The Forty-Niner Bye-Bye (518 Bruns Lane, 787-4937)
has a long and storied past in Springfield bar history. Now new owners are
celebrating the next chapter in the colorful tale of the historic libation
dispenser. Groove Daddies, a local band with quite a storied past of their
own, have been chosen to herald in the new era during a grand reopening on
Saturday, May 14, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The blues are calling.
Can’t you hear them howl? They’re saying, “I don’t
know how you are going to do it, but you must see both the Last Chance
Blues Band at Spillway Lanes Lounge (1025 Outer Park Dr., 546-5221) and
Mark Hummel and the Blues Survivors at Starship Billiards (2301 Stevenson
Dr., 585-8888) on Saturday, May 14.” Timing is everything, and this
can, no it must,
be done — and you the ever-intrepid and extremely resourceful blues
music fan will find a way to take in both shows. The blues rush continues
on Monday when Catfish and the Sharks take the floor at the Alamo (115 N.
Fifth St., 523-1455) for the Illinois Central Blues Club’s Blue
Monday Jam. As always, for more than 20 years, the show starts at 8:30 and
the cover is a buck.
For those of you saying
it’s always the same old thing in Springpatch, try this reality
situation: Matt over at Karma Nightclub (625 N. First, 522-1907) has booked
MTV & National Lampoon Productions’ Reality
Bar Crawl. The show, hosted by Puck and Katie
Doyle from the Real World, brings the bar scene to reality television. Somehow while
traversing this great country of ours city by city, they found time for us
on Saturday, May 14, from 9 p.m. until 3 a.m. Dress for excess: a live film
crew will be on hand, tempting unusual behavioral antics by those craving a
possible appearance on national television. Get the rest of the story at
www.realitybarcrawl.com
We send a rousing happy
birthday out to one of Springfield’s most popular bartenders, Morris
Cooper of the Brewhaus and Floyd’s Thirst Parlor. The Mo-Man
celebrates his 34 years on glorious planet Earth at the Brewhaus (617 E.
Washington St., 525-6399) with friends, family, and others, beginning about
9 p.m. on Thursday, May 12. Black Magic Johnson provides the music and
kicks off the event with a tantalizing performance of Tiny Bubbles — a
long-requested, favorite tune of Cooper’s.
This article appears in May 12-18, 2005.
