Rev Hall: Movies or Music?
The folks at Revolution Hall have announced that they’ll be screening movies for the first few Thursdays in May. They’re calling it the Mid-Brow Film Festival, and they’ll be showing movies that walk the line between cult status and popular film – movies like the Cohen Brothers’ “The Big Lebowski” (May 6), Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs” (May 13) and Tony Scott’s “True Romance” (May 20).
Not big box office blockbusters, but hardly rare or obscure stuff. Rev Hall describes them as “several of the finest oddball films in recent years.” The press release goes on to explain, “The selected works were chosen for their quirky entertainment value, as well as their compatibility with drinking great beer and throwing peanut shells on the floor.” OK, at least they’re honest in their criteria.
Showtime for the films is 8pm, and tix are $5. Guests that dress in costume appropriate to the movie will receive a discount on pints of Brown’s Pale Ale. (Not sure who gets to make the judgment call on that one. The bartenders? Heck, half the folks we see at every Rev Hall show look like they idolize The Dude.) Peanuts and popcorn will also be sold.
Rev Hall is obviously trying to do something different. And maybe it will work. I hope so, because we certainly wouldn’t want to see the club go down the tubes. But it still seems a shame that the best club venue in the Capital Region seems to be steering away from an emphasis on live music.
Here’s a list of live music shows at Rev Hall for last month compared to April bookings during the two previous years:
APRIL, 2010
Tony Benn, Kid Koala, Gaelic Storm, Willy Porter, Livingston Taylor, the Easy Star All-Stars, Jason Reeves
APRIL, 2009
G. Love & Special Sauce, Schleigho, North Mississippi Allstars, the Gene Ween Band, Unforgettable Fire, Rustic Overtones, Blue Machine, Dr. Jah & the Love Prophets, Soulive, Jazz Mandolin Project, Moonboot Lover
APRIL, 2008
Rustic Overtones, Lotus, Unforgettable Fire, Umphrey’s McGee, Albert Cummings, Mike Doughty, State Radio, Machine, Badfish, Tea Leaf Green, Pitchfork Militia, Troy Night Out After-Party, the Audition, Pepper, Streetlight Manifesto
And don’t forget that the lovely Margo Timmins and Cowboy Junkies ride into Rev Hall on Friday night. Lee Harvey Osmond opens. Doors open at 7pm. Tix are $27 in advance; $30 at the door.
Photo by Andrzej Pilarczyk.
Wasn’t this place making good money and lining up decent acts?
There was so much buzz around this place just a couple years ago. Now they’re co-opting the Biergarten motif with benches and peanut shells while showing movies that people own and therefore won’t go out to watch (sorry guys).
What happened?
The Hall’s best days were back when Ryan Roberts (I think that is his correct last name) was the GM. He knew music. He also worked well with the better promoters around here like Greg Bell and Bob Millis who brought shows in there.
When the place changed hands afew years back, it went downhill quickly as Ryan was sent packing. The new people quickly crashed with some very poor decison making, which required a third owner to come to the rescue. I believe he is actually the owner of the property, but I may be wrong on that. It looks like he”s lost interest now, and the Brown’s people are back in there with a new game plan.
Some are saying that the new plan will cut the # of live music dates, which might explain the movie nights. Others have told me this isnt the case. Maybe Nippertown can get the full story?
But your year to year comparions sure do point out the obvious. Good job on that.
My recommendation is for them to bring back the old guard.
Stacey bringing the wrecking ball to Rev Hall. It’s obvious that Kingsley knew what was up with that place.
I’d love to see what was on the April line up from when Ryan Roberts was there (pre-2006).