Contra Costa Times Article Feb 19th 2006
By Tony Hicks
TIMES STAFF WRITE
RHONDA HICKS was at a downtown restaurant not long ago when she heard words that put "a knife in my heart." "I was talking to two young men, and one said 'I've lived in Benicia for- 10 years and I don't even look at the (Majestic) marquee anymore.' It just wasn't an option.".
After years of sitting dusty and idle. The Majestic is. in the heart of Benicia's carefully coordinated pride and joy - its downtown. With its restaurants, galleries, antiques stores, the former state capital building, and the waterfront at the end of First Street, it's one of the coziest downtowns in the Bay Area.
Yet the Majestic, built for vaudeville acts in 1923, sat vacant for more years and Hicks can count. Like so many other theaters around the Bay Area, the Majestic sat semi-idle for decades, hosting only the occasional benefit comedy show or sporadic private event.
With a little spit and polish, cities are seeing these venues as assets rather than eyesores. Antioch successfully re-opened EI Campanil in 2004, and the theater now plays host to movies, concerts, booked via Jim Ocean's Community Concerts organizations, and other events. Orinda is looking at revitalizing its downtown, with the Orinda Theatre, built in 1937, as a likely centerpiece. Oakland is ready to kick off a fund-raising drive to renovate the Fox Theatre, built in 1928.
Robert Reichert, the Majestic's owner, bought the theater during the 1980s, mostly as a place to house his pipe organ. It was vacant until about three years ago. The city felt it was a huge asset that needed to be dusted off.
Rhonda Lucile Hicks, a Benicia resident and piano teacher, was a volunteer ticket taker. She'd booked some music at her church and tested the local music market by building a stage in her yard for house concert/barbecues for 90 or so guests. After a hugely succesful house party, Hicks formed Red Dragonfly Productions. "I've been learning a lot the past two years," says Hicks, who gave up her previous business to promote music full time. "It takes 100 little skills. I saw early on the only way to make it effective was to have a regular schedule."
Red Dragonfly officially launched last October, but things really got moving in January, with a Hurricane Katrina benefit featuring the Steve Freund Band, Tommy Castro and Stef Burns. Consecutive weeks in January brought the Detroit Disc' pIes and Alameda All-Stars, the Bill Haley's Original Comets, The Bud E. Luv Trio. The schedule is filling, with shows scheduled for March and May, with more to come. It might not seem like much, but there's already been more acts booked in the Majestic 2006 than in most years the past few decades. "We want it to become a destination," says Hicks. "We're trying to bring in some big acts. If there's any hope for this theater, it has to become regional."
Obstacles to face A healthy local and regional musical landscape helps, with so many different types of music working well in East Bay cities, such as Concord and Pleasant Hill. But there are still plenty of obstacles.
Though well-styled – with walls tapered toward a mezzanine where, Hicks says, one can hear a performer whispering onstage - the Majestic lacks traditional dressing rooms. Other backstage amenities are missing including bathrooms. Having maximum capacity of only 350 limits what Hicks can pay artists. Booking big names in the small venue without losing money would be tough.
"People don't want to pay more than 20 or 25 bucks a ticket," Hicks says. "Most major acts want at least $5,000 to $10,000. Do the math." And, though residents have been supportive in volunteering, there are still lots of other costs involved. The size of a small nightclub, the Majestic doesn't have a club's income from liquor sales. Renovations are expensive, preventing anyone from even thinking about changes or expansion. Hicks says there's a community effort to get the theater designated an official historic landmark, which may limit what can be done to the structure. Then there's the day-to-day stuff faced by venues everywhere. "Cash flow is a huge issue," Hicks admits. "I've already got money laid out for shows in May and June. Sometimes success can crash a business. I (have enough success to) put out the money and wait four months. And then, you might even lose money."
"There's a lot of maintenance and ongoing costs involved with those kind of venues," says Brian Martin, a San Francisco-based promoter, who's been involved in a couple of shows at the Majestic. "You have to count on there being enough events throughout the year to justify the cost. It may look good one night when it's sold out, but what about all the other dates? It's not like you can open your doors every day for business." Maybe not every day, but more cities believe a charming old venue can help revive a downtown, as well as preserve local history.
"They're great buildings and should be preserved," says Martin. "But with an old theater, you haye to get creative." Besides the historical and artistic value in preserving an old venue, re-opening it benefits local merchants with out-of-town dollars. "The more people we can bring downtown, the better," says Terry Krull, owner of nearby First Street Cafe. "People come to see someone in particular, they come into the restaurant for the first time. People used to come by (the Majestic) and say 'Oh, nothing's there.' Or the marquee would say the same thing for six or eight months at a time. It would look like an empty storefront."
Leah Shelhorn, who's owned the Studio 41 gallery next door to the Majestic for 15 years, helped Hicks run a cord from her place next door when the power gave out just before a recent show. She also notices increased foot traffic on show nights. "They eat dinner, they come in to see me. It's a circle," says Shelhorn. "I'm a big supporter of the theater. We always have a small party before the shows."
"The other part of that is we get people drawn to a certain artist. People will come from all over the Bay Area who didn't even know where Benicia was. They'll come to the theater and say 'Gosh, what a great show,' and 'This little town seems neat, and they come back. It's one of the vehicles that push foot traffic downtown."
