Cornstalk 1997 Concert Blenheim Ontario

Event: Cornstalk
Date: August 9th, 1997
Location: Blenheim Ontario
Cornstalk ran for a few years and was the biggest outdoor bash in the area during those years. Cornstalk drew 5000-8000 people.

Bands performing:
* Destroyer (Kiss tribute)
* Hells Bells (AC/DC Tribute)
* Exodus (Bob Marley Tribute)
* Electric Voodoo (Jimmi Hendrix Tribute)
* Hip Mission (Tragically Hip Tribute)
* Whaling (Neill Young Tribute)
* Chic Tunes
* Tangled Puppet (picture)
* Beggars Opera
* Foster Child (Picture)
* Rumblefish
* This End Up
* Social Slander
* Luxury Christ
* Square Root of Margaret (Picture)
* Evil Empire (R.A.T.M Tribute) (Picture)
* Gates of Rage (Picture)
Notes:
Outdoor parties of this nature were the norm in the 1990’s, put on by a private group or person, on private property. A typical party was 200-800 people, featuring live cover bands, a pig roast and a small $5 cover.

These events came to an end, an end of an era. Society had changed and law enforcement was cracking down. Add the liability, risks, insurance, bylaws, rising costs, permits, food & safety regulations, new staging laws, and the hassle of putting on such an event was no longer worth it unless the government was stepping in to make a profit off it.

* Thanks to Steven O’rourke for the pics.
* If you have pictures, email them to us at:
chatham_music_archive@hotmail.com

Below, is the only know video footage from Cornstalk 1997. Evil Empire (Rage Against The machine Tribute band) submitted by Ryan (Houlio) O. from Tilbury.

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Eightball Chatham Venue closes

Tony

Bands @ Eightball

Venue: Eightball VIP Sports Cafe
Year: 2004
Location: 90 Richmond Street, Chatham Ontario
Main owner & manager: Tony Almeida
Opened: October, 1983 as Eightball Billiards & Games
Closed: 2004

About EightBall:
From the early 90’s to 2004, EightBall was the main consistent provider of live entertainment with variety.
Owner Tony Almeida was simply the nicest bar owner in Chatham and a true supporter of the community and its local bands. Tony decided to retire after 25 years in the business which began as EightBall simply being a Billiard hall. The venue has since changed its name to Twisters, and a few others before becoming Encore, which it is now known as in 2010.
Over the years, the bar hosted acts including Finger Eleven, Great White, Quiet Riot, I Mother Earth, Nazareth, Big Sugar, The Trews, 54-40, Econoline Crush, Default, Theory of a Deadman, Bif Naked, Rusty & many, many more.
EightBall began hosting local bands to play shows back in the mid 1990’s. They were often given Sundays to do their thing. Otherwise, the young kids would normally have to rent a hall (JC Hall, KBD Hall, CAW Hall, Polish Hall, & the Legions) which was a big burden and risk to take for these young kids. Tony did his best to share his good fortune and develop a good community spirit amongst all club goers, whether it be rap, dance, country, techno, metal, or foam parties.
 Like all bars, it had a few slow years caused by various reasons, but mainly, it held its ground as the top entertainment venue in Chatham for the majority of the time.

Personal Note: I have worked with Tony for many years performing in bands (Foster Child/ Janet Theory) & he sincerely was the best owner, taking care of the bands he had play at his club. He took care of his customers, staff, and hired entertainment with respect. He gave opportunities to young new acts, and in return, we did our best to try to make the shows extra special so that the venue would be packed and everybody wins.
Tony remarked “I certainly miss all the people that I used to work with and of course, The group Foster Child/Janet Theory was sincerely one of the best to work with. I really miss you guys and will never forget some of the good times that we all had!
I will always be gratefull for all the effort that you guys did to help Eightball become what it did back in the day”.

A few of the bands that performed here were:54-40, Ashes of Soma, Betrayer, Big Sugar, Cage 33, Carpedeim, Clark Nova, Closer To Closure, Crazy Babies, Crutch, Default, Driving Lester, Dropping Poppies, Ego Seed, Fat Doug & The Sinners, Filmores (the)Finding Core, Finger Eleven, First Line Third Planet, Flicker, FLOORrYDe, Foreign Film Stars, Foster ChildGilligans Eye Lid, Halfway There, Hatchet Man Phenomenon, Hollow (the)HorrowShow, Janet Theory, J Englishmen, Joy Drop, Limblifter, Mad Dash Tour, Modena 440, Nerve, Orinj, Power Trip, Quiet Riot, Random Time, Room Without A View, Rusty, Salads (the), Sedated, Scratching Post, Social Code, Source (the), Stutter, Tangled Puppet, This End Up, Toast & Jam, Tranzit, Trole, Typhoid Mary, Wide Mouth Mason, Whaling Band & Whatever.

If you have pics from Eightball,
Email us:
chatham_music_archive@hotmail.com

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Letter about the Chatham Music Archive

A little cheers to our community as a whole.

