Band flyers and local music magazine ads were the social media tools of the 1980s – so unlike the intangible and infinitely fleeting images of today’s band sites, apps, and events. Back then, before the advent of the Mac Plus let alone the internet information age, band flyers and local rags were simply good advertising – you grabbed one and took it home and it was like a Facebook Event Notice sitting on your dresser all week.
Sometimes I like my nostalgia tangible, like concert ticket stubs. I always print out screen shot of digital tickets in order to have a stub (dangit). And before The Great Downsizing, I used to love to read lyrics and liner notes on vinyl, cassette, or CD packaging. Though those have been let go, I will still grab and keep a good band flyer.
While I didn’t keep a lot of flyers from this talented and fun-filled Tampa Bay Area music scene, some of the ones I do have deserve their place in internet posterity…
The earliest are from my high school years, ala 1981-1983. Never did we ever go to a high school dance nor football game nor any such thing. One of my besties had an older sister who would sneak us into the new wave clubs, a scene that was thriving in the Tampa Bay Area at the time – the Fanatics, the Headlights, A New Personality, Marcel Nouveau, Real Cameras, Red Tape, Rocky Ruckman and the Beat Heathens, Delores Telescope – at clubs like the ACL Club, Club Detroit and Big Apple West in St. Pete, the Cheshire Cat and the Swamp Club in Gulfport, El Gordo’s in St. Pete Beach, and Ms. Lucky’s (later Ruby’s) in Tampa.
I thoroughly enjoyed my new wave days, and I can never, ever thank my life-long friends enough for introducing me to local live music. I couldn’t get into the rock scene bars at that age, but I saw a lot of those bands at roller rinks (Stranger, now the Greg Billings Band) and in K-Mart parking lots (Savatage when they were called Avatar)(that show is actually on YouTube somewhere). The legal drinking age was in the process of gradually shifting from 18 to 21, and I was grandfathered in at age 19.
I went to the 49th Street Mining Company on that 1983 birthday night I turned legal. Off the top of my head, the main local rock clubs we frequented were 49th Street Mining Company in Pinellas Park, Mark Twain’s in Tampa – later known as the Tampa Bay Power Club, Crown Lounge in PP, ABC Lounge (aka ABSleaze) in St. Pete, Mr. T’s Club 19 in Clearwater, and Ruby’s in Tampa, with a lot of other great dive bars here and there and in between – and stretching out to beach bars in Daytona and The Treehouse or The Button South in the Fort Lauderdale area. The Rock-It Club in Tampa, which eventually became the end-all-be-all of Tampa Bay Area rock clubs, wasn’t around in those early years, and I was in Los Angeles for most of 1984 and 1986-1989.
The local rock bands that come to mind were Argus, Bobby Friss Band, Buster Brown, Brat, Dorian Gray (who eventually morphed into Warrant), Four-In-Legion, Intice, Jeteye, Lefty, New York, Nova Rex, Stormbringer, Stranger, Roxx Gang, Secret Service, Tangent…the memory banks fail me further than that.
Given the above, these flyers start off in the local new wave scene and morph into the local rock scene. Talk about the good ‘ole days…wouldn’t trade them for anything ;o).
For more information on the local Tampa Bay Area music scene, check out the Tampa Bay Music Scene Historical Society (update: link removed as it got weird). You can also find some great stuff on Encyclopaedia Mettalum: The Metal Archives. And if you’re looking for venue information, try Setlist.fm. They archive show venues, dates, and setlists for a lot of local rock bars from around the country.
Update: Check out the comments below for updates to some of the bands and band members mentioned in this post, as well as people searching for certain band flyers and events. Do you have old band flyers hanging around somewhere?
I’m not sure of the name of this local band ala 1982-ish, but it featured a guy that I went to high school with, Donnie Brown (far left, later of the band Jeteye), and Randy Ferguson (second from left), who owns and operates Sound Coast Studio/The Rehearsal Venue nowadays. I believe another guy is from the local music store, Seminole Music, as I saw a similar picture hanging in their shop where I used to take guitar lessons (fun but I’m hopeless ;o)). I also seem to recall this was one of the high school bands we used to watch practice in someone’s garage – I vaguely recall egg carton sound-proofing all over the walls.
