PromoTheRobot Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Didn't Harvey & Corky book the acts there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony P Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 11 hours ago, Misterbluesky said: Was that before 1982 or after '85? If I was living here then that would have been a no miss. Definitely in the early '70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 They had .50 cent OJ and vodkas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vark Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Saw the Pretenders there with Plasmatics as the opening act. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Was Uncle Sam's a chain? I seem to remember there being one in the Syracuse area named that, or something similar. Maybe Poojer remembers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) They had ones on Buffalo, Syracuse and a few other towns. Edited January 14, 2018 by Wacka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Was never much into Uncle Sam's. Maybe just a few times. Where was it on Walden? On the other hand, loved the Barrelhead in the late 70's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 On 1/10/2018 at 2:41 PM, Poleshifter said: Wasn't this place called Gilligan's before it was Uncle Sam's? I saw Golden Earring and Cat Mother & All Night Newsboys there. I think it was still Gilligan's for those shows. Yes, IIRC Gilligans was owned by the guy who owned the Inferno in glen park Williamsville. He opened it after the Inferno burned down ( arson?). He was well connected in the booking of up and coming artists. In particular acts playing in NYC and then touring waiting for their break, a lot of them from across the pond. . For awhile at the Inferno Leslie West and the Vagrants were a house band there. Pre Mountain fame. When he opened Gilligans the list of up and coming artists playing there was huge. Cactus was almost a house band but in reality the Twiggs actually were (later called the Magic Ring). The Bob Seeger system, Canned Heat, Amboy Dukes, Wilmer & the Dukes , Johnny Winter, Butterfield, Chicago, etc. Were huge weekend draws. And for most all pre fame. Chuck Berry would use the Twiggs as his back up band. WITHOUT Even a rehearsal. Crazy times. LUMS a restaraunt next door in front. Had some very interesting clientele during the evenings. In particular when English bands stopped in too eat. Boiled hot dogs may have been unique for them. Spooky Tooth, The Crazy world of Arthur Brown, Ten years after, on and on they all went through Gilligans. Peter Townshend even appeared as a drunk patron when the Who did a gig at Klienhans and Spooky Tooth played Gilligans later that evening. Last but certainly not last Moog Music was cross the street. In the crap hole flea market. Where the English bands would on occasion hang until Monday AM for a tour. Good Times in the Buffalo club scene. Uncle Sams kind of lost that vibe after a year or so. Disco had something too do with that. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 From the above post, it was across from GEX which became the Flea Marke.t Moog Synthesizers was on the east side of the building. The GEX/Flea market building was torn town a few yeats ago and Walmart is there now. The building that housed Uncle Sams is still standing and is a warehouse or a factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 42 minutes ago, Wacka said: From the above post, it was across from GEX which became the Flea Marke.t Moog Synthesizers was on the east side of the building. The GEX/Flea market building was torn town a few yeats ago and Walmart is there now. The building that housed Uncle Sams is still standing and is a warehouse or a factory. Thanks. I will have to take a drive by next time I'm on Walden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 This is certainly going back a few years. I only went to Uncle Sam's three times that I can remember, seeing the Joe Perry Project, Max Webster, and Johnny Winter. Good times, good times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Lamb Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Today Uncle Sam's is the name of a Buffalo surplus store, but back in the day it was first a disco known for its funky reverse dance floor and later one of Buffalo's earliest punk clubs. Uncle Sam's actually drew some pretty big names, too: Gang of Four, the Pretenders, the Plasmatics and the Ramones. At one point there were several other Uncle Sam's clubs operated by the same management team in Detroit, Des Moines, and Minneapolis – the last of these even made an appearance in Purple Rain. The one in Syracuse is long gone: from Syracuse.com DeWitt, N.Y. -- The former Uncle Sam's night club is going to meet the wrecking ball soon. The long-vacant building at the northeast corner of Erie Boulevard East and Bridge Street, which also operated at various times as Suburban Park, the Country Club, the Scene and Oliver's, will be demolished at the end of March, said owner Grazi Zazzara. Zazzara bought the building in 2008 for $500,000. He said he has always planned to tear down the building and develop the site for retail, a restaurant or other commercial use when a tenant could be found. He's said he's still looking for a tenant and is hoping that removing the building and cleaning up the property will help attract one. "I didn't buy it for the building," he said. "I bought it for the location." Built in the early 1960s, the building briefly housed a Polynesian restaurant before being turned into a night club. It operated under several different owners and names over the years. The building has been vacant for about 15 years and has fallen into disrepair. Three bars are still intact inside, but the building's roof is caving in. Since word got out that he is going to demolish it, Zazzara said he has been receiving calls from people telling him about their many fond memories of the place, some recalling how they met their future spouse there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarkLessWagMore Posted January 16, 2018 Share Posted January 16, 2018 Was definitely at both U2 shows there in 1981. Also saw the Pretenders, Gang of Four and the BoDeans that I recall. Also the John Anderson for President show with Todd Rundgren, Ian Hunter and Willie Nile. On that last one, on the way to the show 97Rock announced at the last minute that they were broadcasting the whole thing live. I have a vivid recollection of my brother and I on a payphone trying to explain to our mother how to operate the tape deck and record the show. Pretty sure she got it and we got our tape. Pretty great show too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poleshifter Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/14/2018 at 8:09 PM, Best Player Available said: Yes, IIRC Gilligans was owned by the guy who owned the Inferno in glen park Williamsville. He opened it after the Inferno burned down ( arson?). He was well connected in the booking of up and coming artists. In particular acts playing in NYC and then touring waiting for their break, a lot of them from across the pond. . For awhile at the Inferno Leslie West and the Vagrants were a house band there. Pre Mountain fame. When he opened Gilligans the list of up and coming artists playing there was huge. Cactus was almost a house band but in reality the Twiggs actually were (later called the Magic Ring). The Bob Seeger system, Canned Heat, Amboy Dukes, Wilmer & the Dukes , Johnny Winter, Butterfield, Chicago, etc. Were huge weekend draws. And for most all pre fame. The Bob Seger System played an incredible show in Dec 68. It was at a place called Psycus (IIRC), an old theater on Seneca Street (probably). A power trio with Bob playing guitar. Pep Perrine had some weird tubular drum amplifiers (or whatever). I was disappointed when they augmented the System with organ and another guitarist. Did anyone here see that amazing show? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevewin Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 On 1/14/2018 at 8:09 PM, Best Player Available said: LUMS a restaraunt next door in front. OT but I had to smile at the LUMS reference. When I was in high school my best friend's brother was the late night cook there. We used to go there after going out, and we'd order breakfast and he'd cook these ridiculous cartoon size portions - pancakes as big as 3 plates etc.. The game was we had to finish everything he brought out (and not puke or "luke"). Good (and bad) times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Does anybody remember the amount of Canadians who would go there (Canadian dollar accepted at par) and how much trouble they would start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 My friend's sister met her husband (a Canadian)playing football there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Another great one for live shows in that era was the Belle Starr in Colden. And to a lesser degree the After Dark and He and She's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 On 1/18/2018 at 10:18 PM, Wacka said: My friend's sister met her husband (a Canadian)playing football there. Playing football there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted January 22, 2018 Share Posted January 22, 2018 5 hours ago, bbb said: Playing football there? Fooseball (damn autocorrect) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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