The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly
Concerts, Music Festivals Entertainment Jazz Plaques, Markers (real ones) Rock and Roll Rock Stars Seinfeld Theaters
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The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly

There is a plaque in front of this building that now houses a social services agency memorializing that Billie Holiday had lived there when it was the Douglas Hotel. That is something in itself. But so much more could be included. The Douglas Hotel later contained the Showboat Jazz Theater, where many legendary performers played, including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Fats Domino, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Thelonius Monk, Dinah Washington and Ramsey Lewis. Still later, as the Bijou Cafe, it hosted Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Steely Dan, Prince, Jonathan Richman, Tom Waits, Jerry Seinfeld, and U2, to name a few. [Some comments below were corrupted and attempts to clarify were made. Also, links are in the comments to a weather report showing that it was the Dec 15 80 U2 show that was on a snowy night, and to DJ Helen Leicht's page and to a Drexel Triangle review showing that the Mar 4 81 performance was the crowded U2 concert.] [Because U2 seems to be what so many viewers are interested in, here is what I know to date: After reviewing listings and accounts on newspapers.com and setlist Websites, I believe that U2 was not in the USA on 10/10/79 (which did have an early snowfall in Philly, though). U2 opened for Barooga Bandit at the Bijou on the night of an early snowfall, 12/15/80, see, for ex., The Morning Call (Allentown) of that date at p. 46 and listings in Philly papers at newspapers.com, for ex., Phila. Inquirer 12/14/80 at Wknd 2. Curiously, the night before, 12/14/80, the members of U2 had an altercation among themselves at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT, see U2setlists.com. 3/4/81 had U2 again at the Bijou, with City Thrills opening, see Inquirer 3/10/81 at 7C. I can’t confirm U2 opening for Fandango. I had attended both Bijou U2 shows, and had photographed the band in a lounge-type room after the 3/4/81 show for Terminal! magazine.  --  Edit. 10/10/19.] More history is available at https://www.inquirer.com/food/inq2/ha-winston-86d-restaurant-20220901.html, at the bottom of the article, which features the Spivak ownership of this location.

Publication date Jun 24, 2018
Property ID: 12
Updated on: Sep 01, 2022

There is a plaque in front of this building that now houses a social services agency memorializing that Billie Holiday had lived there when it was the Douglas Hotel. That is something in itself. But so much more could be included. The Douglas Hotel later contained the Showboat Jazz Theater, where many legendary performers played, including Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Fats Domino, Aretha Franklin, Lou Rawls, Thelonius Monk, Dinah Washington and Ramsey Lewis. Still later, as the Bijou Cafe, it hosted Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Steely Dan, Prince, Jonathan Richman, Tom Waits, Jerry Seinfeld, and U2, to name a few. [Some comments below were corrupted and attempts to clarify were made. Also, links are in the comments to a weather report showing that it was the Dec 15 80 U2 show that was on a snowy night, and to DJ Helen Leicht's page and to a Drexel Triangle review showing that the Mar 4 81 performance was the crowded U2 concert.] [Because U2 seems to be what so many viewers are interested in, here is what I know to date: After reviewing listings and accounts on newspapers.com and setlist Websites, I believe that U2 was not in the USA on 10/10/79 (which did have an early snowfall in Philly, though). U2 opened for Barooga Bandit at the Bijou on the night of an early snowfall, 12/15/80, see, for ex., The Morning Call (Allentown) of that date at p. 46 and listings in Philly papers at newspapers.com, for ex., Phila. Inquirer 12/14/80 at Wknd 2. Curiously, the night before, 12/14/80, the members of U2 had an altercation among themselves at Toad’s Place in New Haven, CT, see U2setlists.com. 3/4/81 had U2 again at the Bijou, with City Thrills opening, see Inquirer 3/10/81 at 7C. I can’t confirm U2 opening for Fandango. I had attended both Bijou U2 shows, and had photographed the band in a lounge-type room after the 3/4/81 show for Terminal! magazine.  --  Edit. 10/10/19.] More history is available at https://www.inquirer.com/food/inq2/ha-winston-86d-restaurant-20220901.html, at the bottom of the article, which features the Spivak ownership of this location.

info

Location:
Bijou Cafe, Showboat , 1409 Lombard Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19146, United States
Listing Category:
Concerts, Music Festivals Entertainment Jazz Plaques, Markers (real ones) Rock and Roll Rock Stars Seinfeld Theaters
Virtual / Real:
Real
Created Date:
06-24-2018
Created by
plaquemaster
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  • The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly
  • The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly
  • The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly
  • The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly
  • The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly
  • The Bijou and The Showboat - Legendary Night Clubs in Philly
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Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : There is a recording available on the Web of John Coltrane live at the Showboat on June 17, 1963. It seems that it might be a bootleg, so do your homework if you are interested in it.
Date : 2011-09-03

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band played here on Nov. 20-21, 1978. (I was not there, but on 11/20/78 I was around the corner a bit at the Academy of Music for the Tom Waits and Leon Redbone show.)
Date : 2012-03-14

