FRANK BROWN VENUES
There are usually about 15-20 venues at Frank Brown. They kind of range from the "Center out" with the FLORABAMA being the main spot. The Bama, has two stages, the indoor LISTENING ROOM, which is perfectly sized for songwriting. It is identical to the old room that was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. A 70 foot wall of water took out most of the entire Florabama and took years to get permits, planning, and everything back in line to rebuild it. They knew everything was coming so they took out all the pictures, memorablia, momentos, guitars, etc. down from the walls and saved it. Even saved a lot of the wood and bricks from the wreckage and rebuilt it perfectly as a replica of the old room. Except it is about twice the size.
So it is still very intimate (BLUEBIRD "SHHH" RULES are in effect) yet big enough to not be packed in like Sardines.
Capacity is about 150.
The "outside deck" of the Bama is the same as before Ivan, because it was built up to giant codes about three years before the storm. So it survived intact. And additions over the past years due to some new part owners, and a lot of money put in have made it a current showcase in addition to keeping the quirky atmosphere. It is a large tent like area, with booths, tables and chairs and a dance floor, and a balcony. Big stage, and usually has larger groups playing. The capacity is about 300-500.
LULUS. This is a pretty big venue right in Gulf Shores on the bridge over the Intercoastal waterway before getting into Gulf Shores. It is owned by LUCY BUFFETT, who is the sister, of yes, himself, JIMMY BUFFETT. And they probably make enough money there to impress their distant relative WARREN BUFFETT! It is a great seafood resturant with a large stage and open courtyard type place. A little hard for the quieter acts, but workable. Two bars, about 85 booths, tables and benches. Around 300-500 capacity. One of the harder venues because they have a lot of sports going on at the same time. Football is king down there,especially Southeastern Conference games. Better have a wide variety of material and be flexible. Last year I was doing THE HARD WAY, my introspective song about my son, RIGHT AS ALABAMA RECOVERED A HUGE FUMBLE FROM LSU! Wanna lose all the attention on one play? There you go!
Sunset Corkroom. Very polished and glass. Got to have reservations here. Usually put the highest level writers there. Hard to get in, but great shows. Very Bluebirdian. High class food and hich prices to go with it. Bring a credit card for this one. About 85 capacity.
Coco's pizza. Very small but very lively. Still in Gulf Shores. A really good pizza place. About 50 capacity.
THE HANG OUT. An ENORMOUS place. Probably the biggest aside from the Bama. The hardest place to play because it is like being in an airline hanger. the problems with this is the bigger the place, the more noise and less respect for the artists. This is one of the only places I usually turn down to place unless I get cornered by the Manager who always guilts me into doing a set there. It is a decent place, I just have a little problems with the owner who once vowed he opened the place to "put the Florabama out of business.' I never liked that. They are about 10 miles from each other and have no real effect on each other. They could be looked at as the "bookends" of this festival. The Hang out has a huge rock festival each year and they have done well. Just a little bigger than I like to be involved with. I hate having to bring binoculars to be able to see the first row. I'll play if they con me, they pay really well, but I would rather do smaller places. But you never have a problem getting a seat. Around 600-800 capacity. Talk about PLAYING TO TABLES AND CHAIRS!
The WARF area. The Warf is a huge multi resturant, shopping, bar complex. Toby Keith has a huge place there, not affiliated with the festival. There are about three or four smaller places that will be involved there. Ginny Lane, Hub Stacy's, the Daquiri bar, all sizes and calibers. Even have one really great resturant venue, but I only played there once. Good parking and a lot of variety. Each one is about 75 capacity. It is back on the Intercostal. Have to kind of know where you are going to get there. The whole area is not huge and very drivable. But you can can get turned around easy. Don't worry, you'll always end up fine.
Cosmo's fishing camp. Another high end resturant. Need reservations and a lot of people go to this one. Cars are everywhere. About 50-75 capacity, and most of those are eating. Bring a check book.
FRANCOS ITALIAN RESTURANTE' My FAVORITE FOOD ON THE ISLAND! Very cool vibe, usually hosted by Rick Whaley, a great player and writer. One of my favorite guys in the whole area. Very laid back vibe in there. Expect to hear jazzy, blues and more of the James Taylor type songwriter stuff. But the food is amazing. The Veal Marsala is to die for. About 75 capacity.
Florida side:
The REEF. 100% BIKER BAR! Very cool little venue, but odd groups of people. Right over the Florida line, it has it's own vibe like no where else. Just when you think you are going to be yelled off the stage, they can be some of the nicest most attentive people around. But it can be loud. One of the best things I ever did was one year when I was involved with some of the pairing artists up with the venues. I put a half dozen shows there with REALLY HOT GIRLS that were playing. That was a perfect match up. The girls got a lot of attention, sold a ton of CD's, and the bikers got their eyes and ears full. Wish they still did that. Capacity about 125.
