Blast from the past: Max's on Broadway
Maybe I'm being a little too ambitious here at the start of 2009, but I'd like to beef up Midnight Sun with a few occasional features. I'll save them under various headings in the sidebar to the right of your screen.
When I was digging through The Sun's digital photo archives a couple days ago for the Belgian Fest post, I found this old pic of Max's on Broadway (735 S. Broadway) from 1995.
Wow.
Look at the Formstone! And the tacky yellow banner! Man oh man, Max's sure has come a long way since then.
That's owner Ron Furman standing out front with his hands on his hips, staring off into the distance. He actually looks better then.
Zink!
On a side note, I knew that Max's used to host live music back in the day. But I never knew that Hunter S. Thompson spoke there ...
Here is the Gonzo journalism pioneer, speaking at Max's on Broadway in 1991.
Were any of you Midnight Sunners there?
I was way too young to even think about going to a bar in 1991. But I'll bet somebody out there remembers going to this.
Wild stuff.
(Photo of Max's by Sun photographer Jed Kirschbaum. Photo of Thompson by Sun photographer Kenneth K. Lam)
I've been The Baltimore Sun's nightlife and local entertainment reporter for a couple years, and it's surprising how much the scene has grown in that time. Most of Baltimore's bars and clubs are unpretentious places with fairly cheap drinks and plenty of character. I like dancing and think this city needs more clubs, but nothing beats having a cold, locally brewed beer with friends in a comfortably full corner bar.
Comments
"I feel the same way about disco as I do about herpes. " - HST
that would've been a trip to hear him speak at Max's. also he may have drank them dry.
Posted by: Allan | January 7, 2009 2:17 PM
I celebrated my 21st birthday at Max's, in 1995! Oh how we loved that bar, me and my crew. And then for a night of dancing at Moby's and Rodo's, oh yes, we are a classy crew.
Unrelated side note: we checked out the wine tasting at Silo Point last night, and I think it was very worth the $20. Wine Market hosted the event, and they were very generous with the pours. The wine was better than decent; not much in the way of food, but who goes for the food? There were 4 wines on the first floor, and 4 on the second - and no limit to what you tasted or how often. So for example, you like red only, no problem. You liked a certain one, no problem with a refill. And the space is cool. It was an icky rainy night, so the views weren't all that they could be - but still a very cool event.
Posted by: AC-M | January 7, 2009 3:42 PM
I was at the Gonzo show (boy do I feel old) and left disappointed before the show was over.
I knew what to expect but he was just completely incoherent after downing a whole bottle of Wild Turkey about 15 minutes into the show.
Posted by: Kathy | January 7, 2009 4:09 PM
This is one of the things I love the most about blogging -- you can post about something as obscure as an event that happened almost 20 years ago and somebody will tell you what happened there.
Thanks, Kathy! I knew someone would come through.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | January 8, 2009 7:32 AM
The best show I ever saw at Max's was David Bromberg. It was just Bromberg and his guitar, three female backup singers, and local fiddler Warren Blair sitting in.
Posted by: Hal Laurent | January 8, 2009 8:52 AM
Are the wine tastings at Silo Point a monthly event ??? We'd love to go sometime, any info or links on this would be appreciated.
And thank you Sam. I was thinking about the Gonzo show the other week, trying to remember what year it was and your blog jogged my memory.
He did 2 shows that night at Max's. I went to the early show. I can only imagine how trashed he was by the second show.
Posted by: Kathy | January 8, 2009 10:03 AM
I was hanging out at Max's in 1990 listening to Last Picture Show, Bob Mould, and plenty of others. Saw Dick Dale (pre-Pulp Fiction) immolate the place; danced with my then-boyfriend-now-husband until I looked like I'd been thrown in a pool.
Posted by: Jenny Keith Ciattei | January 9, 2009 11:43 AM
Sam thanks for the trip down memory lane. Hunter didn't drink me dry he was already flying when he got there. I was out front when he arrived. His publicist pulled up in the lot across from us in a seventies era Caddie. I open the right rear passenger door before I noticed Hunter sitting on the left side in the back seat. As I greeted him he was leaning over to slide out and in one hand was a bottle with maybe a tenth left in it of Chivas Regal and the other a bowl, Not a salad bowl. In real life he was "Hunter Thompson"
Posted by: Ron Furman | January 15, 2009 12:36 PM