Toad’s Place
Anyone who’s lived anywhere near New Haven, Connecticut in the past 50-odd years has heard of Toad’s Place. Located adjacent to Yale University in the very heart of the city, the building housed the Yale Co-op until 1975, when Mike Spoerndle bought the space and turned it into Toad’s, a French/Italian eatery. In an effort to boost patronage, he started hosting some blues and bluegrass acts the following year and, taking note of the incredibly positive response, decided to turn Toad’s into a full-fledged live-music venue.
With 25¢ beer nights at a time when the drinking age was still 18, the venue quickly became a popular spot for the high school and college crowds, which in turn allowed Spoerndle to bring in some major acts, knowing that he could fill the place and cover their fees. Muddy Waters was the first prominent name to appear at Toad’s, but soon all types of acts were coming through and all-ages shows turned Spoerndle into “the man who made Connecticut rock,” according to local press reports. Within a couple of years, the club’s slogan became what it remains today: “All roads lead to Toad’s.”
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, U2, THE ROLLING STONES, BOB DYLAN
Toad’s Place opened at a time when many superstars preferred smaller spaces to arenas, making its capacity of 1,000 ideal. Among the most notable events in its early years was when Bruce Springsteen showed up unannounced in 1979 and played a 30-minute set. He was in town for a concert at the Hartford Civic Center, which was moved to New Haven Colosseum after the civic center’s roof collapsed under heavy snow. Another particularly memorable night – though few realized it at the time – came on December 14, 1980 when a then largely unknown (outside the UK) U2 appeared during their first US tour, supporting their debut album, Boy.
Neither the Springsteen event nor the U2 one was the most historic in Toad’s history, however; arguably, that prize goes to The Rolling Stones, who took to the stage in 1989. The band had been rehearsing for their Steel Wheels tour in a private school in Washington, Connecticut (about 35 miles from New Haven). One Friday night, the club was informed that the Stones wanted to do a show on Saturday, so the management threw it together and 700 fans had the night of their dreams – for just $3.01 per ticket. The Rolling Stones appearing at a mid-sized club in New Haven? Unimaginable!
Then, the following year, this time with four days’ notice, Bob Dylan, age 49, selected Toads Place for his first club show in 25 years. Unlike the notoriously aloof performer he’s known to be, he quite actively engaged with the audience, even taking requests, which gave the show the feel of an open rehearsal, not a prepared performance. Believe it or not, Dylan played for nearly six hours – one set alone was four hours long – and it was by far the longest show in his then-30-year career. Toad’s Place was just 15 years old at the time, but had already cemented its place in New England’s musical history.
MIXED AUDIENCES, CYNDI LAUPER, THE WHIFFENPOOFS
Being so close to Yale University has presented some unique challenges for the sometimes noisy and chaotic life of a nightclub. To keep the peace, Toad’s has worked diligently over the decades to be neighborly and provides electricity to nearby businesses during power outages using its back-up generators (which are necessary in case an electrical emergency occurs during a show). Yale undergrads enjoyed the club from its inception and it soon became one of the few places where townies and Yalies mixed.
One particular evening helped strengthen the bond between Toad’s Place and the university in quite a unique way. In the late ‘80s, Cyndi Lauper was in New Haven on tour and went to dinner at a restaurant across the street from the club. During the meal, Yale’s internationally renowned a capella group The Whiffenpoofs walked over to her table and sang “Time After Time,” her very first #1 song in the Billboard Hot 100 (in 1983). A teary-eyed Lauper invited the group to her show the next night and wound up bringing them up on stage to perform.
MEDIA ACCOLADES, UNLIKELY GREATNESS
By the ‘90s, the major stars were favoring bigger venues and even larger mega-event shows. Even so, Performance magazine named Toad’s Place the #1 club in the US from 1995 to 1998. In 2013, online music/pop-culture website Complex ranked the club #30 in its “50 Best Concert Venues” list.
Although the interior is showing its age, the wall bearing the names of all the stars who have performed remains as a testimony to the unlikely greatness of the ever-unpretentious New Haven performance space. Whether on the way up or on the way down, Toad’s Place remains a very noteworthy stop for a cornucopia of incredibly talented and wildly successful musicians.
(by Carol Starkey)