I believe I picked up this contest form when I saw The Who with Joan Jett and the B-52s at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida on 11-27-1982. I remember mailing in the detachable entry form! See my 1982 Concert Ticket Stubs. 
Gotta love these flyer directions. Rock Superbowl XIX in Orlando, Florida on 10-29-1983 featured The Police (imagine Sting in the feathery jacket), The Fixx, and the Animals. See my 1983 Concert Ticket Stubs.
Keeper was my friend Blackie’s band. Still one of my bestest besties…she is the source of a lot of the information on the musicians and clubs mentioned in this post. She is a databank of the people and places of this era (kind of like the Eddie Trunk of the Tampa Bay area lol). That’s mainly because, as well as being a local musician in the bands Keeper and Juvenile, she’s guested with a lot of other bands, including one memorable evening signing For Shame with Kix at Killian’s in Ybor City. She could also be found writing and hosting for local music magazines (Thrust, etc.) and cable tv shows (Metal Masters). Based out of Nashville these days, Blackie sings backups with Southern Accents – A Tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and is currently working on several other recording and radio/club hosting projects.
Had good times hanging out with the Brat guys back when. Guitarist Bruce Batten plays with the local band KFTO these days, and I see bassist John Urban out and about sometimes.
Ah, Maas Brothers, the local department store that became Burdines that became Macy’s. Luckily Coachman Park is still around (albeit smack dab in the Land of Scientology) – I saw Sammy Hagar there last year. I notice that the band Visigoth is in this flyer, the Prisoner flyer, and the Savatage/Nasty Savage flyer below, yet I have no recollection of them, nor can I find anything online. Blackie seems to remember a guy named Martin who sang and played bass. The Encyclopaedie Metallum only mentions a Visigoth based in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I don’t actually remember going to the London Victory Club in downtown Tampa until the ’90s – I know I saw Girlschool there, and I have a vague recollection of seeing Kevin DuBrow of Quiet Riot sing with the local band Juliet at this club. Blackie recalls that it was mainly a dance club in the 1980s (which explains why I didn’t go there) that occasionally booked rock acts.
Only thing I can tell you about this band is that it featured Kevin Steele (second from right), the future singer of Roxx Gang (of the ’80s hit song Red Rose. He’s been with the Mojo Gurus for a while now. I don’t remember much about the Lonesome Coyote club, but according to the map it was somewhere around 82nd Ave. and 34th St.(U.S. 19) – looks like it was in Pinellas Park. 
Secret Service was one of the top Bay Area bands and actually had a record deal. The band did not move forward with the death of highly regarded singer Steve Gruden.
Now there’s some graphic design for you. I don’t remember much about this band Moxy Roxx, but Blackie correctly recalled it included Teddy Mueller, former member of the band Axe. Like some of the bands I’ve mentioned, Moxy Roxx was not a local-based band but one that toured a wider rock club circuit.
Savatage, probably Tampa’s most famous metal band, and Nasty Savage – both integral forces behind the epic Brandon Death Metal Scene. It wasn’t a scene I frequented, but I crossed over into it (as well as into the new wave and punk scenes) once in awhile.
Mark Twain’s, on Hillsborough Ave. near Dale Mabry in Tampa, changed their name to Tampa Bay Power Club at some point. I actually remember this King Kobra show – specifically getting there and seeing that Blackie and the entire band, including Carmine Appice and Johnny Rod, had some type of pink hair color food fight. As you can imagine, it was a mighty bright pink in those 80’s-bleach-blondedness coifs…
Mr. T’s Club 19 was another great local club – good times, good times. It was right next to the old Peaches Records & Tapes on the corner of U.S. 19 and Gulf-to-Bay in Clearwater, which, if I recall, had Pat Travers‘ handprints in its little sidewalk of fame area. Not sure why the box is blank – I’m guessing it was where contestants could write in their name and hand them out. I think this was from 1985.
This mangled but awesome Kix flyer actually had a pink souvenir balloon on top of it in my scrapbook that appeared to have disintegrated. We ALL loooooooooooved (and still love) us some Kix. Imagine that, $3 at the door.
