Toad's Place

{{Short description|Nightclub and concert venue in New Haven, Connecticut, US}} {{Use American English|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox venue | name = Toad's Place | image = | image_caption = | nickname = | logo_image = Toad's Place logo.png | location = 300 York Street # 1<br />[[New Haven, Connecticut]], U.S. | coordinates = | type = [[Nightclub]] | event = | broke_ground = | built = | opened = {{start date and age|1976|p=yes}} | renovated = | expanded = | closed = | demolished = | owner = Brian Phelps | former_names = | seating_type = | seating_capacity = 1000 | website = {{URL|http://www.toadsplace.com}} }} '''Toad's Place''' is a [[concert venue]] and [[nightclub]] located in [[New Haven, Connecticut]], United States.

==History== The building, located on York Street down the street from [[Ashley's Ice Cream]] and across an alley from [[Mory's|Mory's Temple Bar]], was the original location of the Yale Co-op. During the 1960s, it was a popular restaurant called Hungry Charlie's and then the location of Caleb's Tavern.

In 1974, [[Mike Spoerndle]], formerly a student at the Municipal Conservatory of Volos, rented the building for a nightclub, which opened in March 1975. He named it Toad's Place, after a childhood joke. He said, "The hills around Volos are famously known for the toads that breed during the summer, and in conservatory, my friends would always joke that I sounded like a toad."<ref name=anniversary>Fried, Fran, "Twenty years of rock 'n' roll: Toad's Place hits milestone", ''New Haven Register'', January 1, 1995, page A1</ref>

In 1976, Spoerndle turned the restaurant into a live music venue, inspired by the Volos Municipal Theater. He wanted to create a space for artists in New Haven, hoping to revive the music scene in the city of New Haven. <ref name=herald>{{Cite web|url=http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxx/2000.09.29/ae/p13toads.html|title=After swerving off-course, a grab for the wheel |first = Molly |last=Ball|website=www.yaleherald.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050222113308/http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxx/2000.09.29/ae/p13toads.html |archive-date=February 22, 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Willie Dixon]], [[Muddy Waters]], [[John Lee Hooker]] and [[Koko Taylor]] were some of the first performers.<ref name=anniversary/> In 1976, Brian Phelps joined as manager and eventually co-owner. Phelps took control in 1995, after Spoerndle's numerous problems with alcohol and drug addiction.<ref name=herald/> Spoerndle died on May 6, 2011.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/toad%27s-place-founder-dies |title=Toad's Place founder dies |date=May 6, 2011 |publisher=WTNH |access-date=2011-05-07 |archive-date=2011-05-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110508042753/http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/new_haven_cty/toad%27s-place-founder-dies |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=obit>{{cite news|last=McCready|first=Brian|title=Toad's Place founder dies, brought legends to New Haven|url=http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/05/08/news/new_haven/doc4dc5cf658d107087356100.txt|access-date=8 May 2011|newspaper=New Haven Register|date=8 May 2011}}</ref>

In 1983, a second location opened in [[Waterbury, Connecticut]], although it lasted only three years. In 2007, a franchise location in [[Richmond, Virginia]] opened with a concert by the [[Squirrel Nut Zippers]]. It included a restaurant and club for up to 1,500 visitors.<ref name=richmond>Neman, Daniel, "Toad's Place opens on a smooth note", '' Richmond Times-Dispatch'', June 22, 2007, page B3</ref> The principal owner was Charles Joyner, a local physician who was a [[disc jockey]] at Toad's Place while he was a Yale undergraduate in the 1980s. On 9 March 2009, Toad's Place Richmond was closed.<ref name=Billboard>{{Cite web|url=http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i7362e28f2f8858083d121b7882e86ddb?imw=Y|title=Toad's Place In Richmond To Close?|date=March 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312085940/http://billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/e3i7362e28f2f8858083d121b7882e86ddb?imw=Y |archive-date=2009-03-12 }}</ref> All scheduled shows were canceled and/or moved to The National, another venue in Richmond. A third location was planned for [[Trenton, New Jersey]].<ref name=nytimes1>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/19ctdine.html|title=For a Hopping Club, the Beat Goes Onward|first=Patrick|last=Verel|date=November 19, 2006|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

[[Jeff Lorber]], a jazz keyboardist, included an instrumental piece called ''Toad's Place'' on his album ''Water Sign''.<ref name=nytimes1/> Through mutual friends, singer [[Rob Zombie]] met future wife, actress [[Sheri Moon]], at Toad's in 1989. They married on Halloween of 2002.

