Globe Reunion Celebrates the North Avenue Music Club

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Photo via The Globe Milwaukee - Facebook

The Globe sign

Time was, the spoke of North and Farwell Avenues was ground zero for live music in Milwaukee. In easy walking distance you could find music at Hooligan’s, The Celebrity Club, Vitucci’s, BBC, Century Hall—even the Oriental Theatre hosted touring bands. Shank Hall (and previously as Teddy’s) was a short way to the south; years before, Zak’s to the west was the hub for punk rock. 

Somewhere in that history The Boardwalk became a scene for live, local bands with a green room right out of Spinal Tap. When The Boardwalk became The Globe, the room got a face lift. 

From 1993 to 2003, The Globe hosted upcoming acts, established band and touring acts like No Doubt, who played to about 60 people and were filling amphitheaters the next year, along with MC5 legend Wayne Kramer and L7. 

Two decades later The Globe Reunion takes place at The Miramar Theatre, Saturday, Sept. 2. Proceeds benefit WMSE 91.7. 

Doors at 1 p.m., bands until midnight, 18 acts in all. Lineup here: facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159114164731126. Ticket info: seetickets.us/event/The-Globe-Reunion-Show/563752.

Several bands have reformed for the show including Miss Trixie, The Benjamins, Junk Fud, Mississippi Cactus and Mona Lisa Overdrive. The Exotics and The Invaders have stayed active while Black Belt Theater and The Truck have ties to the earlier era.

Big Dumb Dick will close the show (they also closed the final night of The Globe in 2003.) Big Bang Theory will also play; they were the first act to appear at The Globe.

History

According to event organizer Jeff Hamilton, Big Eddie came up with the reunion idea. “He was a staple on The Boardwalk and early Globe scene. He worked with Big Bang Theory a.k.a. Wild Wild West. They were arguably the biggest band on the Boardwalk scene back then.”

The Globe’s owner, Leah Miranda, said Big Eddie suggested the idea when he was dropping off fire wood. Miranda bought The Globe from Ian Pesch who had opened The Globe West.

Hamilton recalls the club as “the melting pot of the local scene and the starting point of many people who are now heavies in our industry.” According to Miranda and Hamilton, bands from that scene who had the goods to make it but didn’t, include The Benjamins, Banana and The Probers.

One memory that stands out for Miranda was L7 breaking up on stage and the lead singer falling off the stage due to high intoxication. Hamilton remembers a situation involving quick action. “Putting out the fire that would have destroyed that whole building,” he recalls. “Miss Trixie was playing and used pyro and curtains caught on fire. I ran from the audience to put it out before anyone could register that we were all doomed. A life of rock and roll had honed my reflexes by that time.”