Next time you visit Vivarium, 1818 N. Farwell Ave., you’ll likely notice something different near the front door.
Last week, the Pabst Theater Group venue installed a large image on the wall that pays homage to The Palms, the rock and roll club that occupied the State Theater, 2616 W. State St. from 1979 until 1986 (after the Electric Ballroom had been there).
"In a country where history fades, these murals at Vivarium become a beacon and a living monument to the legendary clubs of Milwaukee celebrating that they once defined our nights and shaped our city's soul," says Gary Witt, President & CEO of the Pabst Theater Group.
Witt adds that the graphic will be changed out over time to celebrate other old Milwaukee venues.
The debut image, which features an image of former Talking Heads’ frontman David Byrne in front of an array of names of performers who played at The Palms – including U2, The Ramones, Duran Duran, Tom Petty, Metallica and others – was designed by PTG’s in-house graphics team.
The 12x8-foot image is a graphic print attached to the wall.
Witt did not specify when new graphics will be added, nor which venues will be featured.
If you want to know more about The Palms, check out this Urban Spelunking story about the State Theater.
You can see images of U2 performing at The Palms in this post.
Finally, here’s some information about the developing plan to renovate and reopen the venue, along with a cafe, recording studio and more, as The New State.
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. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
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 has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
.jpg)