I recently came across this 1986 magazine ad (I think it was from a local rag called MUSIC – same as the Brat article above) while working on a post about the band Nova Rex (see my post Nova Rex, Nostalgia, and Neurology). This is a great find in that BOTH Nova Rex and Stormbringer still play out and about locally these days. This ad also brought back a fleeting memory of the club called Rock City at the Rocky Point Beach Resort in Tampa circa 1985-86 – I do remember going there. I tried to google the club and the only interesting thing I found was a 1986 YouTube video of the local death metal band Morbid Angel playing there…a related but very different scene(!). And because I actually have a picture of me and some pals from an outdoor concert at the Rocky Point Beach Resort around then….
Blackie posing, unknown girl, Brigette, Me blabbing about something, and Cathy and the side of Randee in deep conversation, at an outdoor show at Rocky Point Beach Resort in Tampa around 1985. We tried to remember who was playing at this event but only remember it might have been Lefty. I thought it might be the show in the concert ticket stub below, but by scraping together our collective memory banks (people and places – I was already living in L.A. by June of 1986) we concluded that it had to be a earlier show. 
Thank you Kenny Wilkerson of Nova Rex for keeping this great ticket stub featuring some of the most popular Tampa Bay Area bands of that era – 4NLegion (sp?)(side note: I just found a YouTube video of There’s a Party in My Pants), Lefty (which featured Kenny McGee, later of Juliet, and Johnny Lee Middleton, later of Trans-Siberian Orchestra), and Nova Rex, who can still be seen playing around these days.
I simply don’t remember what this flyer was all about, but we think it was a listening party for the 1985 Motley Crue Theatre of Pain record release…and speaking of Peaches Records & Tapes and Motley Crue…
I’m just going to apologize for my cut and paste approach to making things fit better in my scrapbook back in the day. But this was from a Motley Crue album signing party at Peaches Records & Tapes, sponsored by Q105 – which if I recall, was more of a pop station. I think this was 1984. It turned into record store mayhem…they did not expect the massive crowds. Check out the practically tattoo-less arms.
I don’t really remember anything about this band Suite 16 but I learned it included local guitarist Vinnie Granese (later of Mojo Gurus).
We had such fun with this band New York and the singer’s wife Marlene, all over the Tampa Bay area and beyond – wherever you guys are, thanks for the memories! I remember going over to Daytona Beach to see them once in awhile. Gawds, we stayed at the dive-iest of motels…when things like that didn’t matter ;o).
Warren Wyatt was the Tampa Bay Area band manager extraordinaire back in the day. He took on the best bands in the upper booking echelons. 
Just because I still happen to have this bumper sticker. We had two great rock radio stations back when radio ruled – 95YNF and 98 Rock.
This WSHE bumper sticker above and the flyer below are from the Fort Lauderdale area…we’d sometimes take the 4-hour drive over to The Treehouse or The Button South if there was a band we wanted to see. I do remember an amazingly fun jaunt over to the east coast of Florida for spring break (not that we were in college!) to the Button South in Hallandale Beach. I think I kept this front-and-back flyer because we were amused by it.
And lastly, a shout out to the Tampa Bay Area punk scene. I won the 2015 book The Tampa Scene: Images from the Eighties, which reproduces a crazy big collection of local show flyers and photos, at a memorial benefit for a scene member. Compiled by author and director Tony Patino, who is described as a “scholar of Tampa punk,” it contains many, many flyers representing the bands and clubs from that thriving scene: Bad Brains, Black Flag, Butthole Surfers, Circle Jerks, The Cramps, Dead Kennedys, Husker Du, Iggy Pop, Jehovah’s Sicknesses, No Fraud, Pink Lincolns, The Ramones, Rat Cafeteria, Roach Motel, Souxie & the Banshees, Suicidal Tendencies…at clubs like Janus Landing in St. Petersburg, The Ritz and The Cuban Club in Ybor City, the Lonesome Coyote in Pinellas Park, and interestingly, at various all-ages community centers around the Tampa Bay Area. And let me tell you, it is priceless enjoyment to peruse these old-school pasted-up, hand-printed, hand-drawn pieces of art. The intro to the book says it all about the punk life and legacy: “If someone ever tells me that they used to be a punk rocker, then they weren’t a punk rocker as far as I’m concerned.” – Samytown-Fang. RIP, Stiff and Dreb.
