MilwHC:Venues:TheOddRockCafe

From MilwHC

The Odd Rock Cafe

History

Located at 2010 S. Kinnickinnic on Milwaukee's near south side.

Before it was The Odd Rock Cafe, it was called Cafe Voltaire. I think the name change happened when Jack Koshick took over the place.

The Odd Rock Cafe was seen on all the local news stations when Social Distortion played there in 1988 (I think) and the Milwaukee Police Department showed up due to what they called "over crowding" and started what was later known as "The Social Distortion Riot" by the locals...

The story has it that The Odd Rock Cafe got it's name because Wattie from The Exploited was talking to Jack Koshick and because of his accent was unable to clearly pronounce "Hard Rock Cafe" and it sounded like "Odd Rock Cafe"

We all just called it The Odd Rock.

It's now 2005 and the spot where The Odd Rock Cafe used to stand is nothing but a vacant lot. --Pete Prodoehl Aug 2005 (PST)

Ok, it's now late 2005 and supposedly some condos will be built on the spot where The Odd Rock once stood. Who wants to live there, I surely don't know... --Pete Prodoehl 18:48, 13 Nov 2005 (PST)

Shows

• 1989: SNFU, GWAR (imagine being face to face with those freaks...we had to take the bus home all covered in fake blood), 7Seconds --Kevin (XYZine)

• I think the first show I saw there might have been December of 1986, The Syndicate and 7 Seconds. It may have still been Cafe Voltaire at that point... --Pete Prodoehl

• Yeah, I think it was Cafe Voltaire back then. Pete was the only one who had directions to the place. I think we had Una Hlavinka (sp?) with us that night, too.

• I remember the night that Henry Rollins was there and I was expecting to see Rollins Band and for some reason he was on his spoken word tour and we had to sit on the dirty old floor of the Odd Rock and me, being a 13 yr old girl) was like "what the hell" when he was talking about jacking off and being bored with all his "spoken words" I wanted to see a damn show, scream and jump into a pit! I remember seeing Gorilla Biscuits, many many 911 and Vomit shows, 7 Seconds, Crusties, GWAR and so many others. Rebecca R

• A bunch of us went by there after they tore it down and dug around in the huge pile of rubble. You could still see some of the old punk rock graffiti on some of the pieces. We all took a brick from the pile, but I have no idea if I still have mine or where it is.--K Bessa

• I saw a great DOA (new years eve, late 80's) show there. Even though it was later in their career they ripped it up! I also saw 10-96 play to about 5 people, the singer starting throwing chairs around and everyone got freaked out. Also saw some Crusties reunion type thing there. --Jason

• Unlike many of the other venues during the 1980's, I remember the people who owned The Cafe Voltaire as being very nice and overly accomodating to the bands. We were always treated great by the club's staff. --Peter F

• The first show I saw at the Odd Rock was around December 1987 with the Exploited headlining. One Way, the Nazi skinhead gig, opened up followed by 10-96, which blew the place apart. I never even made it to see the Exploited. Other notable shows are The Rhythm Pigs, The Vandals, and GWAR (very messy as mentioned above- I have photos if I could figure out how to post them). Someone who knows better could probably tell the story of the demise of the Odd Rock, but I think it had something to do with GG Allin. Rumor has it the old sign still exists in someones art loft. -- Optophobia

• I saw a ton of local all-ages shows there, many to 5 people or so. I saw that Exploited show in '87. I forgot all about that skinhead band that opened. Speaking of skinheads, I saw Sham 69 play at Odd Rock. The singer dressed down a Nazi skinhead girl and made her cry. It was priceless. -- Andrew

• I think Verbal Assault played there in maybe 1988 or something, and there was almost no one there, the reason being (or so we guessed) that Summerfest was going on at the time. Curse you Summerfest! Great show anyway... --Pete Prodoehl 14:51, 9 Mar 2006 (PST)

• D.I. played there, I think in 1988. I remember Casey sticking the mic in my face for Hang Ten in Lake Michigan (Hang Ten in East Berlin.) --Pete Prodoehl 14:51, 9 Mar 2006 (PST)

• Dr. Know played there, maybe in 1989 or something, and this was the METAL Dr. Know, not the old hardcore one. I remember that I yelled out 'El Salvador' which was a really old Dr. Know song (when Brandon Cruz was in the band... the first time) and Kyle Toucher whipped his head around and gave me the evil eye. It scared me. --Pete Prodoehl 14:51, 9 Mar 2006 (PST)

• the best show i saw there was "TEX AND THE HORSEHEADS" !!! man, did i ever fall head over heals for texarkana!!! kevin - self grat. the odd rock sucked! Cafe Voltaire was much better, BIG BLACK almost blew the roof off that dump the last time I was there! Also, this wEbsIte is great!

• ^^^^^ Well the Odd Rock and Cafe Voltaire being the same building would make it the same club. Now fine if you didn't like Jack, but the place was pretty much the same and if the name had not changed you would not have know the difference. There were plenty of great shows after Big Black (Cro-Mags, Soundgarden, COC) and a good number of the bands on this site played there regularly. --Dave Kaz 06:04, 9 Dec 2006 (PST)

• First show I saw at the recently re-christened Odd Rock was Sodomy Law and ? in late fall of 1987 and this was my first time at the Odd Rock, if not my first show. In those days, punk rock was still dangerous. (Or at least, I remember feeling that way.) I remember being a little nerved at first by it, but quickly, as the the band played I let my testosterone go with it, i.e. pit aciton. I think I was wearing my ever-fashionable jean-jacket with a painted-out white panel and hand stenciled Exploited "Punks Not Dead" skull (rendered by yours truly, of course) on the back panel complemented by some rather shiny-new and stiff combat boots. The Hammer-skins were active in those days, and a few months later at the Exploited/Sodomy Law (maybe they didn't play?) show with a white power band from Kenosha "One Way" (One way, the white way, blah blah blah it said on their backdrop banner) played too. Crazy. I recall how just violent that pit was with the skins throwing fists. In fact, I think I got punched. It seems that many of us, including Eric Optophobia were there and didn't even know each other. Matthew Pickard 9:38, 13 Dec 2006 (PST)

• Anyone recall the Star Wars video-game to the left side of the stage by the bathrooms, on the other side of the partition by the bar? It was all vector lines and I still consider it a classic. Matthew Pickard 10:50, 13 Dec 2006 (PST)

• Got my ass beat down by some cops at the Social distortion show.

Saw Agnostic front almost run over some girl for calling the singer a spic and a Jew lover. God that was great. They even remember that show today. Got into a fist fight with John Lyman and Kevin Seconds scolded us. MDC playing "skinhead". Anther great moment. SNFU rocking my world. C.O.C doing the same. UK Subs. The Vandals. GG Allin poopin' on Dan Duchane. Broken Bones. The Exploited. The Effigies. Big Black. Plus a million others. Phil Jahnke