| Bryan is what many consider to be the best bluesman in Madison. Just inside the door, Adair is collecting the $5 cover charge for the night -- which goes to the band -- warmly greets the customers who come in. She knows many on a first name basis -- and keeps a watchful eye on everything. Adair has put it all on the line for this venture and she is going to make sure that it is successful. Opportunity came knocking for Adair and she answered the call. "Adair's Lounge came together pretty quickly," Adair said with the din of her customers talking at the bar in the background. "It had been something I had been thinking about for a long time. The place became available and I had to jump on it as quickly as possible. So it was a lot of hard work in a very short period of time. If I didn't jump quickly, I would have lost it. It was very competitive to get this spot. I had about a day between when I heard it was available and when I had to make a decision." Adair's Lounge is on what could be called "Entertainment Row," with Genna's, The Tornado Room, Adair's, and The Paradise Lounge on one side of the street and The Inn on the Park across the street. It's a low-key entertainment district serving a diverse clientele. And Adair wants to fit right in. "I want to be a real mixed club," Adair emphasized. "I want to have an open door for everyone. This block is kind of eclectic. It has gay bars and straight bars and minorities and Whites and old and young. I want to be open to all of that. I want it to be an eclectic bar that offers a venue of really good music. I'm doing a lot of blues, R&B, and jazz, mostly old school. My juke box is all old school. I haven't had jazz groups play in here yet, but that is coming, hopefully next month. Bobby Bryan's band plays here on Fridays. He's doing very well and people love his band." Bryan and his band strike up the Blues on the back stage in the back. It's an intimate area where the band is on an elevated stage and surrounded on three sides by a seating area. Even when people get up to dance, you can still see the band. Bryan plays good, old fashion Blues. The music comes out with a lot of heart and pain mixed together. Meanwhile, up front, people are still talking at the bar. The acoustics are nice that way. With the Blues playing heavy in the back, you can still talk up front. The transition area between the two is a 'living room' area complete with sofa and fireplace. This is Rita's place because it is easy and has a nice feel to it and she is going it alone. "I had to put money together on my own," Adair said. "I don't have any investors. It's all my own money. I'm in debt up to my ears. It's a big risk, but I've lost many things in life many times. And I always came back. If I lose, I lose. If I don't, I gain. I'm not afraid of losing. This is something I had to do. I didn' want to get any older and say 'I should have.'" Adair had to jump through a lot of hoops and garner a lot of support, some of it the usual stuff a bar has to do to establish itself in a neighborhood and some of it was a backlash to what happened at the Majestic Theater. "What happened on King Street affected me, absolutely," Adair said. "I think the city luckily recognized that my plan was very different. I had plans for a different venue and I put some things in my plan to address some of their density issues." Adair also located on the turf of the Capitol neighborhood associations, some of the most involved neighborhood associations in terms of development and zoning issues. "It wasn't easy getting my liquor license. It's all a process. I had to put a very detailed business plan together and make a lot of contacts with neighborhood groups, Downtown, Inc. and the Meriter Retirement Center. I had to do a lot networking and politicking before you can get to the hearings in order to get their backing. The City Council pays heed to their support and what they want their neighborhood to look like in downtown Madison. Adair'sLounge is now a part of the neighborhood. For more information about Adair's Lounge, call 251-RITA or 251-7482 or visit their website at www.adairslounge.com. |
| Adair's Lounge opens at 121 W. Main Street The House of Blues (and jazz and R&B) By Jonathan Gramling |
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| I guess one could call Adair's Lounge -- recently opened at 121 W. Main Street in what used to be The Slipper Lounge -- Rita's Place (Rita, right) . As I walk in on a Friday night just before 9 p.m., Bobby Bryan (left) and his band are having a last smoke and a laugh outside in the balmy January weather before they hit the stage. |
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