rocksandy.rocks 
Good article. I was part of that scene towards the end. In 1988 when I graduated in a tiny town in Arkansas I got a bootleg with a bunch of Tampa bands on it. I had been planning a move to LA, but since I had lived in Tarpon Springs as a kid it turned into a coin toss. Tampa won the toss. My first gig in Tampa was with Lois Lane featuring 3 future members of Love Junkies. Played one gig with them at a private party before we split. Then I sang for largo band Dirty Weapons (we got as far as a development deal with CBS but split when the bassist and guitar player divorced and we couldn’t decide which one to keep -dumb reason) I then Joined Triple X and played with them for about a year before changing bassist and lead guitarist and rebranding as Dirty Faced Angels. DFA were regulars during the week at the Rock-it. Did several Saturdays at ML Chasers. After the drummer quit we changed our name to Love & War and gigged around Tampa & Los Angeles until 2004. The guitar players girlfriend worked at our managers office and tried to copyright songs I had written (already copywritten) so that band exploded. Been solo since. Have my solo record coming out soon on my own label. An advanced single “Beautiful Dream” and an old Love & War demo “Scarecrow Jesus” are already on all the digital stores and streaming platformsand charted top 10 on Reverb Nation and Noisetrade this year. Please feel free to contact me if you write another article. Besides my music. I was friends with damn near everybody from the headliners like Heartless and Bleeding Hearts to the equally talented but underappreciated like Stiff Kitty/ Misery Loves Co.
I’m Paul Kodi
I grew up going to shows I was a skater punk hung out In front of Janis Landing and Channel Zero. Saw so many shows for free the Sheriff bodyguards always let me into the shows for free and meet the bands and then take me upstairs to meet the bands after the shows I have so many great people and had many crazy times in that Era of my life!
Anyone got anything or memories of Tampa Springfest 82 at Golden gate Speedway or Clearwater Jam 82 in the Kmart parking lot? My brother and I produced them both.
I am in awe of all your memorabilia as well as your recollection of the clubs which slowly evaporated away. This was a nice walk down memory lane. Thank you
Thank you! I still find it amazing I managed to save this stuff, and luckily i have friends’ brains to pick as our collective memory works better then mine alone lol ;o)
Great post! I played drums in an Orlando band that started as The Stereos and later became the New Suburbans. We played Ms Lucky’s, Mr T’s and Janus Landing. This was early to mid 80’s. The Wankers opened for us at Ms Lucky’s. Saw many punk shows at the Cuban Club in YBOR City.
Good times!
I remember some of them bands coming to play Fort Lauderdale back then. I grew up in Broward County. Moved to Tn 14 years ago and was thrilled to see Blackie Black.
I was the DJ at Studio 19 from 1980 to 1981 then I moved on to DJ at Brassys in Cocoa Beach. All down hill from there as I went to a club called ‘Angels’ in Orlando til 1984. I see Studio 19 after Rich Unger sold was renamed to Club 19. Studio 19 was one of the first nightclubs that offered video music shorts predating MTV. Thanks for your extensive article. I was also at The Who concert. Members from the B52s came to Brassys after the gig. Sound & Road crew for set change ar that concert were from the band ‘Pinch’ I still have a couple of unused back stage passes for that concert.
Thanks, Albert! I love hearing these memories of the good ole days ;o).
Thanks Andy. I replaced the famous Stan ‘the man’ Priest at studio 19 on Aug 21, 1980 – the day I turned 18. I tried to track him down to compare notes about Studio 19. It’s nice to see blogs that talk about the music scene from that time period. Not to long ago, Florida Man Radio Ed Tyll did a show on Brassys in Cocoa Beach. Was a blast from the past.
Such a wonderful blog about some great local rock bands! Awesome years for Tampa Bay’s Rock scene! Especially Jeteye!!!
I can give you some details on Visigoth if you’re still interested, and there’s some surprises along the way…
I hope I get the details right, and in the correct order. Forgive me if I don’t.
