POINTE EAST REUNION PLANNED FOR OCT. 18 To paraphrase The
Beatles... “It was
20 years ago today... the Pointe East was the place to play... No club
since has matched its style... so it’s time to reunite a while…” Okay...so Paul
McCartney I’m not! But if you were part of the regional rock scene 20
years ago, you can grasp the point I’m making about “The Pointe!” Pointe East was
arguably the South Side’s greatest local rock venue ever! Sadly, when the
Illinois laws changed, requiring that club patrons had to be 21 to enter
as well as to drink alcohol, it sounded the death knell for many of the
big clubs of the day. Pointe East closed
it’s doors in the summer of 1983, making this the 20th anniversary of
it’s demise. Has it really
been that long? In some ways,
yes. In other ways, it seems
like just yesterday. During it’s six year
run, the spacious Lynwood concert hall played host to a virtual Who’s
Who of classic musical groups. The rock talent there
ranged from Blood, Sweat &
Tears, to The Plasmatics,
to Humble Pie, to The Joe Perry Project, to having the first U.S. date by such
imported bands of the day as Girlschool,
Angel City, Max Webster and Goddo. We also presented such
blues icons as B.B. King, Muddy
Waters and Willie Dixon.
The club even hosted the very first Iron
Maiden concert ever in Chicagoland back around ‘80-‘81.
I still have the actual 16-song set list the Paul
Dianno-lead band played from that show. I used the word “we”
in the last paragraph regarding the shows, because I was/am very proud to
have been a part of a magnificent “team” of folks that made the Pointe
East the best Midwest rock venue ever.
Next month, on October
18, I plan to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the club’s closing
with a very special Midwest BEAT-produced
event. I cordially invite all
the old P.E. patrons and employees come tip a few and reminisce about the
good ol’ days of region rock at our “Pointe
East 20th Reunion Bash,” which will be held at Second Dimensions
in Schererville, IN just a ten miles down the road from the actual site of
the original club. If you were too young
to have rocked at the original Pointe East, join us on this night to get
an idea of what you missed back in the day.
Helping us with this
landmark reunion is -- Budweiser
-- who have a great new “Real
Music” promotion that Midwest
BEAT is hooking up with on a regional level.
So naturally, we’ll be tossin’ back cold Buds at special prices
all night, as well as giving out some cool Bud prizes from the stage
between bands. We’re also giving
away a “BUD” guitar and concert tickets to see REO SPEEDWAGON, GALLAGHER and CHARLIE
DANIELS BAND at the Star Plaza
Theatre.
On that note, I need
to give a big shout out to our fave new “Bud”-dies -- Mike, John, Robert and Jamie
-- for hooking us up! And to Monica
Montella and Charlie Blum at the Star Plaza for the great tix! On stage for this
reunion show will be three artists who frequently rocked the hallowed
rafters of Pointe East “back in the day.”
Next on stage will be
the all original line-up of the P.E. “house band” -- M&R RUSH -- who had the hottest single in Chicago in 1980 with
their radio smash, “Rock ‘N’ Roll Chicago.”
M&R Rush have gotten back together for a series of no more than
10 live dates and this is sure to be one of the best of the bunch! Closing our reunion
show will be Shuddup & Drive,
who played their first official show at the Pointe East as Shuddup &
Drive (after switching from their original Deep
River Band name). For a few brief hours
on October 18, we’ll take
everyone back to a time that has been sadly lost.
Back to when local rock bands played out seven nights a week
because live music did not have to compete for a market share with
personal computers, the internet, cable television and video games. So what do you say...
let’s all unplug the computer, turn off the television and make this a
night to really rock! Get the Pointe?
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Opening
the show will be Jim Peterik
(whose Survivor played many
times at P.E.) with an acoustic “greatest
hits” show that includes not only his Survivor-era tunes, but also
songs he has written for such bands as .38
Special, REO Speedwagon and of course, The
Ides of March.
Aside
from the “hits” set, Jim will introduce us to Toby
Hitchcock, the vocalist in his brand new band, Pride Of Lions.