80's Pensacola Punk

Man I really miss those days sometime.

Taken from a random post:

When I was in the Navy (10 years ago or so) we used to hit the Pensacola nightlife cycle. This was a cycle of club-hopping that hardly ever varied:

Sunday: Coconut Bay to see Velvet Melon, then maybe Velvet Melon
Monday: Seville Quarter, maybe Sandshaker
Tuesday: Seville Quarter for alternative night (alternative did not have quite the meaning it has now)
Wednesday: Chans, followed by Coconut Bay for Men are Pigs Night
Thursday: Seville Quarter for Kids & Squids
Friday: Poker, Movies, Bedlam
Saturday: Cookout, Seville, Trader Jon's

Anyway, the one thing all these places had in common was that nothing ever happened before 10 PM. I don't know why, but nobody did anything before 10, then it was packed.

If you did go before 10, though, you usually got to feast your eyes as the Dork danced for your amusement.

The Dork wasn't just one guy, but actually any one of many guys who thought it was cool to be the only guy on the dance floor at 9:30. Sometimes the Dork could dance, sometimes he was just a plain ol' loser. Either way, he was an incredible dork and we all laughed at him.

Not that I was never a dork, and not that people didn't laugh at me regularly for a variety of reasons -- but I always enjoyed getting there a little early to watch the Dork dance. It made me feel better about myself.

I always thought they should market the Dork. Charge admission to come early and watch him strut his stuff. I'd buy a ticket.

Posted by podge at February 3, 2004 03:34 PM | TrackBack

Comments

How funny, I was feeling nostalgic & did a search for Shanahan's in Pensacola. Up popped your entry on Pensacola nightlife. I remember those days well! My memories are from about 12-14 years ago though. The dork was still dancing early -- even then! My friends & I never even left the house until at least 10 PM. We'd always be at Chan's on Wednesday (sometimes followed by Coconut Bay after it opened - we were going to Chan's before Coconut Bay came into existence). Shanahan's was the only place to be on Thursday nights (ladies' night). Fridays were McGuire's followed by Seville Quarter. Saturdays were dedicated to Flounders out at the Beach (back in the days when they truly had an all-sand bar area out back). Usually spent Sundays out at the beach & Flounders as well (starting early & staying late on Sunday). I think we took Mondays & Tuesdays off! Thanks for refreshing my memories! Was in Pensacola 2 weeks ago -- everything has changed! (Although I suspect Rick Holt is still playing at Seville!)

Posted by: kahjch at April 13, 2004 02:08 PM

I was there 10-12 years ago. Perhaps we overlapped a bit. I wasn't too much into the party scene, but it was something to do, you know?

Were you Navy?

Posted by: podge at April 17, 2004 12:04 AM

I was searching as well........I was the manager of Shanahan's for several years back then and what a blast it was. Ladies night was the number one game in town.......so much talent. Of course, most of them were in there chasing the pilots.....but oh well. Alot of the crew from Shanahan's still works over at Seville. It's like going back in time whenever I come to Pensacola.

You're right,though.....it has changed. The Feds now operate the Sandshaker........since they busted it for toot........the beach bars just arent what they used to be.........I guess you can't relive your youth after all.

Trader Jon died and now some friggin developer is gonna tear the building down to make room for more useless retail.

Man I really miss those days sometime.

Posted by: Todd at April 21, 2004 09:03 PM

Trader Jon died ?!?! He was so young!!

Shouldn't they make Trader's a national historical monument? Geez, it's a shame for that place to go away. Best crooked (literally, not figuratively) pool tables in town.

Posted by: podge at April 22, 2004 05:00 PM

Yeah, He was only about 100 when he died.

Trader was sick for awhile before he finally passed. His family immediately started fighting over the place.........which was closed for a few years and almost torn down. A few Navy Pilots got together and bought the place, tried to run it, but it never really took off again......and they ultimately sold it to a developer. It actually almost did get put on the national register once.

From what I heard, all of the memorabilia (which was the largest private collection anywhere) was donated to the Navy Museum, except part of which apparently went to the Smithsonian.

Posted by: Todd at April 29, 2004 06:58 PM

I left Pensacola about 10 years ago when I got married. The night life was almost the same for me as most of you have mentioned. However, I was in Velvet Melon, as well as Big Picture, Kill the Cowboy and Blue Sky Salesmen, so me, the weekly bar-hopping routine was either where we had weekly gigs (Shannahans, Coconut Bay, Bayside) or where we had weekly rotation (Seville, Traders etc).
Didn't have may nights off, but when I did you'd probably find me at Capn Funs.

Posted by: Keith at March 19, 2007 06:16 PM

Introduction

The purpose of this blog is to post anything related to the Pensacola music scene. This includes musicians, bands, fans and club owners. I would also encourage others to send me music and pictures to post for archival purposes. I been in many bands through the years and have little evidence to prove it. I hope to preserve rich and varied Pensacola's music history here.

~ Joey Allred