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : This is something I read recently but dont remember where. Now I just saw it on a wonderful Website, www.retrophilly.com (Philly t-shirts, etc.). Circa 1971, the premises housed Phillys first singles bar, Chances Are.
Date : 2012-09-22

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //biffco.com/phila-sites/.
Date : 2013-10-09

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : U2 played here 12/15/80 and 3/4/81. There is some indication on the Web that they also appeared, opening for the band Fandango, on 10/10/79, the day of an early snowstorm, in front of a dozen people. I went the snowstorm night, and I thought it was the March 4, 1981, show. Web records show snow on 10/10/79 and 12/15/80. Ill have to dig through some archives to refresh my memory. One of the nights I was there I photographed U2 backstage afterward for Terminal! Magazine. My friend, Mr. Blint the graffiti artist, was with me and started to hit up the place, and Bono engaged him in an extended conversation about graffiti in American cities.
Date : 2013-11-22

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : Bob Marley and the Wailers appeared here on 10/16/73.
Date : 2014-04-12

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //citypaper.net/articles/2002-10-17/cover3.shtml.
Date : 2015-01-25

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //www.retrophilly.com/Cool-Philadelphia-Times-s/47.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=47&show=120&page=1.
Date : 2015-01-25

Name : TequilaStan
Email : smisajet@gmail.com
Comments : My friends & I attended one of these shows (dont recall which night). We were seated in the gallery a floor above the stage, excellent sight line. What a truly magnificent and historic venue to participate in a show; I say participate because the Bijou was so small, so intimate, that the distinction between performance and audience did not exist. Thank you so much so this website; took a bit of sleuthing to find, but wow, really refreshed my memory.
Date : 2015-04-04

Name : TequilaStan
Email : smisajet@gmail.com
Comments : That would be the Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, November 20/21 1978 (assumed my original comment would;ve filed in that folder)
Date : 2015-04-04

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : In a review of a Joan Armatrading concert by A.D. Amorosi in todays Philadelphia Inquirer, at p. C4, it says, Search and youll find the [Joan Armatrading] radio promotional album Live at the Bijou Cafe, Philadelphia, February 18, 1977 that glowingly portrays that particular moment in time.
Date : 2015-04-21

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : In an article in which she discusses her upcoming performance for the Pope in Philadelphia, Aretha Franklin mentions playing the Showboat in 1962. See todays Philadelphia Inquirer, at pp. C1, 3.
Date : 2015-09-24

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //www.cyberplaque.com/celebrity-concerts-music-festivals-rock-and-roll-rock-stars-television/bono-u2-had-his-first-america.
Date : 2015-11-19

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : The obituary of jazz pianist Samuel Sam Dockery, 86, appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer, 12/28/15 at p. B7. He had many accomplishments, playing in notable ensembles, and the obituary said that he free-lanced with visiting musicians who played the Showboat jazz club in Philadelphia.
Date : 2015-12-31

Name : yophilly
Email : ericgrabo@comcast.net
Comments : I remember seeing Toots & the Maytalls, & Robert Palmer there - it was a great little venue.
Date : 2016-02-05

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //www.musicinthevines.com/.
Date : 2016-02-11

Name : catfer87comcastnet
Email : catfer87@comcast.net
Comments : I saw Charles Mingus and a decommercialized version of the Ramsey Lewis Trio there in the late 60s in the most comfortable mixed racial crowd I;d ever experienced to that point in my life. It was fantastic !!!!!!!
Date : 2016-08-05

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philadelphia-Musical-Icons-425302764.html.
Date : 2017-05-30

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : A.D. Amorosi interviewed Barry Manilow in todays Philadelphia Inquirer, pp. C1, C8. He was asked when did he realize he could be a front man. He replied that it was at the old Bijou Cafe in Philly, playing for Bette Midler, when he started to do openers for her. He did Could It Be Magic and a commercials medley, and the audience liked it.
Date : 2017-09-14

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //www.newspapers.com/image/186005016/?terms=philadelphia+weather++%22%22.
Date : 2017-11-03

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //services.library.drexel.edu/static_files/triangle/Drexel-Triangle_1981-03-13.pdf. After the show, we went backstage and I photographed the band for an interview by Steve Fritz of Terminal! magazine. I think I was also at the 12/15/80 show, because I remember an empty hall and the snow storm.
Date : 2017-11-03

Name : plaquemaster
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : //xpn.org/xpn-programs/middays.
Date : 2018-04-04

Name : Francis Chmielewski
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : The 10-9-13 comment is a link to an article that says Boston played a private industry show here.
Date : 2018-11-11

Name : Francis Chmielewski
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : The 1-25-15 comment goes to a City Paper article of 10-17-02 on this club and many other Philly clubs, but I think it misstates the date of the snowy might U2 concert.
Date : 2018-11-11

Name : Francis Chmielewski
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : The 2-11-16 comment has a link to the site of David L. Watson, who is yo philly on this page.
Date : 2018-11-11

Name : Francis Chmielewski
Email : sjkc0072@aol.com
Comments : Comments in an earlier version of this site did not transfer over well. For more complete showing of earlier comments, see https://web.archive.org/web/20160103134254/http://www.cyberplaque.com:80/comment/1028.
Date : 2018-12-01