The Lights Come Up at Smalls-
Rumor has it that tonight, January 19th 2008, will be the final night of Smalls Harrisburg.
The rumor mill is churning out talk of Harrisburg’s little rock-club-that-could is going the way of the Dodo and will be converting back, once again, to…wait for it….Mars.
Surprised?
Me neither.
My only question is about the loyalty that Kamionka and Co. show to their patrons.
Smalls, although never really my cup of tea (or can of Pabst, for that matter) did seem to have a solid clientèle- and not only were they solid- but they were LOYAL.
It’s rare to see a bar or venue pop up and establish that kind of dedicated patronage as rapidly and swiftly as Smalls did.
And just as quickly as it came…it’ll be gone.
Only to be replaced by another for-the-moment room that’s there to do one thing and one thing only: sell liquor.
As much as possible.
RIP Smalls, Harrisburg.
Good luck in York.
Smalls was a unique place that filled a unique niche in Harrisburg. This action clearly defines Kamionka’s disregard for the overall scene of 2nd St. It would be nice to see Mars come back though, but why trade one niche bar for another? The only think RK is concerned about is how quickly he can fill his wallet. 2nd St would be better off without him and his fly-by-night clubs.
I came over here to say pretty much what Bone said. Smalls was unique and fun. Even if you didn’t like the music, it was a place to escape from the mediocrity of the rest of Second Street. Bringing Mars back? Fine. But not at the expense of Smalls.
How about just a bar on 2nd street? Why does everything have to have some phoney premise or theme? Sports bar, irish bar, punk bar, german bar, etc etc. Just open a cool place that is interesting and not pretenous and, most of all, not trying to BE anything. Real cities have dozens of these but, unforutnately, they are born not created. These clowns that keep creating bars in Harrisburg just keep striking out. Bring back the neighborhood corner bar.
I couldn’t agree with you more, Glenn-
I’ve often argued about the “authenticity” of a place like Smalls- which, by no accident, modeled and even NAMED itself after a legendary rock club in LA –
A real-deal rock club with a dirty, dingy vibe simply CANNOT be fabricated- take CBGB’s for example- that place hosted tens of thousands of shows and, over time, BECAME the dirty little dive that it was-
A couple cans of black spray paint and a Sex Pistols poster does not a rock club make.
@Glenn, have you tried Pep Grill? It’s about as no-frills as you can get. Walnut Street between Molly’s and the garage, half a block off Second.
I don’t mind having a few “just bars” around, but be careful how you word that. Noma went from being classy and interesting to “just a bar” (immediately after becoming a cheesy beach club and immediately before becoming Prive). Mars went from being dark and unique to “just a bar” as South Street Tavern. 5:01 became “just a bar” as Market Street. The lot formerly known as having hope for bringing after-hours food to downtown Harrisburg became “just a bar that also happens to serve food-like product up until midnight”.
Molly’s and Cragin’s also do excellent jobs at being “just a bar”, with a little decorative flair thrown in.
@Mike, yeah, Smalls wasn’t CBGB. It wasn’t unique on a national scale by any means. But I liked it because it was about the only place on Second Street to go and (1) be around people my own age, (2) be around loud people, and most importantly (3) not hear some Beyonce song from seven years ago 27 times in one night. Authenticity? Unconditionally no way. A breath of fresh air for downtown? Yup.
Just to give you guys some clarity. I am reading your comments and thought maybe you would like to hear about Smalls from me. Smalls was my creation
I was lucky enough to be afforded the opportunity to bring it alive. Because of Ron I asked him to give me the room.
He never claimed to know anything about what I was doing and just gave the room to me. He realised that we needed a bigger forum so we could do nationals and offered me space in York. Which is incredible. Smalls never made money and he out of his pocket kept it alive! People have to keep in mind that at the end of the day you have to be realistic that selling alcohol is the primary function of the bar business. A bar’s business will never be the lipstick and rouge of the bar. ron is not the only owner of Smalls locations and other plans for the space were inevitable. everyone has been saying you suck and greedy Ron killed it when they never even came and supported the bar.
There never was a rock venue in Los Angeles it was a small shithole that I frequented and loved the name. It has since closed.
The reason the decor was spray paint and The Queen logos is it is what I wanted to do. There were always be people questioning authenticity of everything that is different.
You guys sound like skateboarders looking at the kid with the Tony Hawk board and airwalk sneakers and calling him a poser! When really the kid was embracing skateboarding.
So in closing I apologize if Smalls didn’t have the cool board and sneakers. But it did love skateboarding.
I will personally bring another venue back to the burg when the time is right.
Jamie