Central Tavern 2012

Click pic to enlarge

Venue: Central Tavern
Year: 2012
Where: Paint Court, Ontario, Canada.
Address: 24121 Winterline

Notes: One of the oldest bars in Ontario,Centrally located between Chatham, Wallaceburg & Tilbury.
The Central Tavern hosted decades of great live music & was a busy place for bands through the golden years of the 1970’s straight through the 1990’s. The venue is currently under new management today that works hard at creating all kinds of events to keep the venue vibrant & warm to those who stop in.  Now, if those walls could talk!
Paint Court is a small french speaking community just outside of Chatham.

Email your info & pics to: chatham_music_archive@hotmail.com

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Top 40 list of 2012 Chatham Music Band Pages

Here is the annual most viewed band pages @ The Chatham Music Archive for 2012.
Note: People can still view pages by year or month etc, without having to click on separate pages to view, so those stats can’t be calculated.

01 Ian And Sylvia – Greatest Hits (1969)
02 Bluetonium Band 2010
03 Jessica Allossery 2010 Learn CD
04 Social Code – A Year at the Movies (2004)
05 Diesel band from Blenheim 2012
06 Ian And Sylvia Debut Release (1962)
07 Free Ride Band from Chatham Ontario 2010
08 Demo Kid Home Demos Volume 5 CD Free Download
09 The Colours 1968 album
10 Mike Francis Bio 2010
11 Jeanne Gordon Opera Singer From Wallaceburg
12 Face 4 Radio (2009)
13 Charlie Dorner Music 2011
14 Walkin’ 47 band in 2010
15 Full Frontal Band 2011
16 Danielle Robert Music 2011
17 Toast and Jam in 2010
18 That Whaling Band (2009)
19 Chatham Police Boys 1958
20 Brooklyn Roebuck 2012
21 Fred S. Stone – Ma Ragtime Baby (1893)
22 Manpower (2009)
23 Big House
24 Brooke Nicholls – 2009
25 Sylvia Tyson in Quartette (1996)
26 Winterline BlueGrass Band 2012
27 Ian And Sylvia – You Were On My Mind (1972)
28 Geoffrey O’Hara Writes Huge Hit Song ‘K-K-K-Katy’ (1918)
29 Sal Piamonte 2011 CD
30 Nexus Band 1970
31 Colours 1969 Atmosphere
32 Fifth Season – Patiently Waiting CD (2001)
33 ericwelton_2011
34 The chasers band 2012
35 Suds Celtic Rock Band 2009
36 Fowler Lockwood Band 2012
37 Elyse Weinberg 1968
38 The Kent Regiment Band (1940)
39 Elyse Weinberg 2001
40 Bent Str8 band 2011

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Golden Tap and Grill in Chatham Ontario

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Venue: Golden Tap and Grill
City: Chatham Ontario
Genre: Country Music Bar
Bands: Live bands on weekends
Phone: (519) 351-1907
Address: 429 Grand Avenue East

The Golden Tap has remained the only true country music bar in Chatham Ontario since the early nineties. But it did not begin there. The venue was previously known as the ‘Kingsway Hotel’, which had a good run through the 1970’s to the early 1990’s. Bands from around the continent (big and small) performed here in the 1970’s when live music was the main and only source of weekly entertainment.

Today, you can still enjoy country music bands performing every weekend at the Golden Tap.

Anyone with info or pictures, please email:
chatham_music_archive@hotmail.com

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Chatham Cultural Centre 2010

Venue: Chatham Cultural Centre (Kiwanis Theatre)
Location: Chatham Ontario Canada
Phone: 519-360-1998, 519-354-8346
Ticket Box Office: 1-866-807-7770
Kiwanis Theatre: 519-354-8338
Website: http://theculturalcentre.com/cms/

Address:
Chatham Cultural Centre
75 William Street N.
Chatham Ontario
N7M-4L4

Located in historic downtown Chatham, the Chatham Cultural Centre offers the Kiwanis Theatre, Chatham-Kent Museum, Thames Art Gallery, and within a short walk, the Milner Heritage House. Nowhere else in Ontario exists such a rare combination of art, heritage and entertainment in one convenient location.

The stage at Kiwanis Theatre hosts the best Canadian and local performing artists. Welcoming 40,000 patrons to events each year, this 679-seat venue is Chatham-Kent’s premier host for professional touring artists, local theatre companies, musicians and more. In its studio the Kiwanis hosts more intimate events such as the Friday Night Jazz series.

A few events happening this year at the Kiwanis Theatre: 2010 CK Guitar Summit, Just For Laughs Road Show, BAM Percussion – eXplosion, Black Violin, The Fabulous Crooners, Crystal Gage, The Mask Messenger, Jade Lester CD Release Concert, Brooke Nicholls, Irish Fire,

History: In 1963, the building (last used as the Chatham Vocational School) was bought by a group of citizens eager to establish an art centre in Chatham. By 1969, The Thames Theatre Association for the Arts was presenting live performances in the original 700-seat school theatre and the old gymnasium was being used as a gallery.  Renovations to the gymnasium and the studio areas of the building began in 1975 and the Thames Art Gallery, National Exhibition Centre was born.

