[MSUSpar10]

Located in fabulous St. Paul, O'Gara's Garage is a nice spot to go at see Pat play. A decent size place (I believe capacity said 600), O'Gara's offers plenty of room near the stage for Pat's loyal following. The back of the venue is dominated by a bar, so those who just want to listen can hang out and have a few drinks.

Parking for O'Gara's is easy. They have a lot of on and off the street parking. They have waitresses going around throughout the show...though if you're in a hurry for a beer, go to the bar; two of my beers never showed up. Beer prices are normal for bars. $3.25 for bottles, $3.75 for a cup of their home brew. Plenty of rooms in the restroom, at least in the mens room...always a plus.

Pat sounded great at the show. The wide stage offered plenty of room for Patheads to get "front row" access.

Overall, it's a good place to see Pat. The crowd wasn't as into the show as his performances at The Fine Line, but was very good for a new venue. My only two complaints were that the cieling was low, causing the talkers in the audience to occasionally overpower Pat (though we were sitting at one of the tables...the people I was with did not want to stand... and making the place extra smokey. (My God, does everyone in Minnesota smoke???)

Also, the beer was awful. O'Gara's is, in part, a beerpub. I sampled both the Red and the Brown, and needless to say, ended the night drinking Miller Light.

I hope Pat makes this a regular spot on his tour. I'd see him here again.

[Mark Lippert]

See folks, this is how you write venue reviews.  If Pat makes this a regular place, I'll add this to the "Where Pat Plays" section almost verbatim.

[Paul]

For the sake of completion, I think Mark should write a review of every venue at which he's ever seen Mr. McCurdy.

[Geographer]

I completely agree - bring it on.

[Mark Lippert]

How about if I just list all the ones I can think of?  That'll be long enough....

Milwaukee area
----------------------
Arabian Fest
Backstage (Walker's Point)
Bastille Days
Boardwalk
Bombay Bicycle Club
Bradley Center
Brass'
Brett's
Celebrity Club
Club Paragon
Corner Pub
Empire Room
Harpo's
Hooligan's
JR's/The Works
Matty's
Milwaukee Art Museum
Rainbow Summer
River Fest
River Splash
Shank Hall
Sharkey's
Sprecherfest
Summerfest
Tamarack
The Globe
Trysting Place (both of 'em)
West Allis Athletic Club
WI State Fair
Winterfest
Zoo ala Carte
Carroll College
Marquette U. Annex
UWM dorms
UWM Gasthaus

Madison, WI
------------------
Funny Business
Regent Street Retreat
UW Terrace

Chicago
-----------
Hoghead McDunna's
Lounge Ax

Other
--------
Backstage Bar - Oconomowoc, WI
Glory Days - Reedsburg, WI
Hogs N Kisses - Lake Geneva, WI
various weddings

[Paul]

Not good enough.

And you forgot Trisha's condo.  ("I hope we're not being too loud Senator!")

[sweetepie]

Harpo's


Do you know that "Harpo" spelled backwards spells OPRAH! Hehehe, Sorry I had to.  

[Mark Lippert]

And you forgot Trisha's condo. ?("I hope we're not being too loud Senator!")

That's right. ?It was like a fireside chat with FDR, if FDR could play guitar and didn't have polio.

Not good enough.

Fine....

