Phoenix Theater

For the Phoenix Theatre of 17th century London, see Cockpit Theatre.

The Phoenix Theater

File:Phoenix Theater logo.png
Former names	Hill Opera House California Theater Showcase Theater
Address	201 Washington St Petaluma, CA
Coordinates
Owner	Petaluma Phoenix Center, Inc.
Operator	Tom Gaffey
Type	Live music venue
Genre(s)	music, concerts, theater, youth center and education
Capacity	720
Construction
Built	1896 (1896)
Opened	December 4, 1905 (1905-12-04)
Renovated	1924 (1924) (fire) August 5, 1957 (1957-08-05) (fire)
Expanded	1982 (1982) (addition of live concerts)
Architect	Josie F. Hill
Website
The Phoenix Theater

The Phoenix Theater is an all-ages nightclub located in Petaluma, California. The club has been in existence since 1905 and has changed in both structure and purpose, mostly due to severe damage caused by several fires.

History

The Phoenix Theater first opened in 1905 as the Hill Opera House, a small town opera house. The theater had good business and its stage was graced by the likes of Harry Houdini, Enrico Caruso, and Lily Langtree. In the early 1920s, it was nearly destroyed by a fire forcing the theater to be shut down. By 1925, it had been restored and opened as a movie theater. The building was purchased by California Movie Theater around 1935 and renamed California Theater.

On August 5, 1957, another fire took the roof of the building. The building was restored and renamed the Showcase Theater by the Tocchini family and soon after the first live concert was put on at the theater by Petaluma native Jeff Dorenfeld. The Tocchinis employed a boy named Tom Gaffey, who managed to be rehired by Ken Frankel after Frankel bought the theater in 1982. Gaffey was then named theater manager and he renamed the theater after the mythological phoenix because the building seemed to ‘rise from the ashes’.

In the early 1980s, movies continued to be shown at the theater and live music was played late at night. There were performances by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and The Ramones, along with then-unknown local bands Metallica, Mr. Bungle, Green Day and Primus. Other bands like Victims Family, The Conspiracy, Disciples of Ed, the Circle Jerks and The Distillers drew audiences. Sublime played their last show at The Phoenix, and a memorial to the lead singer, Bradley Nowell, can be found backstage, tagged on a wall by the Long Beach Dub Allstars. Sir Mix-a-Lot played at The Phoenix, as did The Specials. To this day, the Phoenix continues to bring in established artists as well as local favorites such as Resilience, The Velvet Teen, Arrythmia, Toast Machine, and Sepulchre.

The Theater gained unwanted attention after a late-night performance by the band Popsicle Love Sponge performed a questionable act with the body of what was believed to be a dead chicken. The late night shows ended, but the movies continued for a short time.

In 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake caused moderate damage to the theaters interior resulting in a long awaited renovations.

In the late 1990s, its landlord announced plans to sell the Phoenix Theater for demolition and reconstruction as an office building, despite public opposition. The sale was in escrow when four employees from Cerent Corporation, who were all musicians and two of whom were former Phoenix Theater frequenters, intervened and took over the escrow. With other leading local citizens, they established the non-profit Petaluma Phoenix Center, Inc., to not only own The Phoenix Theater, but preserve and expand the services the Phoenix provides to its community. These services include a free weekly health clinic for teens, free music and art programs and an informal job mentoring program (for the past 20 years, most of the Phoenix staff have been teenagers and young adults).

Unique attributes

• The interior walls of the theater are covered in graffiti. A review on networkoftheapes.net describes them:

  "The walls are tagged up and painted with everything from the simplest one color tag to entire paintings of mushrooms and other Alice in Wonderland-themed drug references that gave the place a raw feel."

• There are skateboard ramps on the sides of the two walls that run perpendicular to the stage that are used before, during and after shows.

• During the day, the Phoenix serves as a safe place for local children to congregate after school. After-school tutoring as well as a free health clinic are offered a few days a week.

• The Phoenix is rumored to be haunted. Ghosts have supposedly been seen in the bathrooms, on the balcony and in the backstage area. These sightings are rumored to be a reason why the balcony is closed and locked for most performances.

• AFI wrote a song about it called "The Days of the Phoenix", referring to when they started at this theater. Members of the band have mentioned The Phoenix and its manager, Tom Gaffey, in numerous interviews. In one such interview, Adam Carson, after being asked his favorite venue to play, proclaimed:

  "The Phoenix in Petaluma is probably my favorite just because that is where I saw most of my first punk shows and there will always be a special place in my heart for it. Tom Gaffey, the guy that runs it, is a really, really good person who has given so much to Petaluma and the Nor Cal scene. He gave me five bucks for gas once before I ever knew him when I was stranded..."

  According to the band's lead singer, Davey Havok, The Phoenix is where the band had their initial reunion show in the 1990s; an event which inspired the band to reform and devote themselves fully to a musical career as a band.

External links

Official website