Strip club's experiment as concert venue fails

McCLURE, Ill. -- An experiment was going on Wednesday night at the Hushpuppy Saloon. The hypothesis of the strip club as a venue for music concerts was being tested, and the experiment apparently failed.

But the failure wasn't for a lack of showmanship onstage. A lack of attendance was what might kill any chance the place has of making it as a concert venue.

I walked into the Hushpuppy shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday not knowing what to expect. I'd never been inside the place. All I knew was that Skid Row was coming, and it would doubtless make a good story -- "Local strip club hosts concert."

For one night, at least, there was no baring of the more intimate regions of the female body. This night was all about the music.

The crowd started out small and varied. People walked around in T-shirts bearing the names of bands like Metallica, AC/DC, Slayer and, of course, Skid Row. Some of them were young men with long hair, piercings and tattoos. Some were women dressed in short skirts and tall, high-heeled black leather boots. Some were just guys in jeans and T-shirts.

In age, they were all over the map. But almost without exception, they were smiling. Part of it could have been the alcohol that was readily available at the establishment's two bars -- one upstairs, one downstairs. Part of it was that they were there to see a rock show, and the rock show atmosphere was real in the Hushpuppy that night.

Upstairs the poles were unused, downstairs the floor was open.

For some, it was the nostalgia that brought them to slap down $25 apiece to see Drivin' Rain and the reconfigured Skid Row, like the two middle-age guys with glasses named Powderly. In the 1980s, the Hushpuppy used to be called the Hideaway, and the Powderlys played there with their band, The Switch.

"I lived here for about five years of my life," Greg yelled to me over the sonic assault of Drivin' Rain. He and his brother, Tim, used to wear spandex and leather, but they have since traded those in for denim and cotton.

Band members thought the strip club was a great place for a concert, too.

"I used to sneak in here when I was a kid," Drivin' Rain frontman Timexx Nasty exclaimed between songs. "We've been dreaming about this for a long time."

Of course, the Hushpuppy is a place they like to frequent, anyway. Now they get their chance to play there.

The Powderlys stayed back from the stage a little, probably for the sake of their hearing. Most of the others there didn't. A young, short guy with long blond hair was there the whole time, through Drivin' Rain and Skid Row, banging his head, holding up the two-pronged rock 'n' roll sign in the air. He wasn't alone.

Heads banged, lighters were hoisted high. There just weren't enough of them.

Hushpuppy owner Jamie Thompson called the show a "big disappointment." The bands weren't the reason. Only about 150 people showed up for the show, while Thompson was hoping for something closer to the building's 800 capacity. Not good for business.

Thompson thinks his location in McClure might have something to do with it. The Hushpuppy is just too far from Cape Girardeau, especially on a Wednesday night. But that doesn't mean the venue won't see another concert.

"I'm not saying I won't do another one," Thompson said.

msanders@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 182