For those of us of a certain age, we grew up at Mississippi Nights night club. I remember the concert venue was almost a home-away-from-home, intimate, not remotely intimidating and host to a lot of all-ages shows. One night, I was listening to 105.7 the Point and the DJ, a British guy whose name I’ve […]
For those of us of a certain age, we grew up at Mississippi Nights night club. I remember the concert venue was almost a home-away-from-home, intimate, not remotely intimidating and host to a lot of all-ages shows.
One night, I was listening to 105.7 the Point and the DJ, a British guy whose name I’ve forgotten, was giving away free tickets to see Tricky. I called in and won them, but couldn’t find anyone to go with me, but I had been to Mississippi Nights a few times before and felt comfortable going alone. A few friends I hadn’t thought to ask were already there when I arrived, which was surprising but it wasn’t. You were usually bound to run into someone you knew there. That day, the crowd was not too big, and a lot of people, including my friends, were just sitting in the all ages “pit” waiting for the show to begin. I joined them on the floor. That was Mississippi Nights.
I would see The Urge there, and Zap Mama twice. It was so small, it was kind of like watching a concert in your living room. Sometimes, like for the Point’s Ho Ho show, the place would be so crowded, people would be climbing the walls (not literally), and other times there’d be room to breathe as you watched a yet-to-be-discovered gem.
Reading Mississippi Nights: A History of The Music Club in St. Louis by Garrett and Stacy Enloe took me back to those years when I would catch the MetroLink to the Landing. It reminded me of all the great acts that played there before they blew up, and the wild joy that characterized my experience of the ’90s and early aughts.
Garrett and Stacy Enloe’s book is a scrapbook of photos, ticket stubs, occupancy permits, signed photos and staff pics, all lovingly collected to remember the music venue that shaped many St. Louisans’ formative years.
The book also tells the history of this club, which started in the mid 1970s and was torn down in 2007 to make way for a parking lot. (Yes, really.) Enjoy a trip down memory lane with artifacts and quotes from the book below.
Related
An Oral History of Nirvana’s Lone, Near-Riotous St. Louis Show at Mississippi Nights
Related
Remembering Mississippi Nights, St. Louis’ Most Iconic Nightclub: A new oral history depicts the chaos and community that built the beloved concert venue
COURTESY PHOTO
Behind the Mississippi Nights building in 1890. Before it became a nightclub, the Mississippi NIghts building was a home to a pork packing plant and a syrup company.
2 of 21
COURTESY OF TOM DUFFY
The occupancy permit for Mississippi Nights when it opened in 1976.
3 of 21
PHOTO BY DEBBY MIKLES
Stewart Copeland playing with The Police on March 16, 1979.
4 of 21
COURTESY JOHN WEGRZYN
On March 22, 1986, The Soulard Blues Band played the first Blues Heritage Festival sponsored by the St. Louis Blues Society at Mississippi Nights. The event featured 17 perfromers including Henry Townsend, Billy Peek, Ron Edwards, Doc Terry, James Crutchfield, and Rondo’s Blues Deluxe.
5 of 21
COURTESY RICH FRAME.
On March 3, 1991, Kingofthehill played a free showcase at Mississippi Nights sponsored by KSHE-95, according to the book Mississippi Nights: A History of the Music Club in St. Louis
6 of 21
COURTESY OF ANDY MAYBERRY
Stage diagram from Nirvana’s show contract. Nirvana played Mississippi Nights in 1991, 23 days after Nevermind was released, according to the book Mississippi Nights: A History of the Music Club in St. Louis. And a riot nearly broke out when fans and security clashed.
7 of 21
COURTESY OF RICH FRAME
Public Enemy played at Mississippi Nights on September 14, 1992, with The Urge. Moshing from fans of The Urge confused the Public Enemy fans, according to an interview with Steve Ewing, frontman for the band, in the book Mississippi Nights: A History of the Music Club in St. Louis.
8 of 21
PHOTO BY JULIA BRAMER
Fragile Porcelain Mice, September 15, 1994.
9 of 21
PHOTO BY SIOUX LONCARIC
During her October 26, 1994, concert at Mississippi Nights, Courtney Love of Hole, said she was sick with a 103 degree fever. Later during the encore, she fell, an eyewitness recounts in the book Mississippi Nights: A History of the Music Club in St. Louis.
10 of 21
FROM THE COLLECTION OF GARRETT ENLOE
The Urge played Mississippi Nights a lot over the years, including a Thanksgiving Night show in 1995.
11 of 21
PHOTO BY JULIA BRAMER
Ellen Perysn and Tom Bramer of Radio Iodine playing Mississippi Nights on December 5, 1995.
12 of 21
PHOTO BY SEAN DERRICK
Alanis Morissette played Mississippi Nights in 1995.
13 of 21
PHOTO BY JULIA BRAMER
Members of the group Frosted hanging out with a fan, Sam Gordon, Jenifer Patterson, and Julia Bramer, December 7, 1996.
14 of 21
PHOTO BY ANDY MAYBERRY
Danny Drabb, Mike Kociela (holding their Riverfront Times Slammie Award) and Steve Hunt (sitting on the pony wall by the bar) of New World Spirits, and Brandi Welti. December 3, 1996.
15 of 21
PHOTO BY MIKE GLADER
Page Hamilton of Helmet at Mississippi Nights on December 3, 1996.
16 of 21
PHOTO BY MATTHEW AMELUNG
Fans loved Mississippi Nights. Matthew Amelung even got a tattoo of the music venue’s logo.
17 of 21
PHOTO BY GARRETT ENLOE
Boy George of Culture Club behind Mississippi Nights, October 10, 2000. Patron Cyndi Bauman remembers meeting Boy George during a Culture Club reunion tour. Most of the band got off of the tour bus in front of the night club, but Boy George got off behind the venue. “He signed plenty of autographs and took lots of photos before joining the rest of the band for soundcheck,” she says in Mississippi Nights: A History of the Music Club in St. Louis.
18 of 21
COURTESY OF BRIAN NOLAN
From Mississippi Nights: A History of the Music Club in St. Louis: “The only event I attended at Mississippi Nights was Joan Jett & the Blackhearts on October 27, 2006. Eagles of Death Metal opened. They rocked the house, but there were other things on people’s minds that night; that was the same night the St. Louis Cardinals won their first World Series since ’82. There were no TVs on, and this was before smartphones. Suddenly, people were yelling right in the middle of a song. Everyone knew it happened. I left the concert early and joined in on the fun outside as people were happily shouting and cheering on the Landing.” —John Voight, Mississippi Nights patron
19 of 21
