| O'Cayz Corral | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Founded | 1980 (Closed 1 January 2001.) |
| Capacity | 150 |
| Location | Madison, Wisconsin, USA |
O'Cayz Corral was a downtown Madison, Wisconsin bar and music venue that primarily featured local and national punk, rock, and grunge musical acts. Founded in 1980 and active until 2001 it would earn a reputation as a "bucket list" venue for touring bands and a top-notch space for bands in the Wicsonsin scene.[1]
O'Cayz Corral was located on the isthmus of Madison's near east side, a short walk from the state capitol, marking a transitional space between the capitol and the fashionable Jenifer-Spaight historic district. Despite the many up-and-coming, on the cusp of breaking-through musicians who played at O'Cayz before—and sometimes after—finding success, the physical plant was very small. The primary section of the L-shaped space spanned only about 20 feet in width and 70 feet in depth, and accommodated a bar and several tables.
History[]
Located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States, O'Cayz Corral was originally named Don's Shell (Owned by Don & Cay Millard) and later renamed Millard's Bar.[2] Catherine "Cay" Millard became sole owner of the tavern in 1980 and changed the name to O'Cayz Corral, a country-western themed bar with a legal capacity of 150. Sometime in the early 80's Cay began to ask local musicians such as Pat MacDonald (who later formed Timbuk 3) if they would like to play at the venue, but it was not until The Replacements were booked for two back-to-back shows that the venue became well known for live music. It was operated by "Cay" until her death in 1990.
Four of the children (Mike, Mary, Pat, Don) formed a corporation "Cayz Corp" and continued the business.[3] They then leased the club to Cathy Dethmers from 1994 until 2001. Referred to in the press as "iconic" and the "CBGB's of the Midwest," O'Cayz featured many underground punk, grunge, and rock bands that later became major contributors to pop culture.[4]
Indeed, at one time many touring bands had O'Cayz Corral on their bucket list of places to play. Some famous bands such as Nirvana, Soul Asylum and Living Colour only played there once. Other famous bands such as The Smashing Pumpkins only played there a couple of times or so, while bands like L7 graced the venue twice a year for several years—even after they were selling out larger venues in other cities.
People best remember two events at O'Cayz, aside from the many fine performances there. A drunk truck driver smashed into and destroyed the front facade of the building, also killing a 22-year-old University of Wisconsin student and destroying the band Surgery's ambulance filled with their equipment. On another occasion, the floor caved in on the dance floor during a Royal Crescent Mob performance.[5]
O'Cayz was destroyed by a fire that began in the 'Cay's Comic-Strip', a neighborhood bar at 502 East Wilson St., also owned by the family of Cay Millard, on January 1, 2001. Dethmers reopened nearby in 2004 as the High Noon Saloon. Mad Trucker Gone Mad was one of the last bands to play there, performing on 31 December 2000.[6]
Building History[]
Louis Russos - 1907-1921 (Candy/Flower shop) Cat n Fiddle - 1922-1927 (Candy/Flower shop) Quality Candy Shop- 1927-1933 (Candy/Flower shop) Blue Moon Tavern - 1933 North Western Pool Hall - 1936-1940’s Northwestern Bar - 1950s Don’s Shell Bar - 1950’s Millards Bar - 1955 – 1980 O’Cayz Corral - 1980 - 2001[7]
Recordings[]
- Bongzilla Gestation, recorded February 7, 1998, was included on the Twin Threat To Your Sanity compilation released on 7" by Bad People Records, Riotous Assembly, and Selfish Fucker Records in 2001. Trinity and Witch Weed were included on the He's No Good to Me Dead compilation released on Game Two Records in 1999.
- Danger Prone Daphne Betty Page, recorded in January 1995, was included on Postpunkprelowfiposthifi, self-released in 1999 on CD.
- Ex-Action Figures The 18 minute-long live recording of The Mirror, Marina appears on the band's self-titled album, released on Mafia Money in 1996.
- Festering Rinyanyons Swimmin' Hole 7" on Train Wreck Entertainment, 1993 included the live track It's Awlright!
- The Frogs Tour De Gay '88 was self-released on cassette in 1989.
- GG Allin The first three songs on Insult & Injury Volume 2: The Bloody Years were recorded at O'Cayz Corral 8/7/86; however these songs were later attributed by GG Allin in another release as being 11/14/86. Teacher's Pet was released again on YouTube in 2023.
- The Honeymoon Killers The Honeymoon Killers Live! was recorded at O'Cayz and CBGB's. It was released in 1991 as a 7" on Munster Records.
