Club celebrates opening with 11-band concert, DJs

4/2/2004

A marathon concert featuring 11 bands as well as local and national disc jockeys will take place tomorrow to celebrate the opening of the new Club Vamp and to benefit the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo.

Formerly operated as the West Toledo Masonic Temple, the four-story building at 910 Phillips Ave. is now under new ownership, said Jermaine Whitely, event and production coordinator for the club.

Arts Commission interim executive director Marc Folk said he was "flattered and honored" to be approached by Whitely who offered to donate a portion of the concert proceeds to benefit the commission's Young Artists At Work program. The six-week summer program hires from 65 to 80 14-to-18-year-olds to work 30 hours a week on projects under the instruction of local artists. The students, from schools throughout the area, are paid minimum wage for their work.

Tomorrow's concert is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. and run until 3 a.m. The event will be nonalcoholic and is designed to target younger audiences with a range of rock, punk, trance, and hip-hop groups such as Fallen Wisdom from Georgia; F.B.S from Springfield, Ohio; The Stunned from Dayton; Downtrodn from Cleveland, and local groups Soul Free, Drone, Karoli, and Johnny Hooligan.

House DJs Animus and DJ Marky Mark will spin, along with guest DJs.

Whitely said the facility's first two levels will be opened for the concert, but that in the future, events will also be held on the two upper levels which are still under construction.

Club Vamp hopes to serve a variety of audiences with concerts, parties, and special events, Whitely said.

A liquor license is pending, he added.

The concert at Club Vamp, 910 Phillips Ave., runs from 3 p.m. tomorrow until 3 a.m. Sunday. Tickets are $8, available at the door the day of the concert. A portion of the proceeds will go to the Arts Commission of Greater Toledo's Young Artists At Work program. Information: 419-320-3711.