The Melody Inn (also known as The Mel) is a bar and live music club in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood of

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

, United States. It is estimated that over 7,000 bands and musical acts have played the Melody Inn since 2001.

History

The Melody Inn opened in 1935 as a

piano bar A piano bar (also known as a piano lounge) consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician. Piano bars can be located in a cocktail lounge, bar, hotel lobby, office building lobby, restaurant, or on a cruise ship. Usu ...

. It was owned by Lou Swain. In the 1980s, the Melody Inn served lunch and dinner. In 2001, it was purchased by Dave Brown and Rob Ondrish, both whom had never run their own business before owning the bar. Ondrish worked at the Melody Inn in the 1980s. In 1995, Ondrish met Brown at

BMG Music Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

, where they were both working. The two would visit the Melody Inn together. Ondrish started working part-time at the bar again. Brown started working there, too. The owner told Brown he wanted to sell the business. Brown proposed buying the bar to Ondrish, and they agreed. They signed a contract and made monthly payments on the bar. They became owners of the Melody Inn in October 2001. Their first customers were the Manion family on October 2. The family had a history as regulars at the bar, and they wanted to have a drink in memory of Bill Manion, who had died of a

brain tumor A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and seconda ...

. A

United States one-dollar bill The United States one-dollar bill ($1), sometimes referred to as a single, has been the lowest value denomination of United States paper currency since the discontinuation of U.S. fractional currency notes in 1876. An image of the first U.S. ...

is framed above the bar, signed by the family. Brown and Ondrish worked every shift at the Melody Inn during the first year. Today, the Melody Inn is described as a

dive bar A dive bar is typically a small, unglamorous, eclectic, old-style drinking establishment with inexpensive drinks; it may feature dim lighting, shabby or dated decor, neon beer signs, packaged beer sales, cash-only service, and a local clientele. ...

. The

stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

is 18 inches high and broken

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, instruments, and art decorate the walls.

Portrait A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...

s of Brown's aunt and uncle hang in the bar. His uncle had his

bachelor party A bachelor party (in the United States and sometimes in Canada), also known as a stag weekend, stag do or stag party (in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth countries, and Ireland), or a buck's night (in Australia), is a party held/arranged by th ...

at the Melody Inn in 1955. The bar is small. It has four tables, four booths and handful of barstools. The booths came from the Teepee Restaurant and the bar is made of

oak wood An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

. The majority of the interior is original, including the flooring, metalwork and a large

mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the ...

that hangs. There is a

beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...

in the back. The Melody Inn is open every day of the week. It has been named Indianapolis' favorite punk rock bar seven years in a row in ''

Nuvo Newsweekly Nuvo or NUVO may refer to: * ''NUVO'' (newspaper), a newspaper in Indiana * Nuvo (liqueur), a liqueur. *nuvoTV NuvoTV (formerly known as Sí TV) was an American cable television network. It was launched on February 25, 2004, and catered to the L ...

s readers.

Music

Over 7,000 musical acts have performed at the bar since 2001. Performers include

The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band is a three-piece American country blues band from Brown County, Indiana. They have played up to 250 dates per year at venues ranging from bars to festivals since 2006. To date, they have released ten albums a ...

, who debuted at the bar,

Margot & the Nuclear So and So's Margot & the Nuclear So and So's is an American rock band from Indianapolis, Indiana. Between 2006 and 2014, the band released 6 full-length albums. History The band's founding members, Richard Edwards and Andy Fry, met while teens. Eventuall ...

She Wants Revenge She Wants Revenge is an American rock band, based in San Fernando Valley, California. Formed in 2004, the band is a duo of singer and guitarist Justin Warfield and multi-instrumentalist Adam Bravin. Their music has been influenced by post-punk, ...

, and the

Brain Surgeons Brain Surgeons were an American rock band featuring Albert Bouchard formerly of Blue Öyster Cult, vocalist Deborah Frost, and guitarist Ross the Boss formerly of the Dictators and Manowar. The Brain Surgeonsat Allmusic They formed in 1994 and ...

. Every second Tuesday is Broke(n), a monthly

drum and bass Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...

night, which had been held weekly at the Melody Inn since 2005. From 7:30 until about 9:30 is "Hillbilly Happy Hour". Every Saturday night is "Punk Rock Night" at the Melody Inn. Punk Rock Night started as a weekly Sunday event in October 2000 by promoter Greg Brenner. In 2013, the bar held a fundraiser for

Norton Records Norton Records, is an independent record label founded by musicians Miriam Linna and Billy Miller in 1986. The label concentrates on rock, rockabilly, primitive music, punk, garage rock and early rhythm and blues.New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, had the majority of its

vinyl record A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts nea ...

inventory destroyed by

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

Cheetah Chrome Eugene Richard O'Connor (born February 18, 1955), better known by his stage name Cheetah Chrome, is an American musician who achieved fame as a guitarist for Rocket from the Tombs and the punk rock band Dead Boys. Career Rocket From the Tombs ...

headlined.

Recognition

*2013 - "Best Bar/Restaurant/Venue for

punks Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture ...

", ''

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.melodyindy.com/ Culture of Indianapolis 1935 establishments in Indiana Nightclubs in Indiana