Liberty Hall Concert Venue At 1610 Chenevert St.

[YallerKitty]

Feb 23, 1970 to be precise. Great concert. Wish I had made it to the Family Hand afterwards. Of course I probably wouldn't have remembered it if I had. I believe I was in a state of enlightenment that day.

Website

As were we all, my friend, as were we all. I'm surprised the place didn't just out-and-out levitate!

Peace!

[Poppahop]

I have a picture of my mom, Bidy Lomax, hanging out backstage with Jerry at one of those shows.

[YallerKitty]

I have a picture of my mom, Bidy Lomax, hanging out backstage with Jerry at one of those shows.

Okay, youngster! Way to remind us precambrian types that it's time to shuffle off to the tarpits! (just kidding . . . I may be a bit inclined to see things through lavender-colored granny glasses, but I wouldn't swap the time of my gloriously misspent youth with anyone!) Now, I'll just grab the walker and toddle off to take my arthritis pills!

Peace!

Sylvia

[headrush77]

I went to Liberty Hall one time only to see Tuff Darts with a handful of friends. There must have been only about 14 other patrons at the show. The show must have been performed some time between the Spring of 1979 to the first half of 1981. I remember the lead guitarist towards the end of the set turning a knob on the speaker and stepping to the side of the stage. I anticipated a loud barrage of guitar sound, so I stepped away from the seating area to stand along the side wall for the rest of the set. That set ended with a real loud, sonic guitar.

My brother and a member of the Inanimate Objects went to the Ramones show at On The Border Club in 1978 (Spring, Summer?).

The Paradise Island/Rock Island/Island Club was opened from the Summer of 1978 to May 1983. The Virgin Whores, Inanimate Objects and the Businessmen played the last show at the Island Club.

[kayzer]

....The Paradise Island/Rock Island/Island Club was opened from the Summer of 1978 to May 1983. The Virgin Whores, Inanimate Objects and the Businessmen played the last show at the Island Club.

Saw Black Flag at the Island/Paradise Island that I can remember for sure. Did I remember a cool sign outside? Whiskey River was off the SW Fwy at Gessner, I think. Went to "On The Border" too, but a little far for me. In 1980, I started going to the Palace, later the Agora Ballroom. We'd go to the Windsor Theater (photos at: http://cinerama.topcities.com/ctwindsor.htm) and walk past the shops to the other side toward the club.

[terrbo]

I have no idea when it was taken, but love this pic.

[e streeter]

thanks for the picture. one of the unofficial top 50 bootlegs is from liberty hall 1974 along with his interview on KLOL. he always mentions liberty hall whenever he plays in houston.

liberty hall and armadillo world headquarters in austin were the first venues outside the northeast that bruce and the e street band played in the early 70's. liberty hall was also where he premiered the fever after KLOL asked him about the song on the radio.

boy i wish i could say i saw springsteen and the e street band in 1974 at liberty hall. too young and sheltered then. it would be 6 more years before i really heard his music and i have seen 50 shows and counting.

yea i am a boss fan, notice my name - e streeter.

[icepickphil]

I found it on this page along with more info about his Liberty Hall '74 shows. Looks like Bruce had played in the South earlier that year btw.

http://www.brucebase.org.uk/gig1974.htm

I have no idea when it was taken, but love this pic.

[FilioScotia]

I have no idea when it was taken, but love this pic.

That shot brings back some memories. My turn now. I found a video on YouTube that should send some of us into a major flashback.

It's Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris at Liberty Hall sometime in the very early 70s. Enjoy.

[tfboogie]

Saw that image hanging on the wall at the Liberty Hall Poster Show here in Houston in February of '07. Big thanks to Mike Condray for making the show happen. Any event that he is a part of is worth attending. I have seen shows at lot's of venues across the country. Not one of them has the vibe Liberty Hall had!