- Joan Wildman Trio Under The Silver Globe cassette was self released in 1989.
- L7 The She Devils CD on Bullseye Records was a bootleg of the July 1, 1992 show; released the same year. L7's Suzi Gardner brought her red mid '50s Fender Stratocaster with gold hardware to Smart Studios to record their breakout album Bricks Are Heavy, and then brought it to their O'Cayz show afterwards in December 1991. It floated around the club unclaimed for weeks. By the time the band realized the guitar had been left behind it had disappeared. It was never recovered.
- Less Than Jake 'The "Less Than Jake / Boris The Sprinkler / Sonic Dolls / Mulligan Stu compilation of the same bands were all recorded 10/6/96 and released on 8" flexi-disc the same year by Rhetoric Records and Fueled By Ramen.
- Monks of Doom One of their O'Cayz Corral shows was released on cassette by Static Attack Records in 1993.
- Naked Aggression The You Can't Get Me Down/Keep Your Eyes Open 1992 CD on Broken Rekids included four songs recorded live at O'Cayz Corral in May 1992 by Ken Udell. The multitrack recordings were never remixed because the band lost Udell's contact information. Instead they used a live cassette mix down and dubbed it to digital. The CD was re-issued as a cassette on Pop Noise in 1996. In 1998 the band released the Naked Regression CD on Broken Rekids including the same four songs as well as other songs recorded live between 1991 and 1994.
- Nimrod 1992 video of Nimrod with Queen of Noise/erotic actress Mayuko Hino released on YouTube: Part One, Part Two, Part Three.
- Pachinko When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Dirty was recorded at O'Cayz Corral with producer Ken Udell and became the band's debut release on Bovine Records as a 7" EP in 1992. However, the recording was made in the venue during the day, not during an evening show.
- Richmond Fontaine Whiskey, Painkillers & Speed (Live On The Road) included the songs Madison and Made To Be Broken (a Soul Asylum cover), recorded 10/23/99 and released in 2001.
- The Smashing Pumpkins The Rubano Tapes Vol. 1 and The Rubano Tapes Vol. 2 included a total of 5 songs reportedly recorded 1/5/90, 1/30/90 and 3/30/90. In any case, they were released in 2022 on Martha's Music as two sets of double vinyl LPs. More songs are available on YouTube: 3/30/90.
- Steel Pole Bath Tub Recorded by Ken Udell and released on his Static Attack label. A couple songs are also found on the NOISIA-VISION label that were then bootlegged onto a cd that played at High Noon Saloon.
- Today is the Day Blue Bloods was recorded at O'Cayz in 1998 and released on the Rage of Achilles label in 2002 on CD and LP.
- Zeni Geva Three songs digitally recorded 8/9/92 were included on Live In Amerika, a 1993 CD/LP on Nux Organization.
Selected Performers at the Venue[]
- Acid Bath
- Acid King
- The Atomic Bitchwax
- Bongzilla
- Clutch
- Droids Attack
- Fu Manchu
- High on Fire
- Kyuss
- Melvins
- Mondo Generator
- Nebula
- Neurosis
- Queens of the Stone Age
- Ruins
- Saint Vitus
- Slint
- Voivod
- 7 Seconds
- The Afghan Whigs
- Agent Orange
- Anal Cunt
- Babes in Toyland
- Bad Brains
- Big Black
- Circus Lupus
- Cop Shoot Cop
- Cosmic Psychos
- Cows
- Crain
- Deerhoof
- Descendents
- Dick Dale
- Die Kreuzen
- Dinosaur Jr.
- D.R.I.
- Dwarves
- Eugene Chadbourne
- Exene Cervenka
- Fear
- Firehose
- The Flaming Lips
- Helios Creed
- Helmet
- Hole
- Hüsker Dü
- Janitor Joe
- Jeffrey Lee Pierce
- The Jesus Lizard
- Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
- Killdozer
- Ladybeard
- Laughing Hyenas
- Living Colour
- Mad Trucker Gone Mad
- Man or Astro-Man?
- Marky Ramone
- Meat Puppets
- Melt-Banana
- Mike Watt
- Mudhoney
- Murder City Devils
- Naked Raygun
- Nashville Pussy
- Nirvana
- Overkill
- Primus
- Rapeman
- Reverend Horton Heat
- Rollins Band
- Scratch Acid
- Scream
- Screaming Trees
- Sleater-Kinney
- Soundgarden
- Turbonegro
- U.K. Subs
- U-Men
- Unsane
- Ween
- The White Stripes
- White Zombie
- Zeni Geva