The band was started in 1982 by a couple of guys from Palm Harbor, Gregg and Jeff. They both went to Tarpon High with Criss Oliva. Though he was a couple of years younger than Criss, Gregg spent quite a bit of time around members of the Oliva family. That probably was the root of his desire to study guitar and pursue a career in rock music. With the addition of a drummer named Tony they became a solid three-piece group and took the name Adversary.
Just as most bands start out, they practiced in their own homes. Despite having a wide range of rock influences such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Motorhead, they quickly tired of playing covers. Gregg started writing original songs and soon found he had a talent for both lyrics and chord structure. He took on singing duties as well, and explored what turned out to be one hell of a vocal range that could span music from Dio to King Diamond.
At a certain point in 1983 they felt they were ready to move out of the garage. By then the market had started following a trend towards swords & sorcery imagery – witness groups like Manowar, Cirith Ungol, Armored Saint, and countless others – so the guys chose the name Visigoth, inspired by Gregg’s interest in Roman Empire-era barbarian nations. They rented the Oldsmar Rec Center and performed there as Visigoth for the very first time. The entry fee was a buck!
Gregg was in his senior year at high school by this point, and had taken over most of the duties as writer. While most of the metal acts out there did songs about how hard they were rocking or how hard they were fighting for your right to do the same, Visigoth songs ranged from tales of epic warriors to dream sequences to school anthems. Notable songs included “Nocturna”, “Venezia”, and “Spanish Dancer”. That last one became somewhat of a trademark show-closer for Visigoth.
They added another guitarist who was also named Jeff, which inspired Jeff the bassist to take on the name “Fritz”. This was an inside joke, as Fritz is the short version of the German name Friedrich. The English version of Friedrich is Richard, so what’s the short version of Richard? Its Dick.
With the fatter sound from the added guitarist, the guys entered a couple of Battle of the Bands contests at Astro Skate, both times facing another local band – Banshee. The first of the two Battles was opened by a local new wave outfit called Opposite Directions, which was not well received by the leather and studs wearing metal kids that comprised most of the audience.
The guys went through a few more guitarists, the most notable being an Asian guy who went by the name Tom Z. He performed with Visigoth when they opened for Brat at that Coachman Park concert. Somewhere around that time I personally financed a Visigoth EP, recorded at Paul Niesen’s 21st Century Sound in Pinellas Park. After a dispute with the studio over the rate I was quoted for 24 track time, I finally told them to go ahead and record live. Despite having to shift gears from a multitrack mindset to two-track, the guys did great job. I can’t seem to find a single copy of it now, I’m sorry to say, and Paul closed the studio over 20 years ago so the masters are long gone.
The EP got enough traction for a full album to be produced, I believe at Morrisound. By then the boys saw the hair metal acts winning out over the D&D players with guitars, and they changed their group name and image to suit the market. Leather and studs gave way to spandex and Final-Net, and the band became known as Charade. The new image worked well, and they did some much larger shows under that name. Tom Z was gone, and unfortunately I don’t recall the name of the guy who replaced him. If you come across a copy of the Charade cassette look at the cover image, you’ll see him on the left side of the picture.
I was surprised that no one from any of the bands on your list had ever stepped up to answer your questions about Visigoth, but perhaps they were better known as Charade. I bet if you asked Blackie about Charade she’d probably remember them. Besides the Olivas, they were well-known to the guys in Brat, as well as Roxx Gang. The last local show Roxx Gang performed before their national tour was at the Pinellas Park Cinema & Drafthouse, and Charade opened for them. There’s a Home Depot standing there now.
Gregg got tired of fighting limited opportunities here; a shrinking number of national slots all chased by bands he’d grown up with and competed against, so not too long after the Drafthouse show he made his way out to Los Angeles. Fritz joined him shortly after. I don’t recall if Tony the drummer went but I’m pretty sure he did. Charade was reformed as Mr. Slate, but eventually broke up for good as Gregg was tapped to be the voice of one of the LA metal bands. I think it was Rough Cutt, but it may have been Riot (known now as Riot V). If you search those bands’ histories, you’ll see that they were both looking for a new lead singer in 1987-88, around the time Gregg went out there, so it could have been either group.
