We were alerted to some interesting news hidden in the comments section of another website, written by someone with a really good Uptown Theatre pedigree (the theatre was built by Balaban & Katz in 1925; David Balaban is the grandson of one of the founders):There is a rumor going around that the final ownership of the theatre will be decided by the end of September. I took a walking tour with my friend Rene Rabiela Jr., a few days ago. (His dad, Rene Rabiela, operated the theatre during its time as a rock and roll palace.) The inside of the theater is in pretty rough shape but it is overwhelmingly beautiful.
[...] Email me with any questions..
David Balaban
Dated July 21, 2008
My source says it's these folks:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-29-2007/0004555776&EDATE=
Here's another link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.livemusicblog.com/columns/07/03/30/live-nation-expands-fillmore-franchise.php
By "sources" you mean google.
ReplyDeleteNow learn how to correctly post a link. It should be easy for someone as talented as you JP. Ooops, I mean BJ. Or do I?
I honestly don't really care if it's Jam or Live Nation...as long as someone renovates that beautiful theater and does something with it, I'll be happy!
ReplyDeleteI know I should probably be more supportive of Jam since they're a local promoter, but I'd really just like to see this thing happen! Whoever gets ownership, let's get it fixed up real pertty like!
Irishpirate: The links are to the company--Live Nation--that my sources identified as the company that will soon take over the Uptown. I used Google to find them, yes, but they are not my original source, nor do they mention the company's intention to purchase the Uptown.
ReplyDeleteAnd the links, when copied and pasted in a URL line, work.
But I can assure you my original source is very reliable. The big unanswered and important question surrounding the finalization of a "Fillmore Chicago" is "parking."
Why should you be supportive of JAM? JAM has squatted on that property for years and have never moved forward. Why should they? They own the Riv and have exclusive booking rights to the non-Latino shows at Aragon. They bought the property to insure no one could compete with them in Uptown and then they let it fall to sh*t. It's business savvy sure, but their purposeful squatting hasn't done residents of Uptown any good.
ReplyDeleteAnd if Live Nation buys it and changes its name to the Fillmore, so what? It'll always be The Uptown. The Schubert is still The Schubert even though it's been named after a dozen banks at this point. At least someone with major money behind them will have a vested stake in improving our neighborhood.
As I've come to understand the pending deal, if Live Nation purchases the property (which is dependent on the TIF money Mary Ann Smith is trying to secure), they have to turn the place around in two years. This is one of the conditions placed on the sale.
I dunno about you, but I have my fingers crossed for this one.
I would love to return to the Uptown, what a venue. I still have old ticket stubs from the '70s and early '80s from some wonderful nights spent inside of that beautiful old theater. One of my favorite nights was one of the many evenings spent seeing the Grateful Dead there. It must have been '80 or '81, the place was sweltering, rocking but sweltering, we kept saying, "it must be 110 in here!" Well after a rousing Werewolves of London encore (featuring Bob Weir in a wolf's head) I walked out the back exit onto Magnolia (we always left through the Magnolia doors, what with the Dead's Sugar Magnolia and all), the evening breeze felt fantastic, we were finaly cooled off after a fantastic show. We all felt great and very much cooled off until we rounded the corner at Lawrence and looked up at the the clock on the Uptown Bank (at least I think that it was the Uptown Bank, it was on the SE corner of Lawrence and Broadway), the clock said that it was 103 outside. Alas I won't see Jerry Garcia up on the Uptown's stage ever again (or for that matter, Donna and Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland or Vince Welnick) however it would be a thrill to go back to the Uptown again.
ReplyDeleteI know you, el rider, you're gonna miss me when I'm gone.
ReplyDelete"Dark Starrrrrrrr!"
ReplyDelete"Morning Dewwwww!"
"The Wheelllllll!"
I was recently listening to "He's Gone" from Europe '72. Keith Godchaux's piano playing was superb, and I always felt the band was never the same when the Godchauxs were "let go" in 1979 (also the year Garcia turned into the full-fledged heroin junkie, which lasted until his death in 1995). Keith died in a auto accident less than a year later, and Donna is reportedly born-again and living in Alabama.
