Shhh, It's a secret!

Maryland My Maryland (continued)

As I left off at the end of yesterday's post, the best place we partied at was Hammerjacks.

Hammerjacks was a rock and roll bar built for rock and rollers! Located in a converted warehouse south of Baltimore’s inner harbor (just about where the east side of the Raven’s football stadium is now situated), it had two floors with the second floor like a balcony over the first.

It was originally only in one warehouse but then it was expanded to add a second, larger space in the warehouse next door. This added space was set up as a concert venue (no seats mind you – just some bar stools scattered near the bars and walls) with two floors, the second floor looked over the space in front of the stage.

The whole place was walled with bare, red brick that you would expect to see in an ancient warehouse. The balconies had black, wrought iron railings topped in wood with little shelves to hold drinks. Lighting was mostly spots and dimly lit except by the bars (there were 5 separate bars in the first space before the expansion – 3 down stairs and 2 up, 6 more were added with the expansion).

The walls were decorated in bright neon sculptures of drinks, guitars and the Hammerjacks logo in bright yellow. This was a great place to party! I got to know Brian, one of the bartenders, really well and my friends and I were considered regulars. Our status actually got us back stage at a number of concerts (Joan Jett, Kix, Bon Jovi before they got big). Brian used to be a guitar tech for Jimmy Page of Led Zepplin fame.

When they opened the concert venue next door it made it the place to be on Friday’s and Saturday’s. Beers and Kamikazes were my drinks of choice here. They had fantastic New Years Eve parties, too! Wall to wall people. As a matter of fact, I was dating a girl named Brenda at one time and I wanted to take her to Hammerjacks on New Years Eve but she had plans to go somewhere with her girlfriends. I went to Hammerjacks anyway. Wouldn’t you know that she tracked me down and found me at the bar at midnight! We had a great kiss and grope amongst the throng of people there to see a Kix concert. Kix was almost like the house band – they never made it really big though. I did see them at the Marquee Club in London, England a few years later – how I got to see them and sing on stage with them is another story.

I spent many a drunk night at Hammerjacks and closed the place often. As a gift when I left for my assignment to England in 1986, my friends there gave me a silk tour jacket with the club logo embroidered on the back. I cherished it for many years till it was thread bare and did not cover my aging pot belly anymore!

Sadly, with the building of Camden Yards and the Ravens Stadium, the building was demolished and the club tried to move but it was not successful. It has since been reincarnated nearer inner harbor as a dance club with DJ’s. I hear it’s very popular but it does not sound like the place I practically called home back in the early to mid 80’s.

posted by section306g @ 9:36 PM