Atlanta tornado no match for Lenny’s Bar and The Earl
RIDERS ON THE STORM: Lenny’s Bar sustained damage but reopened the next night. (photo provided by Bean Summer.)
It takes more than a tornado to silence this town.
Rumors of Lenny’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Although the seamy local punk and indie rock club at 486 Decatur St. in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward stood directly in the path of the tornado that struck downtown, Cabbagetown and East Atlanta on Friday, March 14 around 10 p.m., the club was open less than 24 hours later.
In the wake of the storm rumors spread that Lenny’s roof had been torn off and the club was closed. But according to Lenny’s booking agent Bean Summer the rumors were unfounded.
The Friday night line-up was to feature performances by local bands the Preakness and Sleep Therapy, as well as the St. Louis, Mo. psychedelic rock band, Wormwood Scrubs.
The first band had just started when the storm hit.
“I was in the office checking my e-mail and I thought a bomb had gone off downtown,” Summer recalls. “The air was sucked out of the room and I could hear a bunch of loud pops from things hitting the building.”
Some roof tiles were blown off of the building, air conditioning units were knocked over, windows were broken, and a gas line ruptured but was repaired within a few hours.
The most damage was done to dozens of cars in the parking lot that were bombarded with debris, including a roof from of a nearby house.
Lenny’s security staff spent the night in the building fending off looters who raided the complex. “It sounds like something from a science fiction movie, but they were there and they were organized,” Summer adds.
The club’s imposing doorman, Jamie Karns spent much of the night scaring away the approaching bandits. Some looters challenged him but ultimately went away.
“I guess they didn’t want to a get into it with a 400-pound Samoan guy with a mowhawk,” Summer laughs.
After Squeegeeing water off of the floor and patching-up windows, the club was open the next night, despite the mayors warning that the neighborhood was a disaster area.
Summer estimates that the club’s damage, coupled with lost revenue from the weekend amounts to approximately $10,000. But it’s an amount that he says is minimal compared to the damage in neighboring Cabbagetown.
He adds that many of Cabbagetown’s residents are in bands or are entrenched in the local music scene; many of whom make up Lenny’s regular clientele. To help them, he is organizing a benefit show at Lenny’s on Sat., Apr. 19.
All proceeds from the benefit will go to those affected by the tornado.
No bands are booked yet, but he encourages anyone who’s interested in playing to contact him at beansummer at gmail.com.
Across town at The Earl, the weekend was just as dark. The Earl didn’t receive nearly as much damage as Lenny’s, but the Everybody Fields show on Friday night as well as the Prick magazine party on Saturday were canceled because the power was out.
The only substantial damage the property received was to the fence in the back parking lot that was mangled by two uprooted trees.
The Earl’s booking agent Patrick Hill is organizing a separate benefit for those affected by the storm, but details are to be determined.
The Prick party is rescheduled for Sun., April 20, and all proceeds from the show will be donated to tornado victims as well.
“We feel pretty fortunate in terms of what happened,” says Hill. “I was shocked to hear that Lenny’s was open the next night, but was happy to hear that the damage wasn’t as bad as everyone had feared. We lost two nights worth of revenue, but we consider ourselves lucky.”