Rock'n'Bowl is a live music venue located on S. Carrollton Avenue in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. It is a unique venue that combines a

bowling alley A bowling alley (also known as a bowling center, bowling lounge, bowling arena, or historically bowling club) is a facility where the sport of bowling is played. It can be a dedicated facility or part of another, such as a clubhouse or dwelling ...

and a music club together in one place. The club features various live music of local musicians, and is also famous for booking many

zydeco Zydeco ( ; ) is a music genre that was created in rural Southwest Louisiana by French speaking, Afro-Americans of Creole heritage. It blends African and Caribbean rhythms, blues and rhythm and blues with music indigenous to the Louisiana ...

acts. The past performers include

Beau Jocque Beau Jocque (born Andrus Espre; November 1, 1953 – September 10, 1999) was a Louisiana French Creole zydeco musician and songwriter active in the 1990s. Beau Jocque is known for his gruff vocals, his fusion of many musical styles into zyde ...

, Boozoo Chavis, Geno Delafose, Chris Ardoin,

Snooks Eaglin Fird Eaglin Jr. (January 21, 1936 or 1937 – February 18, 2009), known as Snooks Eaglin, was an American guitarist and singer based in New Orleans. In his early years he was sometimes credited under other names, including Blind Snooks Eaglin, ...

Wild Magnolias The Wild Magnolias are a Mardi Gras Indians, Mardi Gras Indian tribe who also record and play as a funk music, funk musical act from New Orleans, Louisiana. History Origins A group calling itself the Wild Magnolias, participating in the local ...

, and

Anders Osborne Anders Osborne (born May 4, 1966, in Uddevalla, Sweden) is an American singer-songwriter. He tours solo and with a band, and often plays in North Mississippi Osborne (N.M.O), a group formed by Osborne and North Mississippi Allstars. Early lif ...

History

In 1941 the bowling alley opened on the upstairs floor of a small commercial mall building in

Mid-City New Orleans Mid-City is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A sub-district of the Mid-City District Area, its boundaries as defined by the New Orleans City Planning Commission are: City Park Avenue, Toulouse Street, North Carrollton, Orleans Avenu ...

under the name of "Mid City Lanes." John Blancher, the current owner, purchased it in 1988 and a year later turned it into a live music venue, while keeping the bowling alley active. The first live music at the venue was performed on November 2, 1989, by Johnny J and the Hitmen. New Rock 'n' Bowl® has something old, something new (WWLTV)
Following the change, the place became known as the Rock 'n' Bowl, however, the original name "Mid City Lanes" has also been in use, and was still often found under that name alphabetically in music listings. In the mid-1990s, Rock 'n' Bowl® expanded to the ground floor of the same building creating another bar and stage for live shows underneath the bowling alley, called "Bowl Me Under". In August 2005, the ground floor suffered severe flood damage due to

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

, but the second floor, with the bowling alley and main music stage, survived. The club re-opened by December 2005, one of the first business back open in Mid City New Orleans. Mid City Lanes Rock 'n' Bowl remained open during reconstruction of the building. As of May, 2008, the ground floor has been gutted, and a brand new facade has been constructed, with one anchor tenant at the Tulane Avenue corner; The neon sign was in place, but the other artwork had been painted over and not reapplied. In 2009, Rock 'n' Bowl® moved to a new location about 12 blocks riverwards from the old venue on South Carrollton Avenue. The building faces Earhart Boulevard, with the parking lot facing Carrollton Avenue, with a sign similar to the former one at the old location. The new venue officially opened on April 15.Rock 'n Bowl felt like home, even in a shiny new space (nola.com, Keith Spera)
/ref> Murals of historic New Orleans scenes by artist Tony Green were dismantled and moved to the new location. The "Mid-City" in the former name "Mid-City Rock 'n' Bowl" was dropped in deference to local neighborhood associations, since the new location is no longer within the boundaries of Mid-City.
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References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rock N' Bowl Music venues in Louisiana Music of New Orleans 1941 establishments in Louisiana Music venues completed in 1941 Bowling alleys

History

See also

References

External links