Historic El Rey Theater up and running after February fire

The El Rey is booking shows again, but the future of the Golden West and Launchpad is still unknown.

by AMBER DILLEY

Between the El Rey Theater and the Launchpad, two of Albuquerque’s best venues, sits Puccini’s Golden West Saloon. Or what’s left of it.

Once a place crowded with nightlife, now an empty, charred building. A pile of rubble and pipes are piled up in the parking lot out back.

Mark Frederick, productions manager for the theater said the future of the Golden West is unknown.

“We are not sure when the Golden West will reopen,” Frederick said. “We have gotten really great input from the community as to what we should do with the space, but it will take time to make decisions and get everything in order.”

Photo by Amber Dilley

The damaged front of the Golden West Saloon.

Almost two months since a devastating fire gutted the Golden West section of the El Rey building, the theater is finally back open, with the help of some local volunteers.

“There is a man named Reverend Paul Herzog who runs a church group through Counterculture. They used to hold service out of the theater,” Frederick said. “Paul stepped up to the plate, and organized the entire clean-up effort. Rockefeller’s Cleaning and Restoration donated the services of an entire crew for two days and lent us supplies. The cleaning took place over the course of three days.”

Frederick said that volunteers will be helpful in cleaning up the Golden West, but that the clean up is a long way off.

“The place will have to have professional work done to reinforce the walls, level the balcony and clear out burnt materials before we can consider putting volunteers into the space,” Frederick said.

Until the Golden West is back open, the booking schedules for the El Rey are going to suffer.

“Because we can no longer book out of the Golden West, the number of bookings we do has been reduced,” Frederick said. “We won’t be booking nearly as many local shows or regional acts as a result. We are hoping to increase the number of national acts booked.”

Most of the shows scheduled for the El Rey were moved, including all American Musicals Project concerts, but all local shows had to be cancelled.

The Launchpad, neighboring the Golden West was damaged, since it shares a wall with the Golden West, and has also had to move and cancel shows.

The night after the fire, the band The Horrors were scheduled to play at the Launchpad, but had to cancel.

UNM student Phil Sanchez was planning on attending.

“It’s disappointing,” Sanchez said. “Both for the places involved and because I was really looking forward to the show. I’m really sad the band didn’t just move the show, but then, it was very short notice. You can’t plan these things.”

Photo by Amber Dilley

The backside of the Golden West Saloon.

UNM student Breann Burton was planning on attending the show with Sanchez.

“I was devastated,” Burton said. “This would have been the first concert I’d have been to in years. I’m just glad nobody was hurt. I mean, if this had happened just six hours later, there would have been people inside.”

Most bands scheduled at the Launchpad were able to move their shows, but all were supportive of the theater and sent out well wishes, like Los Angeles-based rock band, Carlotta, who was supposed to play on March 1.

On their Myspace blog, band member Clayton said, “So, this is kinda crazy. But it turns out that The Launchpad (the venue we were originally supposed to play at in Albuqueruqe) burnt down. We wish them all the best with their repairs and I’m sure it will be back to its original splendor in no time.”

There is no word on when the Launchpad will be starting its clean up, but owner Joe Anderson said it will be easier once the Golden West gets fixed up.

“We shared a wall, and now six feet of it is missing,” Anderson said. “A lot of our stuff was destroyed, and water damage is stinking up the place. Once whatever’s going to happen next door happens, then we can get started over here.”

On Feb. 28, a fire started in the Golden West from some rags soaked in linseed oil that were used during the installation of new flooring. The oil is highly combustible and the rags caught fire in the early morning.

For more information on volunteering for the Golden West clean-up, and on rescheduled shows, visit elreytheater.com. Information on the Launchpad’s rescheduled shows can be found at launchpadrocks.com

Published April 22, 2008

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