Edited December 10, 2008 by tfboogie

[HobbitTR]

Ah, the memories. I hung out at the Family Hand, the Old Quarter & Liberty Hall (with a couple of visits to Jubilee Hall just before it went defunct) during '69, '70 & '71. I don't think I went to the Hand but once after it became 'Texas Rose'. I moved to New Orleans in '72 & came back 6 years later to a different world. Only Anderson Faire was essentially the same, complete with Joy. Sigh. By the way, Mike Condray's birthday is Feb. 7th, so if anybody sees him, tell him Sylvia says 'Happy Birthday'.

Does anybody remember the concert, Spring of '70, at the Colisseum, that started out with Josephus, then progressed through John Mayall, Beautiful Day, and Quicksilver, culminating with the Grateful Dead? After the concert, 'everybody' went to the Hand for resurrection. I was focusing on a guy with really curly black hair & granny glasses who I thought was my friend Kenny (things were a tad wavy). The saloon-type doors burst open, and a tall, skinny guy in a fringed leather jacket came in, walked up to 'Kenny', and started stabbing at him with a knife! 'Kenny' pulled a 'gun'! This was unheard of among all us peace-lovin' types. Anyhow, it transpired that 'Kenny' was Jerry Garcia and the tall fringed one was John Cipollina, from Quicksilver. The knife was rubber and the gun was a water pistol. Apparently this was something they pulled on a semi-regular basis . . . I went back to talking to one of the Beautiful Day adjunct personnel until it was time to melt back into the night . . .

Sigh.

Dude, I was there also. Did Jethro Tull go on that night also or was that in another smoke filled memory? If I remember correctly, the Houston kops (nazis mostly) tried to stop the concert while the Dead were doing their thing. Garcia refused and the pigs pulled the electric plug. What happened was pure fantasy, and yet it happened; no one in the crowd moved and Garcia started to sing without an amp, just loud enough we could hear him and then the rest of the band followed and they finished in grand style much to the obvious frustration of the head pig.

The Family Hand was a favorite hangout of ours, there was a screen door like most farm houses had in those days and a cat or two which lounged around on the tables as much as the floors. No one seemed to mind.

Also went to the Zeppelin concert later that year at Hofheinz on Mar 29, '70. Since Hofheinz was a circular stage with the audience surrounding it, there were literally no bad seats if I remember right.

We hung out in the park a lot days and nights (sheeit, didn't anyone of us work? Uh, another discussion I think), and the park police were cool, they seemed to have absorbed the good vibes of the freeks who were there and maybe even inhaled some of the smoke.

Friend of mine got busted because he stepped in to keep a brother from getting beat up by two Houston porkers. Later they ambushed him, beat him up, and arrested him for resisting arrest. He eventually beat the rap but not without a lotta hassle. Typical of the atmosphere of the time. Heavy heat by the kops just because we were different and smoked a lotta dope.

[glzuma]

Liberty Hall was a small concert venue on Chenevert that was formerly an old movie theater. It was located near downtown (close to St. Joseph's Hospital). Great place to hear all types of music in an intimate setting back in the 70s.

If you were around back during it's heyday, please share your favorite Liberty Hall story.

Here's mine.

I was listening to KPFT one Sunday afternoon (had to be 74/75) when it was randomly announced by the host that he had " 2 tickets to see Willis Alan Ramsey at Liberty Hall tonight" for the next caller. I scrambled to the phone and was the lucky next caller. I think B.W. Stevenson opened with a set, then WA came on. The room was about half full and we were sitting in metal folding chairs on a concrete floor about 15 feet away from him. It was almost like a house concert. He sang his whole album and it was one of those magical, musical moments. Just a man and his guitar, taking us as far as we needed to go.

[Fringe]

Saw many musical acts at Liberty Hall but my two fondest memories were seeing Cheech and Chong perform and the play One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It was a great place to see anything.

[MaggieMay]

I remember the Hall quite well.

