Retros pt. III

So, my memory is getting to the point of not remembering all of the things we did or the places we played. That, coupled with the other bands I was in later, I have a hard time remembering where we played, when we played there or what band I was in when we played there.
So, Somewhere along there came VFW Post 555. Once again, Cool Jerk founder, Dave Thomas found the place. It was what is says it was. You could rent out the place for arond $100 or $150 for the Saturday night and throw a gig. The bands charged $1 per band on the bill so, 3 bands = $3 admission. Bands generally came away with a couple of hundred dollars. Enough to pay bills, cover some music related expenses, etc. Plus, the beer was 35¢ a glass. That alone was worth the price of admission. The Vets didn't seem to mind too much, at least they didn't voice any displeasure during our gigs playing there. That trouble came later.


I think our first gig there was either opening or closing with Brown and Langhrer(sp?). You were pretty much assured an audience back in those days, as there wasn't anything else going on. That's not to sound pathetic because, the quality of bands playing was really spectacular. I'd put our scene at that time up against anything happening on the East Coast (West Coast hadn't really gotten organized yet) and we'd hold our own without apologies. Back in those days, the bands supplied everything, sound system, lights, everything. It was really frustrating and challenging because you were band, sound technician (thank goodness we had Don Hollenbeck, the "fifth" member as far as I'm concerned), management, door, etc. There was no system in place. At least, not at the places we would normally play. The clubs had it good, no investment in equipment, just clear a space on the floor and get the band to do the rest. They didn't even pay the bands. We worked strictly off the door take.
Anyway, VFW 555 quickly became nirvana for punk rock in St.Louis. It was all ages entry. The bar was a seperate room off the man hall so, booze sales was "controlled" that way. What happened to the booze after it left the little room well, let's just say it was consumed and leave it at that.


Our gig went really well. We played for about an hour. One of our encores we worked up a little surprise where, I played guitar and Don played bass on "You Know You Can't Help It", a Buzzcocks song. Since I played guitar before I became a Retro, and switched to bass in the band, I was still itching to play a little guitar and this was my little shot. All I remember about it was I couldn't hear a fucking thing I played so, had no idea how any of it sounded.
I'll post about the other gig we had a VFW 555 another time.