Ghost Notes
A Brief Personal History of Music in Windsor
Michael Tighe
February 20th, 2017
Over the course of more than a decade, my brother Sean and I enjoyed and participated in the music scene in our hometown of Windsor, ON. While watching and playing with a diverse collection of characters, we've sat on the barstools and vibrated the atmospheres of a few dozen watering holes, venues, houses, piers and bowling alleys. Many of these places have changed hands, changed names, changed businesses - or simply have been abandoned and left for the crows and vultures. This series attempts to document just a few of the locales that have played a part in our musical lives in Windsor, not as they were, but as they stand now. While this project is from a personal perspective, it sheds light on a larger subject - the decline of the once vibrant scene in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
The Coach and Horses has been around since the olden days (the 80s, at least), although by the time we were introduced to it it had taken on a distinctly different vibe than its original incarnation. Located in the basement of the "Loop complex" (a three story fixture of the Windsor scene housing four bars, each with their own unique personality), the Coach was the dank, aging remnant of a pub co-opted by the local metal scene as their venue of choice. We only played at the Coach once, to approximately 10 people, most of whom were from the other band playing with us that night. More memorably, it served as the perfect setting for one of our first short films.
These days, the Coach and Horses is shut down, along with the rest of the Loop complex. The future of the entire building is uncertain at best.
Aardvark's was at one point Windsor's premiere basement blues dive. What it lacked in polish and cleanliness it more than made up in character and atmosphere. I will always remember the first time I played here, as it introduced me to an entire scene of great players that I had previously only watched from the audience. After meeting drummer Bradford Helner at a rehearsal for a one-off gig, he invited me to sit in with him and a couple other guys (Josh Zalev and Darren Dobsky) at Aardvark's. It was a great time, and I sat in with them on the occasional Wednesday night after that.
Sadly, Aardvark's closed a while back. While the current incarnation of the space has a serious lack of live blues, it does feature a great list of house beers which go a long way to ease the pain.
Don't be fooled by the green logo - this is not an Irish pub. A few years ago, however, this location was host to the city's best Emerald Isle imitation - Patrick O'Ryans. Shut down and demolished to make room for this stunning TD branch, Patty O's was our favourite watering hole. It exposed us to many a night of live celtic music, and many a sore hand from pounding the table along with the steady rhythm. I'd like to apologize to Brian and Frank for incessantly requesting Mari-mac, which they clearly did not want to play (not actually sorry).
The FM Lounge was another of the four bars which comprised the Loop complex. Featuring a large stage area, good atmosphere, a friendly owner and great staff, the FM was a personal favourite. I did a 4ish month stint here every Thursday with instrumental funk and jazz band Huladog, which was both an intimidating and invaluable experience. The FM Lounge, like the rest of the building, is currently empty, and it's fate is very much uncertain.
Quite a bit of our last few years of gigging in Windsor were spent at the Kilt & Fiddle. Originally called Plunkett's, it rebranded to Mick's Irish Pub shortly after the demise of Patrick O'Ryans. I started playing there with Jon Roung, sometimes with a full band and later mostly as a duo, and continued playing there through a change in ownership. When I heard that they were looking for bands playing celtic tunes, I grabbed my brother and local folky Clinton Hammond and formed a band to fill the gap. Later, we would also find a home here for the Tighe Brothers Band to play some blues and rock. It even served as the main location for a musical short film of ours, with co-owner (and all round great dude) Brian Yeomans playing a role. Unfortunately, the bar struggled, and eventually shut down.
Milk was the quintessential downtown Windsor cafe, and was perpetually filled with members of the local arts and music scene. Come for the great coffee, stay for the friendly atmosphere and live music. The absinthe I could live without, if I'm being honest. Sadly, long-time owner Angelo Marignani called it quits early last year and sold the legendary establishment. At the time of this photograph, the transition was not yet complete. I'm not sure what its current state is, but as with any great institution, its owner and staff contributed much more to its charm than the brick and mortar.