Whichever band called him, I couldn’t say how long the collaboration lasted. It could have been days, it could have been a few hours, but it wasn’t enough to get him a mention in Wikipedia. The usual “creative differences” thing interfered: Gregg had a substantial back-catalog of work he wanted to explore with the new group, and they wanted to be a hair metal band. Painful reality set in, and he moved on, eventually returning to Florida and settling in Sarasota.
Now for the interesting stuff…
The original 2nd guitarist I mentioned above, by the name of Jeff? Well, that was Jeff Klaus (not sure I spelled that correctly. Claus? Clouse?). He moved out of music and into film, where he goes by the name “Cody Jarrett” which I believe is his legal name now. You can get a good look at him as he was in his post-Visigoth days if you watch the 1990 Andrew Dice Clay movie “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane”, and watch out for his character, Kyle Troy. He appears in two scenes with Wayne Newton, and he’s credited as Cody Jarrett. These days he’s still living in Tampa, where he writes and directs B movies, and if you want to be on good terms with him, don’t call him “Jeff Klaus”. Don’t even bring it up. No joke, I’m not kidding, and please respect his wishes.
You probably saw Gregg perform somewhere in the past 20 years here and didn’t know it. He doesn’t like being called Gregg, and I sure as hell have never called him that. His own family doesn’t even call him Gregg. I used it here to get folks into the story and build up a little suspense. (I know eventually this post will find him and he might not appreciate me using the name, but he’s got a pretty good dramatic flair so hopefully he forgives me.) Gregg is actually Gregg Bentley. who most everyone knows as Rocky. He’s been in the area for years jamming with established locals and doing session work, but his main gig has been his own jam ensemble, called Rockstarr Bentley. He also was part owner of the music and fashion shop Five Points Collective in Sarasota for a number of years, with a weekly webcast that involved sketch comedy and performances from local bands. After some health scares of late, he’s taken a break but he’s been writing the whole time and easing his way back into performing.
Thats everything I know and remember, to the best of my ability. Hope that helps you fill in the blanks.
Wow, Christian! Thank you so much for the thorough (and excellently written) background and update information! I will be updating the post to refer people to your post. So cool and much appreciated :o).
You’re welcome Sandy, glad to help fill in the blanks. I have some memorabilia from the era, if I can find it I’ll send pics, maybe you’d find them interesting enough to post. Mostly handbills from several of the concerts mentioned.
I had to laugh when I saw those pics you had from the Motley Crue autograph session at Peaches. I was there, so were Rocky and Fritz. The crowd was enormous and when the Crue showed up (in a limo, I think) we could see the tops of their teased and hairsprayed heads bobbing into the store. I don’t think we had made it very far into the store before the management called it a day, the crowd parted, and we could see those same poofy hairdos bouncing back to the limo. We’d stuck it out for close to 3 hours only to draw a blank, and we were forced to listen to Shout at the Devil played on a continuous loop over the store PA system the entire time. I was pretty sick of the album by the end of the day.
Sorry to say Peaches is long gone and there’s a Sams Club on top of its old location now. When the store was closed a group of my friends had considered going there with a jackhammer to rescue some of those sidewalk sections with all the cool imprints, but nothing ever came of it. I think the Peaches staff did pull a few of them and move them to that smaller, later location up US19.
The banners for Top40 station Q105 (WRBQ) were hanging in Peaches but I don’t recall anyone from the station being there. They just did a lot of stuff at Peaches and their signage was a fixture at the store. I think that the Crue meet ‘n greet was actually promoted by YNF, which was somewhere between their 1981-82 era “95FM – Florida’s Best Rock” and the “95YNF the Home of Rock and Roll” sticker you posted above. If I remember it right, they ran “Pirate Radio YNF” station IDs back then. They stole that from a kid who was running an actual pirate station out of a storage unit in Pinellas Park at the time.
In 1986 that band ‘Keeper’ place an ad looking for ‘the best male lead singer in Tampa Bay’. My audition song was Bon Jovi’s ‘Living on a Prayer’ – modulation and all. They told me – not without reason, I had Robert Plant’s Zep II range in those days – that I was the best guy they’d auditioned, but they had just decided to go with a girl instead. I joined the Navy, never heard of this band again, and now your gig flyer brings it all back. Thanks, Eric.