There's an earlier discussion here: http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/i...?showtopic=5088

[Subdude]

Note Liberty Hall topics combined.

[tfboogie]

Liberty Hall was a very special place for me. I've seen lots of live music in many venues. NONE of them had the vibe of Liberty Hall! After a few drinks at the Rockets game Thursday night, my car magically ended up at 1610 Chenevert. Please share your stories about this amazing piece of music history.

[artistpro]

Anyone remember or have any stories to tell about Liberty Hall which was located at 1610 Chenevert? All sorts of performers played there...Jimmy Reed, Ted Nugent, Bruce Springsteen, NY Dolls, Velvet Underground, Gram Parsons, just to name a few.

In early December of 1971 I helped produce a film fest at Liberty Hall. We stretched a 9x36' screen across the stage area and used three 16mm projectors in the balcony. 3 screen images at once. I left around 12 or 1 but the films, I'm told, kept running all night. I might be able to find the flier...not too sure. I also will try to find some photos taken of an evening when a jazz dancing troupe took stage. there...'73 or so.

[icepickphil]

Does anyone know the date Liberty Hall opened?

Sometime in '70 maybe?

[Fringe]

Does anyone know the date Liberty Hall opened?

Sometime in '70 maybe?

1971.

[e streeter]

springsteen mentioned liberty hall the other night (4/8) and he said he charged a $1.00 the first night and $5.00 the second. now i know he spins tails when he talks about the old days, but i was wondering if anyone has their ticket stub from his 74 liberty hall shows?

btw - he played saint in the city for all the old timers from liberty hall and what great dueling guitars between him and little steven at the end.

[VRG]

Hey everyone,

Looks like I found some L Hall old schoolers...huh?

my name is Valentina Gonzalez, I am the daughter of the late Roberto Gonzalez, a former manager of the Hall.

For those of you that care, Roberto passed away last October from a massive heart attack.

He was crazy! creative, inspirational, irrational, brilliant, irresponsible, innovative, addicted to life(and some other stuff too...), and above all

fun as hell!

He designed many if not all the posters hanging in the Museum exhibit, and brought in bands, that at the time were, completely exotic.

Thanks to his passion for all forms of music and art, I was able to grow up claiming John Lee Hooker and Lightin' Hopkins as my god pappies,

and I continue to utilize that same passion in my life as a musician, artist, mom, and partner.

As for the architecture of the building goes, I can't say much because I'm only 30, but I do know that beyond the bar, down a little hallway, there was a secret room that all sorts of rowdy shit happened in. I've also heard some had preference for the old timey seating that was in the main hall, which my father tore out for a dance floor. In fact the only picture I have of the face of the building, was taken at my mother and fathers wedding out front...big crowd, shitty copy, and blurry, so I've always just used my imagination.

I was planning on doing a film about the Hall, my pops, and the musical history of Houston, but everybody is either dead, thousand dollarsed up, stuck up, or over it.

What do you all think?

If its something you think would be cool, or that you would like to contribute to, or even if you would like to simply share a memory

I can be reached at bloomn@gmail.com

Have a good day!

Keep rocking!

VRG

[artistpro]

Anyone remember or have any stories to tell about Liberty Hall which was located at 1610 Chenevert? All sorts of performers played there...Jimmy Reed, Ted Nugent, Bruce Springsteen, NY Dolls, Velvet Underground, Gram Parsons, just to name a few.

I believe it had formerly been a movie theatre.

Who remembers a film festival one evening at Liberty Hall? Three people, two from Ch2 & myself, produced a three screen extravaganza of all the underground film we'd all shot in Dec or 1971. It was a long night. Then later in '73, I filmed a dance troupe doing a jazz routine on stage Liberty Hall.. Still have the film...wish I had the name of the music used.

[icepickphil]

I think a film about Houston music from that era would be fantastic. It may be a tough rode to get it made, but go for it!

