venue

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.

posted by jaimee @ 8:02 PM