Huge Lineup of Music at the Brass Lantern, 4/20-4/29
April 15, 2010 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
Starting on Tuesday, April 20th, the Brass Lantern, in association with PlusVibes Productions, will be hosting a huge lineup of premium artists, with what was supposed to be, the venue’s final five shows.
As reported in a previous blog entitled, “End of an Era: The Brass Lantern To Change Ownership,” the venue was scheduled to be sold to a local sports bar owner on April 30th.
Well, that deal has fallen through and, while some people may think this is a good thing, it is unfortunately not. Though technically back on the market (serious inquiries should contact them immediately), the Brass Lantern is still suffering from the issues discussed in the March blog and now is in serious danger of closing its doors forever, especially as the summer “slow” season approaches.
So the events planned as their “final” performances may continue to be billed as such, because the future of the Brass Lantern as a live music venue is now up in the air. +VIBES encourages everyone to patronize this landmark live music venue and tell a friend (to tell a friend) that the Brass Lantern needs their help to keep its doors open.
The “final” performances will begin on Tuesday, April 20th, with NINE FINGER SALOON performing an early show as part of the “FINAL Taco Tuesday” at the Brass Lantern. 9FS is a musical tribute to the works of Jerry Garcia, with all the members being no strangers to that stage. The music is schedule to start around 9pm.
Thursday, April 22nd is “Customer Appreciation Day” at the Brass Lantern with FREE homemade appetizers from 5pm until 7pm, and $1.25 Miller Light drafts until midnight and West Chester’s high energy dance band, BODEGA. These youngsters have graced the stage at the Brass Lantern many times in their still-rising career, gaining the attention of any conscious music lover in the building. They are raw talented musicians, and they continue to build a loyal following with every show. They hit the stage around 9:30pm (with no cover until they start!).
FROG HOLLER is having their CD Re Release Party on Friday, April 23rd at the Brass Lantern. They have completely remastered and re-packaged “Couldn’t Get Along”, which was the Berks County band’s debut album released in 1998 on the ZoBird label. It was a year or so later when they established a lasting friendship with the Brass Lantern and from that point until now they have undoubtedly provided the highest attended shows there ever. We expect this evening to be like “old times” where it’s standing room only and the place is full of fans singing along to every word. This show starts at 10pm, but we suggest you come early to get your spot!
A semi-reunion show is shaping up for Saturday, April 24th, with some of the members of ALCHEMY coming together to open up for QUAGMIRE SWIM TEAM. We couldn’t (possibly) say goodbye to the Brass Lantern without hosting two bands that have been with +VIBES since its very beginning. This night will be one to remember as all sort of surprises are expected, but one thing is for sure, the Brass Lantern will be full of dancing friends and family.
Not sure how to top all that, so we’d like to think of Thursday, April 29th’s show as the “cherry on top”. What was billed as the “Final Show at the Brass Lantern” before the new ownership has now become possibly the last chance you will have to see Reading-reggae favorite, JAH WORKS at the Brass Lantern. This Baltimore-based band had no idea what they were in store for when they arrived for their first show at the Brass Lantern in 2008. They immediately became part of the +VIBES and Brass Lantern family by putting on one of the best reggae parties ever at the venue. They somehow topped those shows two more times, increasing the attendance and gaining new fans each time, while remaining very humble and grateful for the opportunities. This show is slated to start at 9pm and will be standing room only, so come early and spend an evening with some positive vibrations.
Stay posted to www.plusvibes.comand www.thebrasslanternlive.com for more news regarding the future of the Brass Lantern.
In summary:
TUESDAY, 4/20 – Nine Finger Saloon – 8:45pm
THURSDAY, 4/22 – Bodega – 9:30pm
FRIDAY, 4/23 – Frog Holler – 10pm
SATURDAY, 4/24 – Quagmire Swim Team w/members of Alchemy – 10pm
THURSDAY, 4/29 – Jah Works – 9pm
Thirsty 3rd Bluegrass Thursdays @ The Brass
October 28, 2009 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
PlusVibes Productions is proud to be hosting a series of monthly bluegrass shows at the Brass Lantern every third Thursday each month, with local bluegrass favorites, the Manatawny Creek Ramblers.
The series will run through the fall, occurring every third Thursday of each month, and is being billed “Thirsty 3rd Bluegrass Thursdays with MCR” in conjunction with the best beer special around - $1.25 Miller Light drafts.
Members of MCR include Daniel Bower (Frog Holler, Society Beat) on guitar and vocals, a recent addition and sometimes called the “hardest working man in [Berks County] showbiz” is Kris Kehr (Kris Kehr & the Stone Poets, The Youngers, formerly of The Recipe) on mandolin and vocals, Michael Beaky on banjo, and Josh Sceurman (Frog Holler) on bass. They bring traditional bluegrass medleys and intricate originals from the “hills” of Oley, Pennsylvania (also known as “Pennsyl-tucky”).
