Toad’s Place and the Shaboo Inn had a magic in the ’70s and ’80s that may never happen again

Toad’s Place and The Shaboo Inn were part of a magical era for music in Connecticut in the 1970s and ’80s. It was a time when small music venues had a symbiotic relationship with fans and could lure thousands of rock, blues, and hip-hop superstars like Bruce Springsteen, Muddy Waters, and Cardi B to their stages.

Local arts papers, FM radio, two huge coliseums, a less fragmented music industry, and plenty of college students from places like Yale and UConn who wanted cheap drinks and great music, provided a pipeline for local and national artists who wanted the intimacy of a smaller venue.

This hour, the past and future of Toad’s and the Shaboo.

GUESTS:

• Randall Beach - A columnist for Connecticut magazine and a former reporter, columnist, and rock music critic for the New Haven Register; he’s the co-author of The Legendary Toad’s Place: Stories from New Haven’s Famed Music Venue
• Brian Phelps - Owner of Toad’s Place and the co-author of The Legendary Toad’s Place: Stories from New Haven’s Famed Music Venue
• David Foster - Former co-owner of the Shaboo Inn, founder of the Shaboo and Mohegan Sun All-Stars, and current owner of Shaboo Productions

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Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show. 

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