The Jailhouse Rock Cafe was a club and concert venue located at 30 Mont-Royal West in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada in a neighbourhood known as

Le Plateau-Mont-Royal Le Plateau-Mont-Royal () is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The borough takes its name from its location on a plateau, on the eastern side of Mount Royal and overlooking downtown Montreal, across its south ...

. The venue, founded by Jacques Corbo, opened in 1992 and established itself as an important centre for

underground music Underground music is music with practices perceived as outside, or somehow opposed to, Popular music, mainstream popular music culture. Underground styles lack the commercial success of popular music movements, and may involve the use of avant-g ...

Underground art Underground art is any form of art that operates outside of conventional norms in the art world, part of underground culture. This can include essentially any genre of art that is not popular in the art world, including visionary art and stre ...

and culture in Montreal.

History

The site of the Jailhouse Rock Café initially housed, from 1920 to 1957, the Belmont Moving Picture Theatre. The building was then home to a Greek restaurant (1960–1983) and later, Bar La Terrasse (1987–1992) before the Jailhouse's opening. The venue was founded by Jacques Corbo. In late 1993, Corbo eventually sold the Jailhouse to employee Greg Kitzler along with Ted N. and Damian H. In 1994, Kitzler hired Domenic Castelli as the main booker for the venue. However, in 1998, the young owners resigned themselves to reselling the bar to Jacques Corbo due to the uncertainty created by the province of

Quebec biker war The Quebec Biker War () was a turf war in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, lasting from 1994 to 2002, between the Quebec branch of the Hells Angels and the Rock Machine. The war left 162 people dead, including civilians. There were also 84 bombings and ...

, although the bar had no affiliation with bikers. After a lull of the biker war, Corbo sold to brothers Domenic and David Castelli who then ran the venue. During the 1980s and 1990s, Bar La Terrasse/the Jailhouse was an important site for a wide variety of acts that were part of

punk 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 s ...

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

, industrial,

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hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

and gothic musical scenes in Montreal, and the venue soon became a recurrent stop for international touring artists, with Domenic Castelli frequently acting as host as well as promoter for many of the concerts held at the venue. Castelli's first concert was a late 1980s benefit for Montreal youth organisation Head & Hands featuring punk band the Ripcordz. But Domenic Castelli's first job was cleaning up after punk bands at Bar La Terrasse, before he began to book concerts there, and later at the Jailhouse. Many critically acclaimed artists performed at the venue including local and international acts: Grimskunk,

Jon Spencer Blues Explosion The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion was an American three-piece rock band from New York City, formed in 1991. The group consisted of Judah Bauer on guitar, backing vocals, harmonica and occasional lead vocals, Russell Simins on drums and Jon Spen ...

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case ( ; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case's singing voice has been described by contemporaries and critics as a "flamethrower", "a pow ...

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Dieg ...

Nada Surf Nada Surf is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1992, consisting of Matthew Caws (guitar, vocals), Ira Elliot (drums), and Daniel Lorca (bass, backing vocals). After initially operating under the name Helicopter, Caw ...

the Planet Smashers The Planet Smashers are a Canadian ska punk band from Montreal. Since their formation in 1993, they have been a staple of the Montreal music scene. During the third wave of ska, they performed nationally and later internationally, with tours in ...

and

Tricky Woo Tricky Woo was a Canadian garage punk band, based in Montreal. The "classic lineup" of the band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Dickson, guitarist Adrian Popovich, bass guitarist Eric Larock and drummer Patrick Conan. Tricky Woo rele ...

. In addition to live concerts, the Jailhouse hosted a wide range of other events, including art jams and exhibitions, community BBQs and screenings. After the Jailhouse ceased to operate, the Castelli brothers opened another live venue, the Jupiter Room, located on Saint-Laurent boulevard, which was in operation until 2005. After the Jupiter Room, Domenic Castelli continued to work as a stage manager for touring concerts, circusses and other live events. In 2020, Domenic Castelli compiled a book of posters of shows held at the Jailhouse from 1988 to 2001. The book was well received and according to Cult Montreal, "there are plenty of gems in these pages to keep the avid rock fan, Montrealer or otherwise, wide-eyed with history and nostalgia."

References

{{reflist Music venues in Montreal Nightclubs in Montreal