Hey everyone,

Looks like I found some L Hall old schoolers...huh?

my name is Valentina Gonzalez, I am the daughter of the late Roberto Gonzalez, a former manager of the Hall.

For those of you that care, Roberto passed away last October from a massive heart attack.

He was crazy! creative, inspirational, irrational, brilliant, irresponsible, innovative, addicted to life(and some other stuff too...), and above all

fun as hell!

He designed many if not all the posters hanging in the Museum exhibit, and brought in bands, that at the time were, completely exotic.

Thanks to his passion for all forms of music and art, I was able to grow up claiming John Lee Hooker and Lightin' Hopkins as my god pappies,

and I continue to utilize that same passion in my life as a musician, artist, mom, and partner.

As for the architecture of the building goes, I can't say much because I'm only 30, but I do know that beyond the bar, down a little hallway, there was a secret room that all sorts of rowdy shit happened in. I've also heard some had preference for the old timey seating that was in the main hall, which my father tore out for a dance floor. In fact the only picture I have of the face of the building, was taken at my mother and fathers wedding out front...big crowd, shitty copy, and blurry, so I've always just used my imagination.

I was planning on doing a film about the Hall, my pops, and the musical history of Houston, but everybody is either dead, thousand dollarsed up, stuck up, or over it.

What do you all think?

If its something you think would be cool, or that you would like to contribute to, or even if you would like to simply share a memory

I can be reached at bloomn@gmail.com

Have a good day!

Keep rocking!

VRG

[MikeO]

Who remembers a film festival one evening at Liberty Hall? Three people, two from Ch2 & myself, produced a three screen extravaganza of all the underground film we'd all shot in Dec or 1971. It was a long night. Then later in '73, I filmed a dance troupe doing a jazz routine on stage Liberty Hall.. Still have the film...wish I had the name of the music used.

Youtube has some video footage of Gram Parsons performing at Liberty Hall with Emmylou Harris and the Fallen Angels in '73. Not good quality by today's standards, but interesting stuff.

[NolaMar]

Lived in Houston from age of 5 until just after my 19th birthday. (End of '75) Saw MANY concerts from age 13-19 at the Coliseum, Music Hall, Hofheinz Pavilion, and the Summit. I've forgotten half of them but remember Grand Funk Railroad with Bloodrock (my first concert), Santana at the Music Hall (late '70 or early '71?) J Giles, Moody Blues, Allman Brothers, Little Feat, Leon Russell, Steven Stills, Tull w/Yes, ZZTop, The Who, .... forgot so many! Bruce two nights in a row at Music Hall in '75. It kills me that I had saved every ticket stub, but lost them along life's way someplace, during a move maybe....

Was it Herman Park where we would go on Sunday afternoons? There was another park too I think... Maybe it was my young age, but I only went to one concert at Liberty Hall that I can remember. It was Bruce Springsteen and I think it was '73 or '74? My friends (college aged) and I were blown away and became big fans after that. We listened a lot to the first two albums. I remember being sort of surprised after Born to Run came out and realized the whole world did not already love him before that point. LOL What a trip reading this thread and espiecailly the slide show with all the flyers from back in those days! This was fun... Here is a cool site I found tonight. http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~tannahil/index.html Loved the pictures of the ticket stubs! Sure wish I still had mine. I had some that aren't shown here.

Edited June 15, 2009 by NolaMar

[Fringe]

Your probably thinking about Milby Park. For a while they had free concerts every Sunday. Just local bands but Houston had some really good ones back then. Great times.

