It was announced recently that FitzGerald’s–that roadhouse on Roosevelt Road in Berwyn–has gone smoke-free. And as Chicago’s smoking ban oozes toward its July 2008 implementation date, that glorious day when non-puffers can fully partake of the city’s entertainment world, On the Town felt it was high time that we heard from both sides. (FitzGerald’s still allows smoking in the SideBar, and Berwyn is not affected by Chicago’s Clean Indoor Air Ordinance, which covers taverns next year.) Are non-smokers wimps because smoking and rock ‘n’ roll go together? Or it is about time clubs took the bull by the filters?
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Please keep your paws off my smoky, sinful rock ‘n’ roll
Tribune essay by Gordon Mayer, a Chicago writer and music enthusiast
When the Bad Examples come to FitzGerald’s in Berwyn this month, they may do their song “Bad Girl,” about a love obsession: “I don’t mind you sleeping with another guy, or sleeping with another girl, I don’t mind you drinking till you drop.”
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But please set a good example when it comes to smoking? Get real! It changes the whole tone of the tune to something Mommy might say.
The vote is in at FitzGerald’s, which calls itself “a classic tavern.” The tally was nearly nine to one in favor of making the two rooms where they host live acts smoke free (about 250 people voted online). And this is in Berwyn, land of bungalows.
We are way past the beginning of the end of smoking as we know it.
No way am I saying smoking is an unqualified good. But if you take the self-destructive behavior out of rock and roll, what do you have left?
Aren’t smokes a key adjunct to the trinity of sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll?
When singer/songwriter Dave Alvin comes to FitzGerald’s in a few weeks, he may do “Abilene,” about a woman whose dad got drunk and hit her while her mom sat in bed, high on pills.
“She’s dreaming of a man she’s going to meet in a bar on an Austin street,” the song goes. I’m just saying, she’s probably going to want to smoke in that bar. In the grand scheme of things, cigarettes seem like small potatoes in Abilene’s life.
Besides the whole issue of death-power in the music, there’s another problem with sucking the smoke out of a live performance. What are people going to do instead? Red Bull is not going to cut it, folks.
My prediction: people are going to eat more. At least, every time I try to quit, I bypass the carrots and head for the chips. The American Lung Association’s victory will be the American Obesity Association’s Waterloo (if there is not yet such an association, there ought to be).
Nonsmoking: a lifestyle choice, or the death knell of another aspect of American culture that’s ugly but cool? I’m not going to give you an easy answer.
Just remember–the next time you go for a Maxwell Street Polish and they tell you it’s a limit of one per week per customer, don’t come crying to me.
Gordon Mayer is a Chicago writer and music enthusiast.
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I want my dose of tunes without your dose of filth
Tribune essay by Kevin Williams, editor of On the Town and the music editor for the baiduhai
If there’s someone who wants to end it all and has the gun to their head, would you pay to sit somewhere that would allow the gray matter to splatter on your clothing? Yet non-smokers pay hard-earned cash all the time to have smokers spew on our clothing.
Which explains my giddiness in the aftermath of the announcement that FitzGerald’s is now smoke-free. Before, we had the Jazz Showcase, the Old Town School of Folk Music and Uncommon Ground–but no real, iconic rock, etc. venues on that list, until now.
Yeah, yeah smoke-free rooms just aren’t rock ‘n’ roll. There’s something about that haze around a performer’s head as the stage lighting cuts through that verges on angelic.
So what.
If smokers were issued little Diver Dan-style helmets, personal pods where they could puff away without bothering anyone else, great. Instead, there’s the slooow inhale, big exhale and a pile of gross-smelling clothes. Where’s the bargain? Oh, wait, that’s right … I get to see the band and shorten my life at the same time. The number of non-smokers is growing. And if many of them, like me, are also athletes, second-hand smoke jets straight to the pinnacle of vileness. Yes, you smokers put the “t” in nasty, as you exercise your “rights.” But understand that smoking is a privilege, not a right. Like driving.
Should people be able to smoke while enjoying a show? Sure. Rock on. That’s what outside is for. Could non-smokers head outside for some fresh air? Yep. But we don’t bother anyone. Has anyone ever felt it necessary to ask, “Mind if I breathe?”
There’s many a great club that I rarely visit because of the smoke. The Empty Bottle has brilliant programming, by people with exceptional taste. But I need a gas mask to take in a show there. So FitzGerald’s, I love you, and offer my fondest wishes for your success, because as you go, others will follow. My dry cleaner, however, hates you.
Kevin Williams is editor of On the Town and the music editor for the baiduhai.
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Shows at FitzGerald’s
Friday and Saturday: C.J. Chenier and The Red Hot Louisiana Band, for a no-holds-barred zydeco blowout. 9:30 p.m. at FitzGerald’s, 6615 Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn; tickets are $12-$15.
Sunday: Big-band jazz with Bill O’Connell’s Chicago Skyliners. 6 p.m.; tickets are $8. For information and tickets, call 708-788-2118 or 312-559-1212 or visit ticketmaster.com or fitzgeraldsnightclub.com