Phoenix Theater
The Phoenix Theater is an all-ages club located in Petaluma, California which has been in existence since 1905, and has been subject to many changes in both structure and purpose, mostly due to severe damage caused by multiple fires. [1]
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[edit] History
The Phoenix Theater first opened in 1905 as the Hill Opera House. Although the theater had good business, and many famous acts of the day performed there (Harry Houdini, Enrico Caruso, and Lily Langtree, etc)[2], it was nearly destroyed by a fire in the early 1900s. Consequently, the theater had to be shut down. By 1935, it had been restored and opened as a movie theater. The building was purchased by California Movie Theater around 1935 and was continued to be used as such. On August 5, 1957, another fire took the roof of the building. The building was restored and renamed the Showcase Theater by the Tocchini family and soon after, the first live concert was put on at the theater by Petaluma native, Jeff Dorenfeld. The Tocchinis employed a boy named Tom Gaffey, who managed to get rehired by Ken Frankel after Ken bought the theater in 1982. Gaffey was then the theater manager. He renamed the theater the Phoenix because the building seemed to ‘rise from the ashes.’
In the early 1980s, movies continued to be shown at the theater and live music was played late at night. There were performances by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Ramones, along with then-local bands Metallica, Farallon, Mr. Bungle, Green Day and Primus. Other bands like Victims Family, The Conspiracy, Disciples of Ed, the Circle Jerks and The Distillers drew audiences. Sublime played their last show at The Phoenix, and a memorial to lead singer, Bradley Nowell, can be found backstage, tagged on a wall by the Long Beach Dub Allstars. Sir Mix-a-Lot played at The Phoenix, as did The Specials. To this day, the Phoenix continues to bring in established artists as well as local favorites such as Resilience, The Velvet Teen, and Toast Machine.
In the late 1990s, its landlord announced plans to sell the Phoenix Theater for demolition and reconstruction as an office building, despite public opposition. The sale was in escrow when four employees from Cerent Corporation, whom were all musicians and two of which were former Phoenix Theater frequenters, intervened and took over the escrow. With other leading local citizens, they established the non-profit Petaluma Phoenix Center, Inc, to not only own The Phoenix Theater, but preserve and expand the services the Phoenix provides to its community. These services include, but are not limited to, a free weekly health clinic for teens, free music and art programs, even an informal job mentoring program (for the past 20 years, most of the Phoenix staff has been teenagers and young adults). [3]
[edit] Information
- The interior walls of the theater are covered in graffiti. A review on networkoftheapes.net describes them:
"The walls are tagged up and painted with everything from the simplest one color tag to entire paintings of mushrooms and other Alice in Wonderland-themed drug references that gave the place a raw feel." [4]
- There are skateboard ramps on the sides of the two walls that run perpendicular to the stage.[citation needed]
- The number of steps from the dressing room to the stage is three. This is usually satisfactory to national bands whose tour rider designates a certain number of stairs.[citation needed]
- During the day, the Phoenix serves as a safe place for local kids to hang out after school. After-school tutoring as well as a free health clinic are offered a few days a week.[citation needed]
- The Phoenix is also rumored to be haunted. Ghosts have been seen in the bathrooms, on the balcony, and in the backstage area. These sightings are rumored to be a reason why the balcony is closed and locked for most performances.[citation needed]
- AFI wrote a song about it called "The Days of the Phoenix", referring back to when they got their start at this theater.[5] Members of the band have mentioned The Phoenix and even the manager, Tom Gaffey, in numerous interviews. In one such interview, Adam Carson, after being asked his favorite venue to play, proclaims:
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"The Phoenix in Petaluma is probably my favorite just because that is where I saw most of my first punk shows and there will always be a special place in my heart for it. Tom Gaffey, the guy that runs it, is a really, really good person who has given so much to Petaluma and the Nor Cal scene. He gave me five bucks for gas once before I ever knew him when I was stranded..." [6]
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- According to the band's lead singer, Davey Havok, The Phoenix is where the band had their initial reunion show in the 1990s; an event which would inspire the band to get back together and give full devotion towards a musical career as a band.[7]
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ "The Phoenix Theater - A Brief History". http://www.thephoenixtheater.com. thephoenixtheater.com. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
- ^ "The Phoenix Theater - A Brief History". http://www.thephoenixtheater.com. thephoenixtheater.com. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
- ^ "The Phoenix Theater - A Brief History". http://www.thephoenixtheater.com. thephoenixtheater.com. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
- ^ Raze (February 13, 2004) "E-40 and Family 4 Life in Petaluma". http://www.networkoftheapes.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=38. networkoftheapes.net. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
- ^ "Key AFI Tracks". http://www.kerrang.com/wheretostartwith/artists/afi. kerrang.com. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
- ^ Tiffany Star; Gretchen"AFI Interviews: Interview with Adam Carson". http://wakeupcall75.tripod.com/afiinterviews.html. wakeupcall75.tripod.com. Retrieved July 15, 2010.
- ^ Nadine Cheung (September 28, 2009) "AFI: The Crash Of '09". http://www.shockhound.com/features/780-afi--the-crash-of--09. stockhound.com. Retrieved July 14, 2010.
