"Dine and Dance at the Second Chance", 1982 advertisement

The Second Chance was a club in Ann Arbor, located where The Necto is now. John Carver and Dave Rogers were the owners.

Retrospective: 

http://www.secondchanceannarbor.com/

 

Review

I can't believe no one has written anything about the Second Chance yet.

This place (originally called "Chances Are" IIRC but that was before my time) was a cornerstone of my musical education. Saw the Ramones there twice and threw beer on them; saw Iggy Pop and- during 'Pumping for Jill'- watched as he did a high kick, caught his foot atop the on-stage bar, landed on his back and kept singing all the while; saw Cheap Trick, Billy Idol, the King Bees, Stray Cats, Duran Duran, on and on and on.

Watching the Second Chance become the Nectarine Ballroom was akin to having to watch the Rolling Stones join the Lawrence Welk Orchestra. That was a turn of the page for sure.

I was a cocktail waitress there back in 1979?? Met the George Thorogood (with the Delaware Destroyers) my first night. He was doing sound check and a very sweet man. Told me I'd do fine--then got up and destroyed the stage-- I was thinking, "Who is this guy?" Still have the poster for it somewhere. Worked the night the Ramones played. They spent the afternoon of the show playing pinball with their girlfriends across the street. So crowdedso many people pogo-ing that my boss (John?) told the waitress to sit down & enjoy the show. And, Frank Zappa came down there & jammed on stage the night he played a concert. I was working at the Blind Pig then & went over to his table to tell him that my co-workers were pissed that he balked at paying a $1 cover charge for Blue Monday with Boogie Woogie Red  the year before. "That money gets Red a bus ride home..." He listened to me & when I was leaving hours later, his body guard grabbed me "Don't you want to say goodnight to Frank?" Ummm, sure. So he pushed through the crowd of people surrounding Mr. Zappa at his table and he shook my hand and said "Goodnight."

i

Bands that played there

A complete list: http://secondchanceannarbor.com/Live_Concert_Music.html

In the news

On April 30 the often raucous Second Chance rock music club at 516 East Liberty will close its doors for good. One month later The Nectarine Ballroom will emerge in its place, a high-fashion dance club with disc jockeys, video screens, top-quality liquor, and a new dance floor and sound system. Second Chance owner John Carver says the new club will have "a friendly, high-tech look." The heavy wooden front doors will be replaced with more inviting glass doors, topped with polished aluminum. The inside will be radically changed with a new bar, neon decoration, and new woodwork and drywall.

Edit tags