Bogarts Cincinnati, Ohio
Bogarts
2621 Vine Street,Cincinnati, OH 45219
Phone: 513-281-8400
Directions: Directions
Capacity: 1464
Box office: Mon-Fri 11am-5pm
Bogarts is everything you want from a classic rock club. Small enough to give you that special feeling of an intimate show, yet large enough to provide the energy that lets you know that you are seeing a band on the rise. Located in the Clifton neighborhood of Cincinnati near the University of Cincinnati (and Xavier university just down the road), its has the obvious feel of a night out in a college town. The neighborhood may have seen better days, but the hallmarks of new urbanism (main street arches and concept-design bus stops) that stand just outside in contrast to the old multi-colored Victorian façade of the venue is perhaps a testament to venerability of Bogarts.
The club opened in 1975 with a capacity of 300 as venue for everytype of music, and hosted beginning tours of eventual superstarts like Prince, The Police, and U2 (in fact remaining the only concert in Cinncinatti that the latter has played to this date. A 1983 expansion mulitplied the capacity by 5 and abled the venue to attract larger acts such as REM and Bob Dylan. The venue is run by Belkin Productions, a subsidiary of Live Nation.
Although its capacity is a rather large 1464 for a venue that should rightly be classified as a club as opposed to a theater, the feel is smaller due to a balcony area and the low ceiling, dark walls décor of your traditional club. The sight lines to the approximately [[6]] foot elevated stage are great from anywhere in the venue. The sound system is perhaps one of the loudest I have ever heard, though crystaline at even such a high level. I left a show there and for the first time in my life experiences panicked flashbacks to the commercials of the early 90’s muttering “maybe Peter Townsend is right. I have tinnitus.” The floor is a typically sticky and wooden dancing surface. IN addition to a main bar in the back of the venue near the entrance, there are also mini bars on both the main dance floor level and the balcony area. On some occasions the venue has been known to serve pizza, but there is also a rare White Castle located nearby for post show eats that is sure to please anyone traveling to the venue from anywhere other than the New York area.
concert venue
if you google "concert venue" the recher is the first entry.l...hmm
jaimee is rooting for the thomas and mack center
it should be known that I root for the venue in various sporting events.
venue renaming
To preface this, I’m not one of those people who hates corporations just because they’re corporations. I’m a raging capitalist. Yet when companies started buying the naming rights to venues we hold near and dear, it was nothing short of blasphemy. While this has also, and probably more poignantly, destroyed nostalgia for millions of sports fans everywhere, it has also chipped away piece by piece at the stalwarts of tour. I attended my first show in 1995 at Greet Woods, and returned in 199, only by this time is was known as the Tweeter Center. People were outraged, and road signs were soon pasted over with the likes of Tweezer center and Tweeker Center.
While I understand the economic rationale, it’s ludicrous that the marketing department of said companies don’t understand that they are viewed as blasphemous bastards as opposed to saviors. It’s like suddenly renaming Mount Rushmore, Kmart Mountain. How do you feel about Kmart now? Two years ago Verizon was simply a phone company to me, but now it has become the enemy. The enemy that raped the corn-fed honey betty, inside-out Harry Hood homeland known as Deer Creek.
I must admit there’s been a few concessions to collective sanity. Such as Desert Sky in Phoenix becoming Blockbuster Pavillion at Desert Sky. Bust mostly its been a battlefield for our memories. But I can assure you, as long as I survive you will not win. Because I will never ever utter the words “the last great Tweeter Center Bowie”. And because you’ve messed up royally. Because the best venue anywhere, Polaris, is already a secret corporate name, and you cant take that away from me. And because the Providence Civic Center, my stomping ground, became the first second tier city in the country to ink a corporate naming deal and wound up not only being known as the Dunkin Donuts Center- Providence while simultaneously causing jealous fits of rage in Worcester, but because it is now affectionately referred to as “The Dunk”! Ha! We will defeat you. We will subvert you. We will have the last laugh while you are investigated by the SEC for fraudulent accounting. We will tear down your monikers and impale them on logging spike. We will rage!
top 5 bar venues
influenced by carlas thread of nostalgia...(and last weeks BP show). These are my top 5 bar venues off the top of my head. Not neccesarily where Ive seen the bestshows, but just places I feel are consistently wonderful. and no, mishawaka does not count.
1. stone church, newmarket NH
"its like being snowed in in a log cabin. we'll just have to make the best of it"
2. Belly up Tavern, Solana beach, CA
for some reason the beach and lots of hot drunk nubile californians always makes for a good time. who wouldve thought. Plus, sick poster art, now recently available for order on the bar's website. Seriously, this place is so awesome they write about it in travel guides.
3. Wetlands, NY
4. Ocean Mist Rhode Island
because the name is actually a description. And because it felt like the attic of your best friend from high school shouse
5. Revolution Hall Troy NY
went there for BP last week, entirely won over. so my platonic ideal of the northeast, with a brewery taboot!
