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Meet the authors of The Legendary Toad’s Place
October 27, 2021 @ 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
The Legendary Toad’s Place: Stories from New Haven’s Famed Music Venue
Meet the authors, Brian Phelps and Randall Beach In Conversation at The Institute Library
Wednesday, Oct. 27th, 2021 at 5:30 p.m.
Anyone who has lived near New Haven, Connecticut, in the past 40-plus years has surely heard of Toad’s Place. With a capacity of 750, Toad’s has served as the perfect spot for musicians who prefer smaller venues. U2 played one of their first US concerts there, on their Boy tour. In 1978, Bruce Springsteen was in New Haven and arrived at Toad’s unannounced, and got up and played. The surprises kept coming and the club was attracting big names, as well as up-and-comers. In 1989, the Rolling Stones played a surprise show on a Saturday night, giving 700 fans the night of their dreams. Nothing could have been better—the Rolling Stones in downtown New Haven was unimaginable! That is only a taste of the stories that are uncovered in this book. Randall Beach and Toad’s owner Brian Phelps recall the legendary shows and behind-the-scenes stories.
Copies of The Legendary Toad’s Place will be available for purchase and signing.
CLICK HERE to register to attend.
About the Authors
Brian Phelps started working at Toad’s Place alongside the original owner, Mike Spoerndle, shortly after Toad’s opened. He had just finished his college career and didn’t have another career in mind… but soon, Spoerndle made Phelps an offer to become business partners, and Phelps accepted. In January 1995, Brian took control of the company and bought the rest of the business in 1998.
Randall Beach was the rock music critic for the New Haven Register (1978-1984). He later
wrote about rock music for the New Haven Advocate, the Hartford Courant and Billboard
magazine. He was also a reporter and columnist for the New Haven Register (1997-2020). In
addition, he writes the Beachcombing column for Connecticut magazine. He lives in New
Haven.
The Institute Library
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