In for the long haul It's what the energetic Hicks is counting on. She's in for the long haul, talking about expanding Red Dragonfly Productions farther up into Solano County. Hicks admits her model is Jim Ocean, the longtime promoter who runs multiple concert series in multiple East Bay cities year-round. Hicks has noticed that Ocean's organization doesn't extend into Cordelia, Fairfield and Vacaville.
"(Solano) is a completely underdeveloped market," says Hicks. "I'm gonna stomp up 1-80 as far as I can go."
First things first: The immediate goal is getting people to start considering the Majestic as something to do on a Saturday night. "It's a struggle, but I've got a great foundation," Hicks says. "I've got great support." Having people notice the marquee again is a good start.
Tony Hicks is the Times pop music critic. Reach him at 925-952-2678 or1thicks@ cctimes.com.
Rock & Roll Rocks On
By Christina Carnes
The band responsible for inspiring the phrase "rock and roll" rocked the Bay Area this past weekend as Bill Haley's original Comets took the stage and zealously threw a bop-til-you drop party as if they were young lads just starting out. Truth is, these guys made their indelible mark on the world 50 years ago and clearly, half a century hasn't slowed them down one bit. Bimbos in San Francisco was the first to catch the magic Friday evening, with a second performance on Saturday night at Benicia's Majestic Theater.
The legendary lounge, act of Bud E. Luv ostentatiously warmed the crowd up with such songs as Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York," Tom Jones' "Delilah" and Tony Orlando's "Tie A Yellow 'Ribbon", all of which he claimed to have written at the tender ages of eight and twelve. One was left more than a little skeptical until Luv's statement that he had recently spoken to Mr. Led Zeppelin, decades after he penned "Whole Lotta Love" and followed the proclamation with his own watered-down take on the rock tune, which pretty much validated any suspicion or doubt. Luv did the lounge lizard act proud by sporting a purple sequin and rhinestone jacket that would have made Liberace envious and Mel Torme cringe in mediocrity. The one thing Luv did not sport was modesty as he plainly illustrated with his anthem "Yoll Oughta Be Me." Audience member criticism ala Don Rickles was copious before Luv finally parodied the Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar," Eric Clapton's "Cocaine" and the Eagles' "Peaceful Easy Feeling" before turning over the mike to the rockers with which he shared the evening's bill.
And how these rockers' rocked. The expression 'dead men don't wear plaid' was demonstrably confirmed, as seven plaid-garbed gentlemen emerged onto the stage, coming alive and then some, for a demographically diverse and nearly sold out crowd. Led by Jacko Budain on vocals, the Comets opened the show with the pulsating "Shake, Rattle & Roll," bringing much of the audience to their feet before segueing into equally rousing versions of "Birth Of The Boogie" and "I Want You To Be My Baby." The band's first big hit from 1953, "Crazy Man Crazy," proved to be as fresh and tight 53 years later, as did "Steel Guitar Rag," which earned "The Flying Fingers of Franny Beecher," as bassist Marshall Lytle describes the Comets lead guitarist, a standing ovation. Out to outdo himself, Beecher proved he had even more to offer than expert fingerpicking, as he stepped up to the mike to lend his still-smooth tenor vocal to "See You Later Alligator," invoking full audience sing-a-Iong. The trend continued through the Comets classics, "Mambo Rock,'" "R-O-C-K," "The House Is Rockin'," and "Rock-A-Beatin' Boogie:"
Many, many more highlights of the show were yet to come, including a superb and almost eerily spot-on version of Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World." Dazzling drum, bass, keyboard and sax solos were delivered flawlessly by Dick Richards, Marshall Lytle, Johnny Grande and Joey Ambrose, respectively. A second guitarist, San Jose native Andrew Norblin, was welcomed into the band this past weekend. Each member adroitly showcased their individual talents throughout the evening but if one had to circumscribe a standout, it would have to be the bass antics of Lytle. What Hendrix could do to and with a guitar, Lytle emulated with his own instrument and as well as could be expected with one as cumbersome as a standup bass. Whether he was lying on top, beneath, twirling it or balancing it with his feet, he didn't miss a note. Something to see. The show climaxed with the song that sold more than 200,000 copies, one that prompted famed DJ Alan Freed to coin the phrase" rock and roll," and one easily recognizable to young and old alike, "Rock Around The Clock." The beat was hard driving, the guitar solo immortally faultless and the crescendo had the audience screaming for an encore, which the Comets quickly attened to with "The Saints Rock and Roll," a tune that provided the opportunity to hear a brief solo by each member of the band. A hard-hitting," Rock The Joint," accompanied one last chorus of "Rock Around The Clock" to finalize the evening's entertainment, followed by an autograph and photo session in the Majestic lobby.
What's really amazing about these guys is not only, that they've managed to retain their musical skills since their formation over 50 years ago, but that they've remained friends as well, ceaselessly playing and touring together. How many bands can make that claim? A bit of history was made at the Majestic Theater Saturday night and this is one group that truly lives up to the name of the theater in which they performed.
Review of House of Floyd March 2008
