Updated: 8/3/22
Back then, is when I started really drinking heavily. Massive amounts of alcohol. To excess. Regularly.
One year, there were eight or ten of us sitting together at Shaboo and at one point, a plastic party hat was passed around the table. Everyone poured a little bit of what they were drinking into the hat, and everything was mixed together. Then, the hat was passed around again, and everybody, myself included, took multiple sips or gulps from it. That's the last thing I remember from that night.
The Velours and the Rock Velours played either two or three New Year's Eve shows at the former Song Hays restaurant on Asylum Street in downtown Hartford in the early-1990s. As a member of the band, I think the gigs were generally pretty excellent, but the massive amounts of free band-beer that I consumed obliterated a lot of the details.
In the late-1970s, New Years Eve was synonymous with the legendary Shaboo Inn in Mansfield, for myself and a group of friends from West Hartford. The Shaboo Inn operated from 1971 until 1982, and regularly hosted shows by the top rock and blues acts in the U.S.
Although I don't remember the exact lineups for each year, we were treated to live shows by various combinations of the James Cotton Blues Band, NRBQ and the James Montgomery Blues Band.
I seem to remember the Fabulous Rhinestones being there at least once, but I may be mistaken. Altogether, I think I celebrated New Year's Eve at Shaboo either three or four times.
One of the owners of the Shaboo Inn was David "Lefty" Foster, who was also a member of the Mohegan Sun All-Stars band for many years.
Back then, is when I started really drinking heavily. Massive amounts of alcohol. To excess. Regularly.
One year, there were eight or ten of us sitting together at Shaboo and at one point, a plastic party hat was passed around the table. Everyone poured a little bit of what they were drinking into the hat, and everything was mixed together. Then, the hat was passed around again, and everybody, myself included, took multiple sips or gulps from it. That's the last thing I remember from that night.
The Velours and the Rock Velours played either two or three New Year's Eve shows at the former Song Hays restaurant on Asylum Street in downtown Hartford in the early-1990s. As a member of the band, I think the gigs were generally pretty excellent, but the massive amounts of free band-beer that I consumed obliterated a lot of the details.
This year, as with most recent ones, my drink of choice is diet A&W root beer, and I'm quite happy with it.
The Shaboo Inn actually maintains a Facebook page, and on that page, there is a listing of the diverse musical acts that performed there.
These include Eric Burdon, Canned Heat, Wishbone Ash, David Bromberg, Bonnie Raitt, Charlie Daniels, Quicksilver Messenger Service, John Mayall, Freddie King, Albert King, B.B. King, Journey, The Police, Commander Cody, Suzi Quatro, the Cars, the Ramones, Talking Heads, Johnny Winter and Rory Gallagher.
Could the Shaboo Inn exist and survive in today's world? With the health pandemic persisting, live rock music shows are not nearly as plentiful as pre-pandemic days.The days of paying $10 at the door to see national recording acts is now but a memory, and there really isn't much of a rock music scene to work with anymore.
On the flip side of the equation, there are probably plenty of established artists out there who want to get back on the road, and wouldn't mind playing small, lower-paying venues.
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