Dave Matthews was just one of many stadium bands that played the Bayou in their early days. Photo courtesy of RCA Records
Thirteen years ago this month, on New Year’s Eve, legendary Georgetown club the Bayou held its last show. Hundreds of 1998’s scenesters packed into the tiny brick-faced building to see a double fistful of bands celebrate the club they had all called home at one time or another. By a stroke of good luck for our city’s musical heritage, Dave Lilling and Bill Scanlan were there too, with camera rolling. In addition to being fans, both were experienced broadcasters, Lilling in news radio and Scanlan for DC101. When the two heard that the beloved nightspot was set to close, they joined forces with Washington Post writer Vinnie Perrone and local filmmaker Dave Nuttycombe to document the Bayou’s last week of life and the wild human fauna that frequented the place. “We just started taping,” says Lilling. “We had no idea what a rich history the club had. We were just kind of winging it.”
They learned more with every person they talked to. From that week’s worth of video, the project grew in every direction: back to the club’s shady beginnings, broadening to include fond contributions from dozens of fans and interview subjects, and forward in time to right now. “The more we got to peeling back the layers,” says Perrone, “the more we all liked the story. It’s been quite an odyssey, actually.” The result is a full-length documentary titled The Bayou: DC’s Killer Joint. Currently in a complete rough cut, the film will first appear on Maryland Public Television early next year.
“We started before digital editing,” recalls Nuttycombe. “Dave Lilling went out and got about a hundred hours of interviews on videotape. Cutting that down for a 90-minute documentary was a monumental task. Now it’s gotten much easier, and with Facebook and so on, people have been coming out of the woodwork to contribute material.”
Iggy Pop. Photo Courtesy of RCA Records
The roster of acts who passed through the Bayou’s tiny hall may surprise today’s music fans: U2’s first show in the U.S., the Dave Matthews Band, Kiss, Bruce Springsteen, Joan Jett, Iggy Pop, the B-52s, Dire Straits, the Police and countless more.
Bruce Springsteen. Photo Courtesy of RCA Records
Foreigner played their first show ever at the Bayou. Even when just starting out, groups often skip over such small spaces now. “It’s not an accident that we’ve seen clubs of this size shuttered in recent years,” says Perrone. “Once the arena rock paradigm took over, it became increasingly difficult to fill a room of 500 people.”
Bands who played the Bayou once often came back again and again to hone their chops in front of a friendly crowd. “The Bayou was of a particular time and place,” says Scanlan. “I don’t know of clubs today that will allow an act to grow and develop a following.”
The building’s origin as a barrel factory in 1888 explains its odd sloped floor, handy for rolling barrels down from storage to waiting boats. Later, this allowed even shorter people to see the stage clearly from the back of the hall. Starting in 1939, a series of sketchy nightclubs occupied the space, with names like the Bucket of Blood and the Pirate’s Den. “From the Pirate’s Den era,” says Nuttycombe, “the place had a ship’s wheel over the stage until the end, which made no sense.”
In 1951, when the place was called the Hideaway, mob-associated gunman Joe Nesline shot and killed a man named George Harding on the premises, and the club was shut down. Despite persistent rumors of “George the ghost” haunting the building, a trio of Washington businessmen bought it in 1953 and opened the Bayou, hosting Dixieland, burlesque, and national touring jazz acts.
“Then came the British Invasion,” says Perrone. In 1965, the owners hired a house band called the Telstars and rededicated the venue to rock and roll. The long parade of youthful revelers, local acts, and soon-to-be-famous rockers began. The Bayou soon developed a reputation as a wild place to see a show and an even wilder place to work. Former staffers report frequent sex acts in the fire exits and regularly having to eject drunken patrons. When Mr. T worked there, he was considered one of the less intimidating bouncers. “It had a kind of almost-anything-goes atmosphere,” Perrone remembers. When the decision came to sell the building and make way for a row of shiny new Georgetown shops, musicgoers from all around the area flocked to have one last good time at their favorite club.
Acts caught on film in that final week include Eddie From Ohio, 2 Skinnee J’s, the Nighthawks, and many more. The last band on stage was Everything, then famous for their hit “She’s Got the Hooch.” Project leader and Emmy Award winner Lilling, who freely grants credit to many collaborators, feels particularly lucky to be in touch with onetime Bayou regular Tim Pace, who made a habit of taping shows at the club, sometimes bringing a video camera as well as his sound recording gear. “Tim very generously opened his archives to us,” says Lilling. “From about 1978 until the closing, he was the unofficial club archivist.” The film also features Scanlan’s live broadcasts from stage in the ‘80s, a Dixieland radio show with comments from 1950s audience members, and interviews with musicians, celebrities, and DC rock legends.
As the final touches go into “DC’s Killer Joint,” Lilling reminds us that anyone can still be part of this six-decade, uniquely Washington piece of musical history. The team welcomes photos, stories, and memorabilia: anything Bayou. Fans can make tax-free contributions and a Kickstarter campaign starts next month. “In the end,” says Perrone, “this is about a club that lived: a jaunty, surprisingly full, somewhat tortured, but generally rewarding and uplifting existence. The story compelled us to see it through.”
Pictures, preview clips, and all the latest appear on the web at mtitv.com/BayouBlog.