They recently (June) released their seven song EP “Meet Me by the Moonlight” and have been supporting their debut EP vigorously with frequent showcases at the West Reading Arts on the Avenue series and stops at the Steel City Coffee House (Phoenixville), the Sterling Stage String Fling (Sterling, NY), the extremely eclectic Stir Fried Festival (Snipes Farm), and two Sunday summer nights at Union Jack’s (Manatawny), with the first on Sunday, July 19th at 6pm.
The Ramblers’ biggest accomplishment in 2009, thus far, was receiving 2nd place in the highly acclaimed Delfest Music Festival’s Bluegrass band contest. Despite the deluge of rain that trounced the grounds, they emerged and found themselves playing better than ever and, from what Kris has said, they lost to “a truly professional contestant, a national touring band”. More recently, they have announced their addition to the Jerry Fest (Kempton), August 7th & 8th, a posthumous celebration of the life of Grateful Dead leader, Jerry Garcia.
The Brass Lantern and PlusVibes Productions would like to invite everyone for a foot-stomping, good old time with the established Manatawny Creek Ramblers, starting THIS Thursday at 9:30pm, and continuing every third Thursday of each month.
Here’s all the information:
Thirsty 3rd Bluegrass Thursdays
with the
Manatawny Creek Ramblers @ The Brass Lantern
every third Thursday each month
9:30pm – 1am
21+ only
$4 @ the door
The Brass Lantern offers:
- $1.25 Miller Light drafts
- $3 Jager, Rumplemintz, Blackhaus, Kettle, Stoli & other shots
- Wings, Burgers, Nachos, Patty Melts, Salads, & more
- Kitchen open until 9:45pm!
- Friendly service & great overall vibe
Hope to see you there.
Frog Holler at the Brass Lantern, Friday June 5th
May 21, 2009 by chrisk
Filed under All Blogs, Event Reviews
Supporting their latest album release, Believe It Or Not, Frog Holler (the now “official” spelling of the band’s name, correcting any-and-all sorts of misspellings over the years) will be making another appearance at the Brass Lantern, in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The show is set for Friday, June 5th, 2009 at 10pm, and after a successful CD release party at The Silo back in April with approximately 300 people, we expect this show to be a packed house at the Brass Lantern. With the air conditioning kicking and the venue now SMOKE FREE, it will sure to be a most intimate show with good friends and good music.
Berks County’s Best Americana Bluegrass Band
versus Berks County’s Best All-Around Small Venue — there’s been many rematches over the years, but each match seems to out-do the last, and this one is churning up to be one of THE best.
A new addition to the Brass Lantern, LIGHTS will be provided by PlusVibes Productions as well.
Buy their new CD online at CD Baby or iTunes
Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins movie
Here’s all the information:
Frog Holler
@ The Brass Lantern
Friday, June 5th, 2009
10pm – 2am
21+ only
NON-SMOKING
$8 @ the door
And a side note: Frog Holler’s own Daniel “Skrappy” Bower will be hosting a very special monthly event at the Brass Lantern, labeled THIRSTY THIRD BLUEGRASS THURSDAYS, featuring his side project, The Manatawny Creek Ramblers, starting Thursday, July 16th at 9pm. There will surely be many special musical guests throughout their residency and the night also features the best beer special in town, with $1.25 Miller Light drafts until midnight!
End of an Era: The Brass Lantern To Change Ownership
Purchased by John and Ginger Ortiz in 1999, the Brass Lantern, located in the Northeast section of Reading, Pennsylvania, started off as your typical neighborhood bar and restaurant, with a standard American-style menu but focusing mainly on the [at that time] growing fascination with microbrews, which is simply another term for handcrafted beers produced in limited amounts (which varies by region).
The Brass Lantern featured seven different beers on draft and a massive bottled beer selection from microbreweries around the world. If you wanted a “good” beer in town, you came to Northeast Reading.
After building a successful clientele in a short amount of time, the Brass Lantern became a pioneer in the live original music scene in the Berks County area. They purchased an entire sound system, built a stage, and began showcasing the best musical talent in the area, such as Frog Holler, The Worms, The Youngers, Hexbelt, and Dakini. All these bands built a large part of their fan base at the Brass Lantern over the years.
With talent like those bands listed above, the Brass Lantern quickly fit the bill as “Berks County’s BEST Original Live Music” and they established themselves as THE venue to play in the area. This, in turn, brought the Brass Lantern to the attention of touring bands nation-wide, and they began to receive press kits and demos from bands around the country (so many that they filled an entire coat closet full of demo CDs!).
Acts such as Brothers Past, Townhall, Fat Mama, RAQ, The Recipe, and Lotus all had multiple successful shows at the Brass Lantern in the early part of the millenium before becoming headlining national touring bands.