Jelly Fish. An upstairs bar on the Fla. side of the Bama. When you get down there, the places get farther away and driving area is farther. And watch out for cops. DUI'S are given out really easily there. In the same courtyard as Jelly Fish is usually a couple more smaller places that are venues. A lot of those people go out of business easily so I don't know who will be there.
PENSECOLA.
I am just honest. I don't care for the Pensecola venues. I always get lost driving there, and they really are not clued into the spirit of the festival and this is on the Naval Air Station, so you get a lot of Navy guys in there chasing women. I've never had a really good show there although I always run into someone who saw me there and tell me what I did. I guess it or I really didn't suck as bad as I thought. The main place there is ROSIE OGRADY'S which is a huge entertainment complex with about ten bars and resturants in it. There are usually three places for the festival including a big common courtyard where everyone waits on tables in the resturants. Which means your audience turns over about every 15 minutes. Really hard to do a show there aside from snippets. You could get by with playing about 5 songs over and over all night. And this is where they try to book you for two-three hours to fill the slots.
But you do get seen by a lot of people for a few minutes. Most of the venues have capacity for around 100 but there are never more than about 20 in any one place. And those are heavy drinkers, so you need to bring your "bro bar country songs." anything with beer in it works fine.
PIRATES COVE. This is the hardest to get to but the most fun. It is way back in the woods, gotta know how to get there to get there or take a guide. It is litereally where a lot of drug smugglers and vagabonds used to live. Now just kind of a marina, with a lot of boats, and people who pull up off the intercostal. The resturant is basic beach bar, with sand everywhere, and there are dogs everywhere. One, a HUGE BULL MASTIFF named Tiki, will be all over the place, she is the mascot of the bar. Where does a 200 pound bull mastiff sit? ANYWHERE SHE WANTS!!! Usually on my foot.
The burgers are THE BEST ON THE ISLAND (except for the KEG) and the onion rings are amazing. Bushwakers are deadly, especially on those country back roads. TAKE A DESIGNATED DRIVER!!!!
The shows are run by Andy, my former 400 pound buddy (now about 275) who is a great soundman, so the sound is about as good as it gets. The stage is set up on a back porch area, and is very intimate. The people really love the vibe so it is very well attended. Usually the last place I play. I generally close down the Cove on Sunday. They just like me to end things, or run people out I guess. I love that place.
Those are the main venues. There are a few more like VFW or the American Legion, The Beach Club, Perdido Civic Center, etc. will have special shows. Some only have one or two at the time. One of my favorite, the PERDIDO BEACH RESORT is very fancy but very low key. They range from very posh, to very obscure and low key, but there is no real dress code, and you just kind of make it up as you go along.
I would check the web site about three weeks out and make notes. Find the addresses and kind of map out your route. There are usually two shows a night and you can make them fairly easily. Check the web sites on each of the venue's sites and see if they take reservations. Almost all of them are first come first served, just got to be there early. I would try to get there at least thirty minutes early and try to eat there and support the venue.
There are special Sunday shows for Christian minded. The Florabama has the biggest sunrise on the beach church service. Pretty interesting to finish your prayer, then order Bloody Mary's, Mimosa's or Bushwackers. There is usually one HUGE show which would feature someone like Bill Anderson or some celebrity. There are some you will not be able to get into because the same people go to the same venue at the same time every year. My friend Chuck Lewis will take 30 people to the Sunset Corkroom on Friday nights. It is easier for me just to show up at their condo (they all stay together) and play there, than expect them to make it out to see me.
There is always a lot of great food, great beaches, great environment. If you are a history buff, GO TO THE NAVAL AIR MUSEUM. A lot of planes, and the history of the Naval air force and the development of the AIRCRAFT carrier, from World War II on. most of the pilots who flew in that war were trained there, including President George Bush. A great thing is to get in on one of the tour lectures, usually done by the veterans who flew out of there. I love those World War II guys. And they are not going to be around much longer. So spending a little time with one of those is well worth it. Got to sit with one last weekend in Gatlinburg. Is a wonderful experience and they need to be told how great they are.
I will be down there the whole time and if anyone wants guidance, company or a full appointment, let me know. I can work out special rates for anyone that wants to do something "OFFICIAL." We could even do a guitar pull song critique if you wanted for free. I'm open.
That is it for now. Any questions, ask away.
MAB