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The River Rock

Venue: The River Rock
City: Chatham Ontario
Address: 187 King St
Year: Circa 2008

The River Rock is located in down town Chatham along side many other night life establishments. The River Rock occasionally hosts live bands for special events but mainly serves as a dance club. It often holds teen dances to give the 19 and under crowd a place to go and enjoy themselves.

The Venue has been around for a few years and was originally a movie theatre.
It had closed for some years, then reopened in June 2019.

Anyone with pics or info, please email:
chatham_music_archive@hotmail.com

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Elephants Nest Pub 2010

 

Venue: Elephants Nest (A.K.A. The Nest)
Location: Chatham Ontario
Address: 149 King Street West

The Elephant’s Nest is a cool little music bar located right down town on King Street.  Tuesday night is the highlight for musicians and music lovers as Julie Ross hosts ‘Open Mic Night’. Instruments are supplied and many performers play throughout the evening acoustically.
 The Nest also has live duos/ bands on the weekends. The key to this club is that you never know what to expect. The club has a cool underground vibe to it on occasions, yet it also plays to the mainstream expectations of your favourite cover songs ringing out into the pub style atmosphere.
   The Nest is another choice stop downtown for club crawling.  The Nest, Spankys , The River Rock, The JAZZBAH, and the Smoke House are all located on the same block. Add a 5 minute stroll and you will also make it to ‘Big Shots’.

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Chatham Music Archive Article 2009

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‘BAND’ING Together
Posted By ELLWOOD SHREVE
Chatham Daily News Nov.14th 2009

If you have a favourite local band still playing or from when you were younger, try checking out the website www.chathammusicarchive.com created by Shawn Beaulieu.
In a short period of time, the 35-year-old Chatham resident has compiled an impressive amount of information on local bands and musicians, including photos and small biographies, which are listed by both name and year released.
Beaulieu began the project about four or five years ago as a blog, but since being laid off six months ago, he has been able to devote several hours a day to the website.
“All of a sudden it turned into more than a hobby and all of a sudden it got bigger and bigger,” Beaulieu said.
He has been a part of the local music scene as a member of the band Foster Child, which became the Janet Theory.
Beaulieu credits the help he has received from Jeff Mifflin, who works at Strings N’ Things and is the guitarist with The O’Hara Brothers band. He said Mifflin was able to access photos of several local bands that have been displayed at the local music store over the years. He also noted the members of the 1980s group Manpower, which have teamed up again this year, “got me into a lot of this.” Beaulieu said the website is getting the attention of several local musicians, past and present, noting people have been coming to him with information. Beaulieu is impressed with the wealth of musical talent and the wide range of genres that has come out of the Chatham-Kent area, and wanted a way to show that to the world.
He has done extensive research at the Chatham Public Library, gathering information dating back to 1889 with the formation of the Chatham City Band. There is plenty of interesting information on well-known older bands, including the Melody Ramblers, which once boasted current country music star Michelle Wright as its lead singer. When Wright left to pursue a solo career, she was replaced by Wendy Jenkins, who also enjoyed success with the popular band. Then there is The Missing Links, including members John, Fred and Eddy Larson and Bill McGrath, whose 1966 album “It’s Link Up Time,” was produced by Paul Shaffer, best known today for his long stint with the David Letterman Show.

The site is also filling up with information on several local bands from today’s era. Beaulieu said the website can also serve as a resource for bands that are looking for musicians with certain skills or local clubs that want to hire local bands to play. “I only knew about 10 per cent of the bands when I started doing this,” Beaulieu said. “There’s a big scene going on, but nobody knows each other.”

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https://vimeo.com/spurofthemoment/chathammusicarchive

Rosco 1973

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Band: Rosco
Circa: 1972-73
Home: Chatham

Members
Rick Chrysler – Drums
Tom Lockwood – Guitar
Female singer (name N/A) – Vocals
John Larmer – Bass
Mark Tremblay – Keyboards

  The costume wearing idea was pushed on the act by their management who wanted to turn them into a show band. Management hired designers to create their outfits and arranged the photo shoot. The phase was short lived, as the band soon rejected it and moved on.

  The group was made up of highly skilled hard working musicians who were exploring what would be the next step in a bands evolution beyond local performances.  The female vocalist joined the band shortly after hearing they were looking for a new singer. She is from Kansas and joined them after their show in Kansas City.

  Let’s not forget that in 1972-73, it was the norm to wear flamboyant costumes on stage. Just like any passing of time, it may look odd from today’s perspective, but that is what the scene was like and it makes that a unique period in music.
  The glam costume era would resurface in rock during the mid 80’s hair band years.

Note: Largely a British phenomenon, glam rock visuals peaked during the mid 1970s. According to many researchers, the most famous exponents of the fashion were David Bowie, Marc Bolan , T.Rex, Gary Glitter, and Slade. Other influential British and American performers include: Queen, Sweet, Wizzard, Roxy Music, Mud, Mott the Hoople, The Glitter Band, Elton John, and Suzi Quatro.

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