The Dead splinter bands like Ratt Dog that involve some of the original members are a complete "Emperor's New Clothes" joke. The only decent Dead music these days comes from tribute "cover" bands like Dark Star Orchestra.
el rider, thanks for sharing your memories. i hope, someday, that i can have some just as great in that lovely building.
ReplyDeleteA couple days ago, my friend and I were having lunch at Fiesta Mexicana, and as we walked past the Uptown, we saw that the caretaker was standing out front of the open front lobby door.
ReplyDeleteI asked him if we could peek in and he agreed.
It was GORGEOUS. It was like looking at a postcard.
I hope I live long enough to be able to visit a refurbished Uptown Theatre.
Don't hold your breath. I have been hearing the Uptown will be refurbished and returned to it's splendor for about 10 years now. Hearing the story about the Dead show made me really envious though.
ReplyDeletec,
ReplyDeleteWhy should you be supportive of JAM? JAM has squatted on that property for years and have never moved forward.... They bought the property to insure no one could compete with them in Uptown and then they let it fall to sh*t.
You are mistaken. JAM has never owned the Uptown Theatre, and certainly had nothing to do with its current state of disrepair. JAM currently has an interest in the Uptown, and they recently purchased some of the outstanding debt on the mortgages, which is why they have a claim on the building ownership now. They've never had control of the building. I'm not defending JAM here, and I'm torn as to who I'd like to see ultimately have control over the theatre, but to say that they had anything to do with its current condition is highly misleading.
Windycityeagle, thanks for the laugh, that is a blog-worthy comment. I also have to agree about Keith Godchaux, I remember waiting in line for tickets for Brent Mydland's first tour and people were glad that Keith was gone because he took his wife Donna with him. Now some of the songs that featured Donna were not so great but her voice on the rest of the band's catalogue was wonderful. There is a listing of Grateful Dead Shows called Dead Base that lists 17 Dead shows at the Uptown. The list is incomplete as far as the Uptown Theater goes, so the figure exceeds 17.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly for the Uptown community they list the first 2 Grateful Dead shows in Chicago as Nov 27 & 28 1968 at the old Kinetic Playground which became the Rainbo Roller rink on Clark just north of Lawrence, the site of the new Rainbo Village. There is a recording of one of the shows that has been floating around for these 40 years. It is appropriate that their first shows in Chicago were across the street from a cemetery.
The Uptown Theater was a great spot for the Dead size wise, they played similar sized theaters around the country for years before their single hit record Touch of Grey came out, places like the Fox Theaters in St. Louis and Atlanta and the Saenger Theater in New Orleans. I'm glad to hear that Uptown's lobby still looks great, I've been hearing worrisome stories of leaking in that building for twenty years now. And whoever gets control of it should install air conditioning, some nights the place felt like a furnace.
Uptown Update,
ReplyDeleteIf you go back to your original source (I'm not going to link to that source here, for obvious reasons, but you know where to go to verify it), you'll see that there is a response to David's comments.
It seems David Balaban, who is posting links everywhere to a slide show of photos he took during the personal tour he was granted, has been chastised by Friends of the Uptown, because he is putting the security of the building at risk by doing so:
The chief of security at the UPTOWN continues to ask that interior photos not be posted online at this time due to security concerns. The building is probably one of the most photographed theatres of all time, and many historic photos are available through Theatre Historical Socity of America at www.historictheatres.org Photos taken on rare, approved tours are supposed to be for personal enjoyment only. Unfortunately, people still try to break in the building's dozens of doors. There have been petty thefts in recent years, including a not-historic bust from a niche. We don't want to risk any damage or theft to the building. We also don't want to make it even more challenging for security. We've respected this specific request, online, since 1998 at www.uptowntheatre.com
I also would like to suggest that you remove the direct links to David Balaban's Web site from the main post, out of respect for the chief of security, Friends of the Uptown, and the theatre itself.
Thanks, U-Dub. Done.
ReplyDeletethe tour we took of the theater was fully authorized by the owner of the theater at the time. The new owner of the theater (Jam Productions) has seen the slide show and has approved it for posting on the Balaban and Katz Magazine website at www.balabanandkatzmagazine.com . The Uptown theater's caretaker ( I don't believe there is a formal director of Security) who took us on the tour showed us virtually every inch of the theater and even took many of the pictures!
ReplyDelete