Olde Sandwich Towne plays host to a number of Windsor's haunts. The Dominion House Tavern is one of the oldest continuously run taverns in Ontario, and I'm pleased to say it's still going strong. My brother and I made a couple of our first attempts at playing as a duo here, with admittedly sub-par (read: disastrous) results. Luckily, we were more frequently joined by others. We played a very wet outdoor festival just down the road in front of the old post office, and Rock Bottom Bar & Grill hosted a series of unfortunate gigs with our very first band.
On our respectably sized list of strange gig locations, this one ranks fairly high. The Big Bad Basilica, or the BBB, was a venue conceived of by a few members of younger bands who had grown frustrated by the lack of willing venues for them to destroy (I can't imagine why they had such trouble). This disintegrating church on one of the sketchier streets in town seemed like the ideal venue. Its most notable idiosyncrasy was the requirement to enter not through the front doors, as they were sealed shut, but through a back entrance that lead through what appeared to a boiler room and adjoining labyrinth with 4 foot ceilings. Surprisingly, this venue did not last.
The old bus station has been out of commission for a while now, since the station made the move down the street to fancier digs. Many potential uses for the space have been proposed or attempted, with nothing sticking so far. We played a tent covered St. Patrick's Day party here (which ran out of alcohol), and would have played a second if not for unexpectedly cold weather and malfunctioning heaters.
When out photographing for this series, I made the perhaps not-so-startling realization that not one, but two former venues now serve a rather similar new purpose. First up is Lefty's, where the band played at perched high above the doorway to the washrooms, sweating profusely as the heat of the room rose to the ceiling and collected directly where they stood. On the right, the former location of The Chubby Pickle. The Chubby Pickle was created specifically as a music venue, with a large and rather poorly thought out L-shaped stage in which sound swirled around in bizarre ways ensuring that you could never quite tell if everything was in tune.
We played a few gigs here early on, I believe to very few people (which was pretty much the norm for us at the time). It now serves as a homeless shelter, which is likely a far better use.
The Blind Dog, which played host to a few charity gigs which I participated in, burned down under suspicious circumstances. It remains an empty hole.
Many a night were spent at the Man-chest-hair, drinking, playing, listening, or most likely a bit of the three. We spent a lot of time honing our skills here at open mic nights or other gigs, which eventually led to the formation of both the Tighe Brother's Band and The Barley Reavers. While I sadly haven't set foot in it for quite some time, The Manchester is still alive and well.
The Bistro 507 was a very unlikely venue. To be honest, I'm not quite sure how we ended up playing there, but we had several nights there with Louis Cooney and Iven Kakoz in a somewhat ridiculous band (which was great fun), Plastic Monkey. My most vivid memory is of the owner repeatedly offering us sambuca shots, which I detest, while yelling "Plastic Monkey!" It appears to still be around, although it's never really been a music venue - it's more of a curiosity in the gig list.
Abars is another legendary Windsor venue of old. Established in 1893, rumour is it played host to Al Capone in the prohibition days. By the time I got around to playing here, it had already lost whatever charm it once had. It was purchased a while back by Michigan villain Matty Moroun while speculating about new bridge locations. He refused to allow renovations and eventually locked out the bar operators. The building has since been demolished.
If ever there were a home to the Windsor music scene, Phog Lounge is it. Or, at least, it is the last one standing. Owned and operated by local music enthusiast, organizer and supporter Tom Lucier, Phog is one of the few remaining sanctuaries of the local scene. We've been lucky enough to play a couple of our best gigs as the Tighe Brothers Band here, to some good audiences.
Well, there you have it. A sampling of the many Windsor establishments which I've had the pleasure and/or misfortune (yes, they can be both) of playing. The sheer number of them that no longer exist is somewhat staggering, and to be honest I did not entirely expect it when I set out to photograph this project. Now, the scene as a whole is unlikely to be as bleak as I have painted it. Even though I can no longer go back to The Avalon Front, Patrick O'Ryans, or the FM Lounge, there are certainly new venues that are taking the helm - hopefully it is more a changing of the guard than a decline. But they are not my venues. They belong to a new generation.
Or maybe I just need to get out more.