Here’s a photo set from a memorable night in late 1983/early 1984 when the Rockin’ Dogs — guitarists/vocalists Dave Ellison and Sam Wilson; bassist Jane Bunting; and drummer Cole Smithey — took the stage with Noise 292 at Saigon Palace in what is now call the Gaslamp Quarter.
“The live color pics with Jane were the Saigon Palace!” Ellison recalls. “I was really sick, I had a fever and laryngitis really bad … to the point where I could do nothing but whisper for two weeks … so Sam sang all the songs that night.”
Rockin’ Dogs MP3s:
The Rockin’ Dogs play “Candy Rock”: Listen now!
The Rockin’ Dogs play “Back of Your Heart”: Listen now!
The Rockin’ Dogs play “Always on the Run”: Listen now!
Cole did the backup vocals too… completely unrehearsed, but he pulled it off! Jane’s got kind of a surly expression on her face in that one pic…haha.
Matthew, do you recognize the black drumset? I dont remember who was in Noise 292 at that point.
That last pic is weird because there were obviously mirrors on both sides, and it’s hard to tell what’s reflecting what… you can see a reflection of Lori, Cole’s girlfriend at the time taking the photo. She never complained about all the noise we made rehearsing in her home!
Dave Ellison: I’ll need to do some photo forensics when I’m looking at a real screen, not this Blackberry. I was assuming Joanne was on drums that night, but Fleminger and Sergio certainly subbed often enough in those days!
This was also the evening we hid 17-year-old Wendell Kling in the men’s room to avoid the ID check …
Can we review the history and location of Saigon Palace? Wasn’t it the old Zebra Club? Wasn’t it, like, three doors down from Greenwich Village West, or am I collapsing distances again? And what’s there now? It was so gloriously sleazy — I can’t imagine it’s recognizable nowadays.
There’s probably still a bar there, but I dont know for sure. It was on 5th, I think… I dont remember if it was the same block as Greenwich Village West. I wish we could get someone who lives in SD to photograph all of these locations for us so we can see what they look like nowadays.
I saw Johnathan Richman play there… him and the two backup musicians were touring in an old 50s Chevy that they had parked right out front. I saw Jim Carroll doing a poetry reading there… I cant remember who else.
Dave: We went to that Jonathan Richman show together … I tried SO HARD to get an opening spot on that bill, but Jonathan wasn’t into rock bands as openers, alas. Great show!
Can we get the address to find out if it’s been gentrified beyond recognition?
5th and market 1 shop away from the corner.i could look up the address but i am absolutely sure. i used to live over the wig store.
560 5th Ave. according to some Zebra Club show fliers..
that would make it the location that is presently Nicky Rotten’s
--great name!
From the citysearch reviews it sounds like they make great burgers, both meat and vegi.
Dave Fleminger: Agreed … Nicky Rotten’s doesn’t sound like too ignominious a fate for this storied address!
You don’t have a flyer for this Dogs/Noise show, do you? I’ve come up empty myself. :-/
PS: Our documentary evidence says Greenwich Village West was 536 Fifth Ave., not too many doors down and on the same side of the street as Saigon Palace. Can anybody suss out if they shared a sidewalk? (Too hard for me to research via Blackberry!)
All hail the prowess of Google Maps! Here’s a virtual walking tour of 560 Fifth Ave. and environs:
View Larger Map
The site of Greenwich Village West is indeed on the same block.
Dave Ellison: Joanne’s drum kit was brown: Check out this photo of her playing the Che.
Dave Fleminger: Did you have a black drum set?
I was (and currently is) the curator of Paul Kaufman’s drumset (thanks Paul! You’ll get it back soon!!), which would have been either a dull spraypaint black or a shiny black with blue blobs (the Mirrors kit) by that time…but that set didn’t have hardware or even heads on the undersides of the toms…years later it was co-opted and re-spraypainted black (including hardware) by Dethbred in SF, and rescued, but that’s another tale… Paul’s set is not the drumkit in the photo.
Dave Anderson had an awesome shiny black 70’s(?) Rogers drumset…should be easy to compare the pix..
Thinking Che Underground musical chairs: I never got to play with Dave Anderson, although I did raid his parents’ fridge.
On the virtual walking tour, which building is the address of the Saigon Palace? Is the Greenwich Village West building the one with the arched windows?
Who wants to start the petition drive for plaques?
In 1999 I was in San Diego for the 6699 music event at the Casbah and we went to the Museum of Death in the basement of what I thought at the time was Greenwich Village West. A web search of the Museum of Death turns up an address of 548 5th, but in Google Maps street view of that address it shows the same doorway as in Ted’s picture. Hmmm. Does anyone recall visiting the museum? It’s since moved to Hollywood.
Dean: I can’t see ’em on this #)@#!* tiny Blackberry screen, but the GVW address should be on a few of our flyer gallery exhibits … Somebody wanna verify?
Oh Saigon Palace was indeed the old Zebra Club, and also as yuo guys point out, a fabulously sleazy downtown bar to have a rock and roll concert in. I loved that place!
Ok… so Greenwich Village West is obscured by the tree in the virtual walkaround. In Ted’s shot, the building looks the same (other than the store on the ground floor). The tiles around the room windows havent changed.
Yeah, Saigon Palace was the Zebra Club. When the Hedgehogs played the Zebra, Carl, Paul and I had to stand outside the back of the stage before and after we played.
The Town Criers had their debut at the Saigon Palace in 1987, summer. What I remember most is that there was a leaky sewer pipe that ran across the length of the bar, and it smelled awful.