[trickyvicky211]

Jubilee Hall at the corner of Bagby and McGowen. Introduced us to Josephus and ZZ Top and Many other Local Bands in 1968-1970. Johnny Casey was the Owner/ Manager. Lots of us were able to see/ hear a lot of fantastic groups back then. The Family Hand Restaurant served 'soul food' for a reasonable price, and you could enter without shoes, no dress code. Jubilee Hall was a leased out old church, where All were Welcome to enjoy good music without any hassles. Also had a place to 'crash' if needed. Those were the Days! Johnny Casey brought in some great bands. Cover charge was at a minimal fee. I remember seeing Z Z Top and Josephus there, as well as a bunch of other Houston Musicians, who were given a good place to start. That was around 1968-1970. Then some Church folks came in and eventually outbid Mr Casey on the Lease. Too bad for all of us, who enjoyed the Freedom of Jubilee Hall. The Folks from the Family Hand Restaurant were just around the corner and they were Great Down Home Folks, who served the Soul Food, at a very reasonable price. At least we had two or so Good Years of Entertainment and Fun. Thank You Johnny Casey (Turner), And all the others who made that Time in Our Lives so Wonderful and Enjoyable.

[Subdude]

Jubilee Hall at the corner of Bagby and McGowen. Introduced us to Josephus and ZZ Top and Many other Local Bands in 1968-1970. Johnny Casey was the Owner/ Manager. Lots of us were able to see/ hear a lot of fantastic groups back then. The Family Hand Restaurant served 'soul food' for a reasonable price, and you could enter without shoes, no dress code. Jubilee Hall was a leased out old church, where All were Welcome to enjoy good music without any hassles. Also had a place to 'crash' if needed. Those were the Days! Johnny Casey brought in some great bands. Cover charge was at a minimal fee. I remember seeing Z Z Top and Josephus there, as well as a bunch of other Houston Musicians, who were given a good place to start. That was around 1968-1970. Then some Church folks came in and eventually outbid Mr Casey on the Lease. Too bad for all of us, who enjoyed the Freedom of Jubilee Hall. The Folks from the Family Hand Restaurant were just around the corner and they were Great Down Home Folks, who served the Soul Food, at a very reasonable price. At least we had two or so Good Years of Entertainment and Fun. Thank You Johnny Casey (Turner), And all the others who made that Time in Our Lives so Wonderful and Enjoyable.

That would have been the old St Paul's/Second Baptist Church building.

[isuredid]

Jubilee Hall at the corner of Bagby and McGowen. Introduced us to Josephus and ZZ Top and Many other Local Bands in 1968-1970. Johnny Casey was the Owner/ Manager. Lots of us were able to see/ hear a lot of fantastic groups back then. The Family Hand Restaurant served 'soul food' for a reasonable price, and you could enter without shoes, no dress code. Jubilee Hall was a leased out old church, where All were Welcome to enjoy good music without any hassles. Also had a place to 'crash' if needed. Those were the Days! Johnny Casey brought in some great bands. Cover charge was at a minimal fee. I remember seeing Z Z Top and Josephus there, as well as a bunch of other Houston Musicians, who were given a good place to start. That was around 1968-1970. Then some Church folks came in and eventually outbid Mr Casey on the Lease. Too bad for all of us, who enjoyed the Freedom of Jubilee Hall. The Folks from the Family Hand Restaurant were just around the corner and they were Great Down Home Folks, who served the Soul Food, at a very reasonable price. At least we had two or so Good Years of Entertainment and Fun. Thank You Johnny Casey (Turner), And all the others who made that Time in Our Lives so Wonderful and Enjoyable.

I've never heard the name Johnny Casey associated with Jubilee Hall. As far as I know Jubilee Hall, The Family Hand, and Liberty Hall all had one common founder, Mike Condray. Mike aslo had various partners in these enterprises, Lynda Herrera, George Banks, and Ryan Trimble.

[fortbendtomontrose]

This is from "The last of the past : Houston architecture, 1847 to 1915": an inventory and architectural stylistic history of remaining early commercial buildings, Houston, Texas, 1980 / by William Scott Field for the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, the Harris County Heritage Society.

Liberty Hall was definitely an American Legion Hall and not a theater.

It would appear the building that housed the Old Quarter still stands at 300 Austin St. as a law office.