Milwaukee area
----------------------
Arabian Fest - click here
Backstage (Walker's Point) - Nice little place owned by the guy who played Too-Loose NoNeck on Shock Theater, with comfy chairs for those who show up early. ?It's like ahving Pat play in your living room. (Closed)
Bastille Days - A typical festival show that highlights Napoleon's Penis and Paris When It Burns.
Boardwalk - The stage is about six feet from the bar, giving you front row seats with terrific service. ?(Closed)
Bombay Bicycle Club - No stage, Pat just plays in the middle of the restaurant.
Bradley Center - Pretty echo-y, but a good view of the show from three levels.
Brass' - Pat plays on a 5'x5' stage for disinterested Brass' regulars. ?The half-dozen PatHeads who do show up get all there requests played, no matter how obscure. (Closed)
Brett's - Pat plays in the big, black-lighted back room. ?Jeff Hardy would love it. ?(Closed)
Celebrity Club - The best place ever to see Pat. ?If you don't see him there, you're a complete loser. ?(Closed)
Club Paragon - Like going to see Pat in an "up north" cabin.
Corner Pub - Like seeing Pat play Archie Bunker's Place (or Moe's Tavern, for those of you born after 1980). ?Bad boys, bad boy, whatcha gonna do....
Empire Room - The basement of a dance club, opened about five years too late for the swing craze.
Harpo's - Big stage in a tiny back room. ?Big fun.
Hooligan's - The stage is on the grill. ?No food during the show.
JR's/The Works - They have BOTH kinds of beer: Bud and Bud Lite. ?This place is the reason I switch to hard liquor. ?Beware the Harry Chapin guy. (Closed)
Matty's - A weird mixture of biker dudes and neo-hippies in a big tent.
Milwaukee Art Museum - The worst place to see Pat on New Year's Eve. ?Thank God he finally pissed them off.
Rainbow Summer - Two free shows! ?Bring a picnic and come early to enjoy a nice summer's evening and Pat.
River Fest - Usually the first festival show of the year and cold as hell. ?I had a nice conversation with James Kilbourn one year.
River Splash - I'm in a tent in Waukesha. ?That's how desperate I am to see Pat.
Shank Hall - Go read the review on this site. ?You think I do this for my health?
Sharkey's - See Matty's
Sprecherfest - My favorite festival. ?The Imperial Stout is to die for. ?Oh yeah, I think Pat plays there too.
Summerfest - Big. ?Loud. ?Sweaty.
Tamarack - A long, thin bar that Pat play on one end of. ?Hopefully, you're on the right end. (Closed)
The Globe - Like the Boardwalk, but the stage has been move to the back of the place.
Trysting Place (both of 'em) - Suburban NASCAR fans gather in strip mall bars to ignore Pat. ?Why not you?
West Allis Athletic Club - Those people didn't look any healthier than me.
WI State Fair - Cream puffs, barnyard animals and Pat. ?A whinny-ing combination!
Winterfest - Pat playing in a church auditorium; no wonder this fest was closed down. (Closed)
Zoo ala Carte - Mmmm...fried zebra.
Carroll College - A nice late spring outdoor (maybe) show. ?I don't work in downtown Waukesha anymore, so I probably won't go to any more of these.
Marquette U. Annex - Be sure to pee before the show ends and they hustle you out. ?If you threaten to pee on the frat buy thug's shoes instead, you'll be hustled out even faster.
UWM dorms - My ten year old student ID doesn't get me in anymore.
UWM Gasthaus - If you want to drink you have to stay in back. ?I'll be in back.

Madison, WI
------------------
Funny Business - Pat plays in a back room that they only let people in to a few at a time. ?Weird. (Closed)
Regent Street Retreat - Sticky.
UW Terrace - 1000 people singing goofy songs in unison is a beautiful thing.

Chicago
-----------
Hoghead McDunna's - Typical Chicago Irish pub; it's fun to call it Georgebush McBroccli's
Lounge Ax - It's like seeing Pat play in someone's borken-down basement. ?With bleachers. ?(Closed)

Other
--------
Backstage Bar - Oconomowoc, WI - Little bar in the middle of nowhere, but a cool show. (Closed)
Glory Days - Reedsburg, WI - Little bar in the middle of nowhere, but a cool show. ?Free beer if you come all the way from Milwaukee
Hogs N Kisses - Lake Geneva, WI - I barely remember this place. ?I must have had a good time.
various weddings - These were the only weddings that didn't bore the hell out of me.

[BillyBuerger]

Oh my God!  You must have been bored this weekend.  Or more like you couldn't sleep last night.

[sweetepie]

Oh my God! ?You must have been bored this weekend. ?Or more like you couldn't sleep last night.

NO SHIT!!!    

[Paul]

Damn, Mark.  I was kidding.

The Matty's and Trysting reviews couldn't have been more accurate!

FDR didn't play the guitar?  Who knew?

[Murf]

I talked to Dan O'Gara after the show.He said they only expected 250 and almost 600 showed up.We will be back and the front bar will also be open with more bartenders.It is a nice place,and we were treated well.Mark,are you still unemployed?I'm off on disability and it would take me a month to type that.

[Mark Lippert]

Doh!  Seeing Murf's post reminded me that I forgot O'Brien's on my list.

[sweetepie]

I'm off on disability and it would take me a month to type that.

Yeah but Murf, you only type with one finger!!!    

[Paul]

Doh!  Seeing Murf's post reminded me that I forgot O'Brien's on my list.

You ever make it to the Boiled Frog in Pewaukee?