For decades, when a band asked Kenny Nicolas for a slot at Greendale's Pub, he usually gave the same answer. According to The Worcester Guardian, it was "You're hired!" Musician Mike Gianfriddo got that answer in 2018. He started a Sunday jam at the pub, and it ran there until the place closed.
Nicolas retired, and Greendale's closed on July 1 after his 38 years at 404 West Boylston St., 27 of them as owner. The room went dark, but the weekly nights it hosted kept going. Each one followed its host somewhere else, and the biggest share ended up at a veterans' hall near Lake Quinsigamond. If you're planning a night out this month, that hall is the first place to check. Two of the city's best-known small rooms are in the middle of a sale at the same time. Greendale's has a buyer lined up, and Electric Haze is on the market.
The Sunday jam outlasted its room
Gianfriddo held his last two Greendale's jams on June 21 and June 28, then announced a move. Mike G's Sunday Jam now runs at the Worcester MCL, 181 Lake Ave., from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. The jam's own announcement promises "No cover!"
The house crew didn't change with the address. Mike G, Yvette, Al, Glen and Warren still play, Kevin still runs sound, and a featured guest still sits in each week. This fall's posts have billed Jodee Frawlee on Sept. 13 and Charlie Scott with Irish Michael Patterson on Oct. 11. WCUW 91.3 FM's weekly music calendar listed Greg Trussell and Darren Pinto for the Nov. 1 session at the MCL.
The jam does skip a week now and then. It was canceled on Sept. 27, for example. Check the jam's Facebook page before you drive over on a Sunday.
A Marine Corps League hall picked up two nights a week
The MCL is the Worcester Marine Corps League. A club newsletter gives its full name as Worcester Detachment #144. It's on Lake Ave. at the address on the club's contact page, and its function room is the Lt. John Power Memorial Hall. It runs as a members' club, but its event organizer page says its events are open to the public.
The jam isn't the only Greendale's tradition that came here. One of the photos from Nicolas's farewell coverage shows him and his staff at a Wise Guys Trivia night at the pub. Wise Guys now runs trivia at the MCL on Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m., according to its weekly schedule. The hall also books full bands. On Halloween, The Super Chargers played a costume party there from 8 to 11 p.m.
Wise Guys also runs nights at other rooms around the city. Its schedule for the week of Oct. 26 listed:
- Monday: Galway Bay, 6 p.m.
- Tuesday: White Eagle, 6:30 p.m., and The Boynton, 7:30 p.m.
- Wednesday: OLO Pizza, 6 p.m., and the MCL, 6:30 p.m.
- Thursday: Shannon's Irish Bar and Eddy's Sports Bar, both 6:30 p.m.
Those listed times are for registration, and each game starts 30 minutes later.
Greendale's buyers already run a bar on West Boylston Street
The Greendale's building won't stay a memory. Izzy Cruz and his wife, Kate Shaw, have a joint venture called North Worcester Ventures LLC, and they agreed to buy the pub from Nicolas, according to The Worcester Guardian. They aren't new to the street. They already own Trackside Tavern on West Boylston Street and the Press Box on Lincoln Street. Trackside opened in February 2023 at 541 West Boylston St., which is the same stretch as Greendale's.
On Sept. 24, the Worcester License Commission voted unanimously to approve the license transfer for 404 West Boylston St. That vote included an entertainment license that covers live music. "Glad to see Greendale's is going to still be operating," commission chairperson Anthony Vigliotti said at the meeting, as reported by The Worcester Guardian.
Cruz's son, Izzy Cruz III, will manage the pub. The proposed hours are 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., Wednesday through Saturday. Sunday isn't in that proposed schedule, and the Sunday jam is settled on Lake Ave.
In the meantime, Trackside's website lists Music Bingo on Wednesdays, karaoke on Thursdays and a kitchen that's open on Patriots game days.
The bands that made Greendale's their home have kept booking shows, too. Kurt Ramm of No Alibi told The Worcester Guardian that the band first played the pub in 2004 and "never looked back." No Alibi's own site lists a Nov. 21 show at 8 p.m. at the Simple Man Saloon, 119 High St., Clinton. It also lists a Dec. 19 show at 9 p.m. at Fireflys, 350 E. Main St., Marlborough. Auntie Trainwreck played Greendale's for 17 and a half years and closed the place out on its final night. Its most recent listed date was Oct. 10 at Upside Food 'N Drink in Dudley.
Kelly Square's owner steps down on Dec. 31
Across town, another longtime owner is stepping back. Electric Haze is a music venue and hookah bar at 26 Millbury St. in Kelly Square, and it's for sale. MassLive reported on Sept. 3 that co-founder and owner Victoria Mariano announced the sale and will step down on Dec. 31. "I would rather see it thrive in someone's new hands," she told MassLive, adding that whatever comes next "will still be very welcoming to everyone and focused around nightlife no matter what."
Mariano knows the stakes for small rooms. When Greendale's announced its closing, she called it "a Worcester staple for live music for a long time" and pointed to rising costs and smaller crowds as pressures on venues like hers.
Her last night will look a lot like her first. Consider the Source, a progressive rock fusion band, was the first act to play Electric Haze when it opened in 2013. The band is booked with Espejismo for Thursday, Dec. 31, at 8 p.m. Songkick shows tickets on sale.
Until then, the Haze's weekly nights continue. The venue calendar lists Space Jam, an open jam, every Wednesday at 7 p.m. for ages 21 and up, and Malodies Karaoke every Thursday at 7 p.m. through mid-November. Brandon Sunshine Esteves hosts Space Jam. The bar supplies the backline, and a signup sheet sits at the bar. The calendar page itself points readers to the venue's Facebook for the full, updated listings.
The week ahead, night by night
Here's where the open stages and trivia from this post land on each night. Times come from each organizer's most recent listing.
Sunday Mike G's Sunday Jam, Worcester MCL, 181 Lake Ave., 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., no cover.
Monday Wise Guys Trivia, Galway Bay, 6 p.m. registration.
Tuesday Wise Guys Trivia, White Eagle at 6:30 p.m. or The Boynton at 7:30 p.m. registration.
Wednesday Wise Guys Trivia at the MCL, 6:30 p.m. registration. Space Jam at Electric Haze, 26 Millbury St., 7 p.m., 21+. Music Bingo at Trackside Tavern, 541 West Boylston St.
Thursday Malodies Karaoke at Electric Haze, 7 p.m. Karaoke at Trackside Tavern. Wise Guys Trivia at Shannon's Irish Bar or Eddy's Sports Bar, 6:30 p.m. registration.
Saturday, Nov. 21 No Alibi at the Simple Man Saloon in Clinton, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 19 No Alibi at Fireflys in Marlborough, 9 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 31 Consider the Source with Espejismo at Electric Haze, 8 p.m.
I watch the doors on West Boylston Street and Millbury Street the same way I watch a renovation, because a room's next owner decides how the block feels for years. If you hear Greendale's reopening date before I do, or you just want to talk about what's changing on your corner of Worcester, I'd love to hear from you. Annie Oakman is always up for a conversation. Let's Connect.
