Greg Jacobs managed the bands Big DRILL Car, Drive Like Jehu, Rocket from the Crypt, and Supernova and has worked at the record labels Enigma, CRUZ, SST, Cargo, Capitol (for one day), and Trust. He currently manages two of the aforementioned bands (even though they’re inactive), freelances for one of the aforementioned labels, is a music photographer and has a new book coming out, Hell On Wheels, Tour Stories: Remembered, Remixed, Remastered, with over 70 tours stories told by the bands who lived them. Available for preorder now.
The 5 Sketchiest Venues I’ve Ever Been To
#1 – Time Out Of Mind (South Phoenix, Arizona)
In first place, without a doubt, is a club called Time Out Of Mind in South Phoenix, Arizona. The club was a warehouse surrounded by a chain link fence in the middle of a large field. Big DRILL Car was invited by Uniform Choice to play a gig there, so we piled in the van and drove out to Arizona.
Upon arriving at Time Out Of Mind, we were met by a securely locked gate and several Doberman pinschers patrolling inside the compound. Soon enough, the promoter secured the dogs and let us in, and then locked the gate behind us again.
Shortly after loading in, the promoter had a visitor deliver a shotgun. After which he stated, “We’ve been having trouble with the Bloods. I don’t know why. This is Crips territory.” Later, some locals, dressed head-to-toe in blue, showed up and collected their “protection” money.
The guitar player of Big DRILL Car had a habit of walking around the nearby area after soundcheck, no matter where we were. Tonight was no exception. He started walking toward the closest liquor store about a quarter mile away. Along the way, he was stopped by a cop who asked him what he was doing and where he was going, and advising him that this was a dangerous area, especially after dark. He told the cop he was going to the liquor store and the cop replied, “Don’t go to that liquor store, you’ll be robbed. Go to the one slightly farther away, you’ll be safer.”
The guitar player made it to the recommended liquor store, bought a 12-pack of beer, and started walking back to the venue. On his walk, he was intercepted by a local gentleman who demanded money. The guitar player had none, so the local said, “Gimme your beer.” Somehow the guitar player got away with only giving him one beer saying, “Okay, I’ll pay the toll,” and made it back to the venue safely.
#2 – CBGB (New York, New York)
1988 was the first time I was ever in New York City and I had to go to CB’s. I hopped in a cab and said, “Take me to CBGB.” For the entire ride, the cabbie was telling me that CBGB was a very dangerous place, that The Bowery area was very dangerous, that I would never get a cab to pick me up to get back, and that I should not go to CBGB. The cab driver scared me so badly that I asked him to park in front as I jumped out, ran in, bought a shirt, and got back in the cab and headed back to the safety of my hotel.
#3 – Al’s Bar (Los Angeles, California)
Al’s Bar was in downtown LA long before the resurgence of downtown LA. Two things I remember about Al’s Bar. First, the parking. No matter where you found a place to park there was always an unhoused person at your door offering to “watch your car” for you while you were at the show. And I always gave this person a fiver, knowing full well they were not going to watch my car but hoping that they were not going to break into my car while I was in the club. Second, there was a liquor store very near the club and you could buy a bottle of booze there and put it in your pocket and walk right into Al’s. They never checked.
#4 – Iguanas (Tijuana, Mexico)
Iguanas felt like a three-story cement bunker in Tijuana [TJ]. My friends and I would park on the US-side of the border and walk through the streets of TJ to Iguanas. The biggest fear in my mind was bumping into a Federale [local police officer]. The Federales had reputations for hassling tourists, writing them tickets, threatening them with jail, and collecting “fines” on the spot. And, surprisingly, the fine was always the same amount of money you had in your pocket at the time. Hmmm. We used to hide money in our socks and other places so the Federales wouldn’t find it in our pockets.
#5 – Cuckoo’s Nest (Costa Mesa, California, circa 1980-81)
I loved the Cuckoo’s Nest. I was only 15 or 16 years old at the time and feel lucky to have been in the right place at the right time to have that place as my local venue. I never felt unsafe inside the Cuckoo’s Nest, but I occasionally felt unsafe in the parking lot as the Cuckoo’s Nest shared a parking lot with a cowboy bar called Zubie’s. There was always someone spouting off and there were always fights in the parking lot between the punks and the cowboys. This was memorialized in the Vandals’ classic song “Urban Struggle.”