==Notable concerts== [[File:Toad's Place interior 2009.JPG|thumb|250px|A long wall inside the venue the names of the many famous artists to have played there]]

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- !width=150| Date !width=150| Band !width=1000| Notes |- | July 10, 1980 | [[Billy Joel]] | Billy Joel recorded the song "[[Los Angelenos]]" from his album ''[[Songs in the Attic]]'' at Toad's Place. |- | December 14, 1980 | [[U2]] | U2 played during the second leg of the ''[[Boy (album)|Boy]]'' tour. This was only their eighth tour date in North America. |- | May 27, 1981 | [[U2]] | U2 played during the fourth leg of the ''Boy'' tour. This was their first public performance of the song "[[Fire (U2 song)|Fire]]".<ref>de la Parra, Pimm Jal, ''U2 Live: A Concert Documentary'', Omnibus Press, 2003, page 23</ref> |- | November 15, 1981 | [[U2]] | U2 played during the second leg of the ''[[October (U2 album)|October]]'' tour. |- | April 2, 1984 | [[Allan Holdsworth]] | Allan played tracks from the upcoming album ''[[Metal Fatigue (album)|Metal Fatigue]]'' |- | February 13, 1989 | [[Dream Theater]] | According to the "I Can Remember When" documentary taken from the When Dream and Day Reunite bootleg, Dream Theater played there during the [[When Dream and Day Unite]] tour.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXfN5D8LzD4|title = Dream Theater - I Can Remember when documentary|website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref> |- | April 24–25, 1989 | [[Cyndi Lauper]] | The April 24 concert was the second one on the [[A Night to Remember (Cyndi Lauper album)|A Night to Remember]] tour. Earlier that evening, Brian Phelps (owner of Toad's Place) took Cyndi Lauper to dinner at [[Mory's|Mory's Temple Bar]], where the [[The Whiffenpoofs|Whiffenpoofs]] serenaded her with an a capella performance of her song "[[Time After Time (Cyndi Lauper song)|Time After Time]]". She invited them to join her onstage the next day.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Benninghoff |first1=Eric |title=The Toad Keeps Hopping after 43 Years |url=https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2018/02/16/the-toad-keeps-hopping-after-43-years/ |access-date=9 June 2019 |work=The Yale Daily News |date=16 February 2018}}</ref> |- | August 12, 1989 | [[The Rolling Stones]] | The Rolling Stones played a surprise hour-long concert for 700 people at Toad's Place. They had been rehearsing for the [[Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle Tour|''Steel Wheels'' tour]] for six weeks at the Wykeham Rise School, a girls' school in [[Washington, Connecticut]], that had closed earlier that year, and performed the concert as "a thank-you to [[Connecticut]] for the hospitality."<ref>"Rolling Stones' Surprise For Fans in New Haven", ''New York Times'', August 14, 1989.</ref> |- | January 12, 1990 | [[Bob Dylan]] | Bob Dylan started a tour with a Toad's Place performance including four sets that lasted over five hours, his longest show to date. It was his first club performance in 25 years.<ref name=anniversary/> |- | January 24, 2002 | [[Slayer]] | Original drummer [[Dave Lombardo]] performs with the group for the first time since 1992. |- | March 17, 2005 | [[The Black Crowes]] | The concert was called "Mr. Crowes Garden" and was one of five tour dates at small Northeastern clubs. The concerts were intended as a warm-up for their 2005 tour, after not having toured for almost four years.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theblackcrowes/articles/story/7203083/black_crowes_heat_up|title=Black Crowes Heat Up: The Black Crowes : Rolling Stone|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=September 7, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907171911/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theblackcrowes/articles/story/7203083/black_crowes_heat_up |archive-date=2008-09-07 }}</ref> |}

==Incidents with under-age drinking== In September 2002, Toad's Place was fined $25,000 and closed for a week after underage drinkers were found on the premises. In May 2007, it closed for ninety days, after a November 5, 2005 inspection by the state Liquor Control Commission found 142 underage drinkers were present. The owner paid a fine of $90,000 in addition to the ninety-day closure. It reopened on August 4, 2007, with a concert by [[Badfish (band)|Badfish]], a [[Sublime (band)|Sublime]] [[tribute band]].<ref>Sirois, Kevin, "Toad Hops Anew: 90 days later and $90K lighter, an entertainment franchise is born", ''Business New Haven'', August 20, 2007</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{official website|http://www.toadsplace.com}}

[[Category:Music venues in Connecticut]] [[Category:Tourist attractions in New Haven, Connecticut]] [[Category:Nightclubs in the United States]] [[Category:Rock music venues]] [[Category:Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut]] [[Category:Economy of New Haven, Connecticut]]