HW: Promo Collection / Thirsty Wale

[linuxchaos]

 Never went there but thats interesting!

flossbac wrote:

> Ah yes, the Thirsty Whale.... what a dive!  The place was notorious as being
> a venue for third-rate down-and-out classic rock and hair-metal bands, so it
> was with horror that I found Hawkwind would be playing there in 1990.
> Whoever booked them at the Whale wasn't doing them any favors.  I spoke to
> Bridgett at the show and she even said, "Well, it's a bit of a dive isn't
> it?"  The opening band, Sex Kittens, was a heavy metal act with a female
> rock bitch for a lead singer.... they played two identical sets
> consecutively because (as Alan and Bridgett later told me) apparently the
> club people had been expecting Hawkwind to do two sets that night, but
> everyone was afraid to go out to the bus and ask the band what they were
> planning on doing.... so the Sex Kittens filled empty time by playing twice.
> When Hawkwind finally entered the club, they were surprised to find out that
> the place had actually been expecting them to play hours earlier as well as
> a later show.  Alan had said they would have been perfectly happy to do
> that, but nobody told them a thing, so it was pretty late when they got
> their gear set up and went on.  Hawkwind were awesome that night, maybe
> because it was such a tiny place and so incredibly informal and not like a
> club at all.  The Thirsty Whale was more of a redneck/classic rocker pub,
> and I'm not sorry to see it go out of business.  It was fantastic seeing
> Chicago Hawkwind shows at better venues, such as Cabaret Metro
> (unquestionably my favorite Chicago club with the finest sound system in
> Chicago) or Park West or Lounge Ax.  I'm not that partial to Cubby Bear, but
> it's a lot better than The Thirsty Whale.
> John Majka
>
> > Ben sed...
> >
> > >Yes, stupid name for a venue *thirsty whale* maybe they can get some
> > >sanity into the place now that the red queen of deliria has been turfed
> > >out pf it's palace in England!
> >
> > This is the place in the west Chicago suburbs?  I was at that show then.
> I
> > don't think the club is in business any longer, right?
> >
> > It was a crappy little place anyway, and you couldn't even see the dinky
> > little stage from about 70% of the club's floor space.  The HW gig the
> > previous night on the north side of Chicago (Cubby Bear, next to Wrigley
> > Field) was much better.  Though it was extremely loud for some reason.
> >
> > The Thirsty Whale show was with the Sex Kittens and Freddy Jones Band as
> > openers.  The former featured a female front person who was dressed as the
> > band's name suggests, though the others were men IIRC.  Funny thing is
> that
> > she was at the show the previous night.  The latter later put out a couple
> > albums that actually were distributed over a big portion of the country,
> > 'cause I see them from time to time in stores around here.  Don't remember
> a
> > thing about them.
> >
> > >linuxchaos wrote:
> > >
> > >> Does anyone know the concerts at which footage was taken then used in
> > >> the Promo Collection?
> > >>
> > >> Out of the Shadows                   Thirsty Whale 1990?
> >
> > I don't know what this 'Promo Collection' is, but since you say 'footage'
> > I'm assuming it's video, right?  Well, then, if the stage is very small,
> not
> > exactly 'square' to the rest of the club (i.e., it faced *away* from the
> > bulk of the club!), the camera is not very far away from the stage, solid
> > wall to the left (stage right), and the sound is terrible....well, that's
> it!
> >
> > It's been ten years, so my memory's a little suspect.  But I *think* this
> is
> > generally accurate.
> >
> > Grakkl (FAA)
> >