Every week or so, I venture into the local nightlife in search of something worth noticing. Last Thursday night, I did indeed find something worth delaying the pajamas and reruns of Burn Notice.
Hero’s Sports Bar and Lounge is an all ages venue located on 821 ‘L’ St. in Downtown Modesto with a handful of new promoters on the payroll. In today’s spotlight is Middaugh Goodwin, the creator of “College Night Thursdays.” These special Thursdays include a no-cover show featuring local bands playing in a warm and spacious setting with plenty of available seats and a full bar for those of us that fall on the 21 and over end of the “all ages” spectrum. Hero’s is the venue formerly known as St. Stan’s and still offers over 20 quality beers on tap, as well as an elevated stage for the music and a fairly flat pool table in the back.
This isn’t Goodwin’s first rodeo; he’s an experienced promoter as well as a vintage hipster (the man drives a car that runs on vegetable oil) and has a keen ear for picking quality bands. He’s the co-founder and managing director of The Plea for Peace Foundation, a 501c3 non-profit organization music and art venue (yeah, you read that right, a non-profit organization.) The center’s mission is, “…to promote the ideas of peace through the power of music and art. We believe that all individuals are created equal and through our efforts we hope to create a scene of positive minded people to help bring forth action and education in the process of sharing ideas of peace and practical uses of peace in everyday life.”
The “scene” that the foundation is creating is apparently not confined to Stockton (which is good, because I am not nearly cool enough to travel that far to see a ‘local’ band), but is actively making roots in Downtown Modesto. Hero’s is nurturing these fresh roots with a seasoned venue and Goodwin is making sure that the bands that sprout are quality seedlings. Last Thursday featured ska and reggae with The Melodramatics, The Last Slice and a five-piece reggae/ska/funk/social activist group by the name of Braata. Braata’s lead singer has more soul and charisma than I thought was possible to pack into such a tiny girl, but as a headliner for “College Thursdays” she brought down the house.
Goodwin was unable to comment on the line-up for next Thursday, as he is still reviewing auditions. From what I’ve seen of his taste, however- this next week’s show should be outrageously cool.
Braata can be found on Reverbnation and myspace. To contact Midduagh Goodwin for booking and auditions, email him at [email protected].