Rhythm & Brews

Rhythm & Brews
Kyuss performing at the venue in 1993.
Background information
Founded	1993 (Closed 1995)
Capacity	Unknown
Location	Indio, California, USA

Rhythm & Brews was a short-lived venue based out of Indio, California. It would be opened by Mario Lalli and Larry Lalli, who would found Fatso Jetson once the venue was opened. The brothers started the venue as there was no real venues in Indio at the time.

In an interview with New Noise, Tony Tornay and Mario Lalli recounts how he met the Lalli brothers at Rhythm & Brews, how it led to the formation of Fatso Jetson and the venue in general:

“	“(Tornay) Mario and Larry owned a club called Rhythm & Brews in Indio, [California], and I went there every night to see bands and hang. We sat around after hours, watched the History Channel, and played pool until four in the morning. One night, we all realized and decided that our time would be better spent playing music together instead of wasting our time drinking beer and watching TV. We began to jam after hours at the club, and it took off from there. There was no initial intention of starting a band, it just happened! With Rhythm & Brews, you had an establishment of your own to play, but getting outside of the desert area must have been tedious and frustrating. During that time, what was the routine and strategy you used to land gigs outside the area, and how often did you get out of the area to play? (Lalli) We didn’t, and yet, we did. Keep in mind this was before social media. We were friends with bands that invited us to play places in San Diego, Los Angeles, and once in a while, San Francisco. A group we played with a lot actually around those areas was Last Of The Juanitas, which had [guitarist and vocalist] Bryan [Giles] from Red Fang. They would call us up and set something up from there. We mostly played with all sorts of weirdo, noisy angular rock bands. Before Fatso, I was playing with Sort Of Quartet and Yawning Man, and Tony was playing in other groups as well, so we had connections through those too that we used. [On the Desert scene and spreading the word on Rhythm & Brews] (Lalli) There was nowhere to play in the desert at the time! Before we opened up, the only place to play was by booking a gig at a BBQ spot or a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant in the area. It was a dead time then, and this was before punk rock broke into the mainstream. When booking agents got wind of our existence and being a place to play between San Diego, L.A., Vegas, and Phoenix, we got called constantly. I had every [Amphetamine Reptile Records] band play our place except for Jesus Lizard! I still have a cassette tape demo that No Doubt sent me trying to get a gig at our place. Sublime tried to get a gig as well, and we had Rancid play there. (Tornay) It was an ideal place for bands with routing through those cities to have somewhere to play in between, make some cash, and not spend an entire day driving. Mario and Larry treated them so well, without fail, every band that passed through and landed an interview about their tour would answer a question such as “What was the best stop of the tour?” with the answer, “This little place called Rhythm & Brews in Indio.” Mario and Larry knew what it was like to be a musician, so they treated touring bands really well and gave them extra food and beer from the kitchen and bar—more than a venue would normally give—and they were so appreciative. Even if the turnout wasn’t big, and a lot of times, it wasn’t. Melvins played there in front of 30 people, but they got treated as though they were playing New York City.”	”
	— Fatso Jetson, new Noise Magazine

Notable Performances at the Venue

• Kyuss
• Fu Manchu
• Solarfeast
• Unsound
• Acid King
• GodheadSilo
• Bikini Kill
• Cows
• Wool
• Rancid
• Unwound

External Links

• Selected Rhythm & Brews shows at Setlist.fm
• Melvins at Rhythm & Brews
• GodHeadSilo at Rhythm & Brews
• Kyuss at Rhythm & Brews
• Cows at Rhythm & Brews
• Fu Manchu at Rhythm & Brews