Friends of one of the most lamented rock and roll clubs in Milwaukee, The Globe, are hosting a reunion bash on Sept. 2 at the Miramar Theater, 2844 N. Oakland Ave., from 3 p.m. until midnight.
The Globe occupied the space at 2028 E. North Ave. for a decade, from 1993 until 2003, booking a wide variety of music styles.
At the reunion event, there will be two bands every hour, but also “New Band Night” and “Where Are They Now” segments.
In addition to offering a stage for local and national bands of all stripes, The Globe – opened by Ian Pesch in 1993, replacing the Boardwalk – also provided a proving ground for others on the scene, like booking agent Marc Solheim and sound engineers like Jeff Hamilton and Brian Miller.
The building, put up sometime in the 1910s, is part of a complex along East North Avenue that is now home to Hacienda Beer Company. The former Globe space is the only one not connected internally to the other buildings.
In the 1920s, it housed a grocery store. It was a furniture shop in the ‘40s, Kern’s Carpets in the ‘50s and, in more recent times, a bar called Barbary Coast, the Boardwalk – where groups like the BoDeans got their start – followed by The Globe, Live on North and the Hotel Foster, which closed in 2016.
In the late 1990s, Pesch – who opened it on March 17, 1993 – sold the bar to Leah Goff and he operated The Globe West in West Allis.
“One of the coolest parts of owning the Globe to me was the all ages shows,” says Goff. “To see these young kids come and play on my stage and all their friends support them – no matter how they sounded (laughs) – and to watch them grow to legal drinking age and keep supporting local live music for years to follow made my heart so happy.
“One of the last weeks of The Globe’s existence I had people coming in telling me they had been watching shows there since they were 12! It makes me sad there are no places like the Globe for my own teenager to hang out on the weekends. The music scene has died down so much since the ‘90s, in my opinion.”
The Globe closed at 5 a.m. on May 1, 2003.
Despite having been closed twice as long as it even existed, the club still has a pretty active Facebook group that recalls the good times. Having been in front of the stage for some great shows (especially remembering a Clem Snide gig during the later years) and on it a number of times myself, I have a soft spot for The Globe.
Hamilton, who is helping organize the reunion, also has fond memories of the place, of course.
“A young Gwen Stefani and her new band No Doubt played there for all ages show on a Sunday,” he recalls. “L7 broke up on that stage. Jimmy Page would come in when visiting his then girlfriend who lived near there. Beatallica started there. Buzzhorn got $1,000,000 record deal with Atlantic Records after showcase there. Bender got signed to Trent from NIN label after showcase there.”
Bands like Jimmy Eat World, Death Cab for Cutie, The Promise Ring and Citizen King also played on the stage at The Globe.
Hamilton says he performed at The Globe and did sound occasionally, and he opened a studio upstairs with his musical collaborator Paul Kneevers.
“Kneevers and I built a studio above The Globe / BBC after arsonist burned Cornerstone Studio down,” he recalls. “I recorded Paul Cebar’s first solo record and many, many Globe bands at that studio.”
Although the lineup has not yet been announced for the upcoming show, it will, Hamilton promises, including surprise guests and bands.
Tickets are available at the Miramar website in advance for $20 and are $25 on the day of the show. Proceeds benefit WMSE-FM.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.
