concrete walls description from those "Early Days of The Beatles" books you've read will give you a rough idea of what it felt like in that basement.  The tense jamming added to "House We Used To Live In", the pounding beat of "Time And Time Again", and all those hits, had the packed in crowds holding on for dear life in the heat.  They've done this every time they've walked onstage, but this time was special.  This time, they were back at home.

It cost five bucks to get in.  Try and buy a bottle of water at an Eagles concert for five bucks!