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CLUB SCENE
Canal Street Tavern love at first sight
By Angelle Haney
For the Dayton Daily News
I love Canal Street Tavern. There, I've said it, it's out in the open, and I'm sure we all feel better. Don't get me wrong, Dayton's oldest live music club, which sat at the First Street and Patterson Boulevard for several decades before baseball made that address "cool," has its flaws. But I can't help it; it was love at first sight.
In the interests of full disclosure, I should mention that I have a history with this bar. Long ago I waited tables there, I met my husband there, and you can still find me there at least once a week. But the real reason I love Canal Street and started hanging out there in the first place: Live music comes first and the bar comes second, not the other way round. Because going to see live music may be my second most favorite activity in the world, this is important to me.
Owner Mick Montgomery refers to his enterprise as a "listening room," and that means certain things we've grown to expect from bars are missing. There are no TVs, no games and no blenders. However, there is live music six or seven nights a week, from the Dayton Band Playoffs in the summer to the national touring singer-songwriters in the fall and the bluegrass and jam-bands and indie rock and everything else that shows up on the calendar in between.
The building is a 100-plus-year-old warehouse along Dayton's old canal route, and the interior is mainly wood and stained glass, with a few rescued church pews in among the tables and chairs.
Canal Street has earned national acclaim for the musical legends that have graced its old-fashioned stage, from Willie Dixon to the Reverend Horton Heat, but it's the continuing commitment to great local music that makes me think of it as home.
Cash on the nail
Canal Street may be one of the last bars that does not take credit cards or run tabs, so be sure and bring plenty of legal American tender.
Asthmatics beware
For reasons that probably have to do with the age of the building, Canal Street has more of a problem with cigarette smoke hanging in the air than any other bar I've been in.
Indoor voices
The expectation at Canal Street is that patrons will keep their voices within a respectful volume of the performers.
All the young dudes
Canal Street is open to music fans 18 and older, with valid (not college) ID. Those below drinking age should be prepared to pay $2 on top of the cover for an arm band, and don't take it off on pain of eviction.
Cover up
The average cover is around $5 for a local show. Most touring acts cost between $7 and $15, and some have advance ticket sales. For more information, call 461-9343.
Best bet
Every Tuesday night, Steven Gullett (the aforementioned husband) hosts the original Musicians Co-op, something Montgomery started back before he had a bar to put it in. No cover charge, half-hour sets of acoustic music and a relaxed wait staff and atmosphere.
Give thanks
Upcoming highlights can usually be found at canalstreettavern.com.
Angelle Haney is a free-lancer from Dayton who hangs out with her husband in bars.
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