Love this trip down memory lane. Thank You
Great stuff.
Do you have any flyers, tickets or band list from Tampa Springfest 82 at Golden Gate Speedway?
Or anything from Clearwater Jam free concert at Countryside Kmart?
My brother and I promoted both shows and lost the memorabilia thru the years.
Thank you, Mike Marston
Hi Mark and thanks for checking out my site ;o). I don’t seem to recall Tampa Springfest ’82, but I do remember being at an Avatar show in the Countryside Kmart parking lot. I do not have any memorabilia for either show but I will keep an eye out and let you know if I run across anything. I’m sure you’ve located the YouTube videos of Avatar playing at the Kmart but it’s dated 1981 (and of course I don’t remember exactly what year that was, could have been 81 or 82). Thanks again!
You wouldn’t have flyers of RAVAGE/ ATHEIST early on????
Hi there! I’ve put up everything I have, but I will keep an eye out for those bands and reply if I find anything. I’m supposed to get a stack of stuff from a friend next month and looking forward to seeing what’s there. Thanks for checking out my site :o).
Sandy (and everyone else here),
Do you recall a nightclub that operated on the Gandy Frontage Rd back in the 1980s? It would be in the 2600 block, probably where the glass & mirror business is at now. It was owned by Randy Heine, the guy who had the Tobacco Emporium, Rockin’ Cards & Gifts, and he also ran for Sheriff, Mayor, and I think the FL State House.
He occasionally hosted concerts there, and I recall it was ’83 or ’84 when he had a four band bill play an outdoor show behind the building. The only band I can remember from the list was Warchylde. I remember seeing their beat up band transport around town. It was a former school bus, painted battleship grey, with the band name in cheap vinyl letters on the sides.
I’m trying to remember the name of the place, and while we’re on the topic, does anyone recall Warchylde?
Hi Christian – I had to put this one out for questions as I have no recollection of that club or show…I remember the Tobacco Emporium, and the only club I remember on Gandy was Dave’s Aqua Lounge (and it can’t be that). I’ll let you know if I hear anything!
Hi Sandy! This place was definitely not Dave’s Aqua – and can you believe that one has joined the 49th Street Mining Company and the Scrounge Lounge on the ash heap of history? I thought the Aqua would last forever, but I guess all the saltwater rock lizards have shed their last skin and the package store wasn’t enough to keep the property in the family. The joint I’m talking about was on the west side of 275, on that frontage that leads past Coke to the Royal Palm cemetery. Back in those days it was called “Eternal Light”. I can’t believe I remember all this stuff.
I was in Band 4Legion,, Changed to Just The Legion ” last gigs were,FBI, Bowery,Rockit,Club,Then House Band Spring Break,Dirty Harry’s,My time was RACE ruled,yada,,Was chasing the buzz and dblDeez
I was in Band 4Legion,, Changed to Just The Legion ” last gigs were,FBI, Bowery,Rockit,Club,Then House Band Spring Break,Dirty Harry’s,My time was RACE ruled,yada,,Was chasing the buzz and dblDeez
Still hoping to see stuff from Sunset and Volley from 87 til 90…. ATHEISYT (RAVAGE), DEATH, NASTY SAVAGE, DEATH, BLACKKOUT etc…
Hey laurent – thanks for the request. I’m going to start featuring other people’s flyer/stubs collections and I’m meeting up with someone in February who may have stuff from that stretch of time. I lived in Los Angeles in ’87 until early ’89 so not a lot of Tampa Bay area things in my stuff. I’ll keep an eye out. I’m working on my 1990 post now and hope to have that up shortly…I’ll include the Volley Club ads for sure.
That would be totally awesome if someone still has some stuff! Thanks man! Please if you do, let me know via this so i’ll know, thank you.
Yeah, that was Lefty, we were opening for Stranger or Helix. We played with both of them there.
Cheers
I knew that girl Bridgetette.
Instantly remembered her face even with sunglasses.She was a very cool girl.Hope shes well.
Thanks for checking out my post, Kent! Yep, Brigette is doing well, cool of you to check in on her! 😁