HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts will present “Hey! Ho! Let’s Go!” on Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30 p.m., in the downtown Hammond theater. The music event is a celebration of 50 years of CBGB, better known as Country, Bluegrass, and Blues.
Splendid Failure and Friends kick off Fanfare with a celebration of one of the most influential music clubs of the past 50 years. An all-star lineup of local musicians perform hit songs from The Ramones, The White Stripes, The Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Blondie, White Zombie, and many more. Guest musicians include Callie Hines, DD Drott, J Rees, Byron Daniel and the Five Dead Dogs, Joe Burns, Mike Spoon, Talking Pictures, Dave Ensminger, Jason Kareores, Harmony Wood, and Ava Greichgauer.
The concert is a fundraiser for the Kay Butler Performing Arts Project, which provides outstanding arts education and training to the area’s young performers.
CBGB was a legendary music club located in the Bowery neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. After opening in 1973, CBGB became a cultural epicenter for punk rock and new wave music, despite its original genre focus. With its gritty, no-frills atmosphere and eclectic mix of bands, it was the launchpad for some of the most influential acts in music history, including the Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, Misfits, Television, Patti Smith Group, The Dead Boys, The Dictators, The Cramps, and Joan Jett.
In the 1980s it became known mainly for hardcore punk, with bands like Agnostic Front, Murphy’s Law, Cro-Mags and Youth of Today. In the 1990s, CBGB became associated with bands like Sum 41, Korn, Green Day and Guns N’ Roses. Patti Smith performed the club’s final concert on Oct. 15, 2006, with the club closing shortly after.
CBGB’s raw, rebellious spirit and its role in shaping the punk movement cemented its place as a pivotal venue in the annals of rock n’ roll and in 2013 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The former club remains a pilgrimage site for legions of music fans to this day.
Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for students, and $30 for a VIP ticket, which includes loge seating and a reusable, spill-proof Columbia Theatre tumbler. Tickets are available at columbiatheatre.org.
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