The Forgotten Venues Tour, Stop 3: The Daily Pub

God help us if we ever have to parallel park this thing.

Our relentless quest to find the places in Springfield that might not immediately come to mind for a show brings us to one place we never thought we’d be: the shadow of the Kraft factory. Yes, a stone’s throw from the home of mac and cheese is home to a live-music spot. Not only that, from what we’re told the joint is jumpin’ most nights you find a band in it. Naturally, we had to go find out for ourselves–and for you. Behold, The Daily Pub! We get down and dirty after the break.

The Forgotten Venues Tour, Stop 2: The New Key Largo

The Forgotten Venues Tour Bus: Impossible to park in the Key Largo parking lot if you're not alert. Thank God we arrived sober.

The tour rolls on, to another spot people may not think of to go and see (or play) a show: The New Key Largo, or, as we like to call it, “The Largo.” The old Key Largo, much like the original Bombay Bicycle Club, was a Boomer haven rife with dance opportunities. While the New Key Largo shares little more than 50% of its name with its progenitor, it offers an important wrinkle as well: a stage for live bands. So how does the revived club measure up as a music spot for fans and bands? Read on and find out.

The Forgotten Venues Tour, Stop 1: Roadhouse Saloon

The Forgotten Venues Tour Bus! Okay, not really. Damn this budget!

So it’s like this: Everyone in local music knows about “the usual spots” to see/play a show. The Outland/Ballroom always have something going on, Patton Alley and Murphy’s usually do on weekends, Bugsy’s once a week, Lindberg’s is Commercial Street’s regular spot, Cartoon’s for the Baby Boomer set, etc. However, common discussion doesn’t involve much else beyond those. It’s as though when the restriction on minors in bars, less affectionately known as “The Bar Ban,” happened, the world caved in a little on one side, we lost a handful of downtown spots and people bemoaned the lack of places to play. Really? Allow me to provide a counterpoint to those who would say this: You’re not looking hard enough. There are places all over Springfield willing and able to host live music. They already do, in fact, just not you–yet. So I’m on a mission: To find Springfield’s forgotten, or at least little-known, music venues. Maybe someone reading this series will find a new spot or two to book a show on an otherwise slow night at a place where they won’t have as much competition for openings. Maybe someone reading this series will find a new favorite or semi-favorite place to hit up on a night where they don’t have much interest in what’s going on at their usual haunts.

But DeRosh, I hear you saying. Downtown is so easy! All I have to do is walk or ride my bike, an- Suck it. The hell. Up. You’ll drive to Tulsa to see Name A Band That Was Big Ten Years Ago for $25 or so, but not 20 minutes to see a good band for next to nothing? People would pile into the Snorty Horse to see good local bands play, and that was about as far from Downtown as local music could get… or so we thought. Turns out there’s one place even further out, and you know what? It packs its room, too. Click the link and read about it.