By 2003 the Brass Lantern had caught the attention of NATIONAL touring acts and hosted maximum capacity shows with Michael Glabicki (of multi-platinum record selling band, Rusted Root) and Melvin Seals & JGB.
It was shortly after these shows when +VIBES founder, Chris Kratz came on staff at the Brass Lantern as a bartender and, by the end of that year, took over the booking responsibilities from the co-owner, John, who had booked all the phenomenal shows up until then (those were some big shoes to fill).
From there, it was full steam ahead for live music at the Brass Lantern, with shows two, three, four, and sometimes fives days a week for several years. It showcased THE premier artists (of ALL genres) in the jamband circuit, including Quagmire Swim Team, Alchemy, Jazzam, Cabinet, Living Earth, Future Rock, Jah Works, Pnuma Trio, BioDiesel, Boris Garcia, Kris Kehr & Julie Edlow, Juggling Suns, Family Groove Company, Natural Breakdown, U-Melt, Mike Miz, Codename, Bodega, Ronnie Penque (of New Riders of the Purple Sage), Jeff Bujak, David Cullen (Grammy winner), Marco Benevento, and many more. It is roughly estimated that, through the years, the Brass Lantern has hosted over 1500 shows with over 200 bands with over 600 individual musicians.
Those numbers demand respect, especially in the fact that 90 per cent of those bands performed their own original material and not just a night full of cover songs (with the exception of the Grateful Dead and “reggae nights”), so every night was its own unique show.
It was undoubtedly evident that the Brass Lantern had established itself as a landmark for live original music in Reading, Pennsylvania.
But while the music flourished over the years, Father Time had taken his toll and danced his heavy boots all over the Brass Lantern property, leaving a trail of evidence – a leaky roof, a pothole-ridden parking lot, a shattered front marquee, broken tables, chairs, & bar stools, broken beer coolers, and many other little tedious broken things throughout the building.
Showing the utmost respect to what it had become in the music scene yet having its demeanor not going un-noticed, people have even called it the “Brokedown” Lantern, in reference to a Grateful Dead classic.
So these extra repair bills and responsibilities, in addition to a city with a rising crime rate, as well as a declining national economy (which hurts the overall patronage to the venue) and that equals a financial liability for the current owner, who has a family including a newborn to worry about, and also a thriving interior & exterior renovation business.
Understandably, the business was put on the market in 2009, and it is now official – the Brass Lantern has been SOLD! The final day of the current ownership is tentatively Thursday, April 29th, 2010.
Although deeply saddened by the situation, PlusVibes Productions keeps its head high in knowing that it has provided the best hospitality around to all the artists, the crews, the patrons, and our beloved Brass Lantern “family” of regular customers, and also, that it has been such a positive experience for everyone involved – the memories, the lasting friendships made, the laughs, the tears, the smiles, and most of all, the MUSIC!
It will NEVER be forgotten.
After speaking with the NEW owner, he has stated that he wants to give the Brass Lantern a much needed makeover and improve the general security inside and outside the venue, but keep the overall vibe the same. Upon the urging of his wife, who ironically worked in the building when it was a seafood restaurant, he plans to simply name it, the ‘New’ Brass Lantern.
We are very anxious to see what the future will bring for the landmark Berks County venue and hope that +VIBES will be able to continue to provide the same quality live music to our beloved community of music lovers at the Brass Lantern.
Stay tuned for information on that as the changeover approaches.
In the meantime, +VIBES has put together a proper lineup of music from now until April 30th, with some of the artists that have been our true friends throughout the years.
Please be sure to catch one of your favorite acts before the changeover, and say goodbye to the current owner. In honor of the years past, we are encouraging patrons to write down on a small piece of paper, a positive experience or good story about the Brass Lantern and attach it to our band wall.
Here’s the final lineup of the ‘old’ Brass Lantern:
3 on the Tree
9pm, Thursday 4/8
Three’s Company feat. DJ Gregg Nyce, DJ Evolution, & VJCA
10pm, Friday 4/9
I Yahn I Arkestra
10pm, Saturday 4/10
Cloud Party
9pm, Thursday 4/15
Good Lovin’ Jamband
10pm, Friday 4/16
DJ Alpha Zulu vs. DJ Spacecase
9pm, Saturday 4/17
Bodega
10pm, Thursday 4/22
Frog Holler
10pm, Friday 4/23
Quagmire Swim Team with Ben & Josh (of Alchemy)
9pm, Saturday 4/24
FINAL SHOW OF THE OLD BRASS LANTERN
Jah Works
9pm, Thursday 4/29
Kitchen CLOSED this evening!
For all show information, go to http://www.thebrasslanternlive.com/.
And KEEP POSTED to http://www.plusvibes.com/ for information on FUTURE shows at the Silo Upstairs Lounge, Trooper Thorn’s, possibly the New Brass Lantern and other venues near you.
And we are ALSO sponsoring four festivals again this summer. More information on that coming soon.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT OF LIVE MUSIC & ARTS!