Got Live If You Want It	Merlin's

Agig at Merlin’s has become a right of passage to many of the city’s fledgling bands over the last several years. By opening their doors to hungry upstarts, the club has become an unpretentious and exciting hub where acts can network and build a following in an intimate setting. We caught up with booking agent Curt Rotterdam and asked him to tell us a bit about the club and his overall approach to carving out a scene.

Artvoice: When did Merlin’s get started?

Curt Rotterdam: Merlin’s started in 1968. Then it went through some name changes (Brinks, Gulliver’s, Sullivan’s) but changed back to Merlin’s in 1992. And there’s been music off and on throughout those 30 years. I’ve been booking the bands here on the weekends for about four years now. And made it kind of cool, I think. It’s a nice, cozy little venue for bands to play.

AV: You seem to have a steady stream of acts coming through. How did you get into it?

CR: I moved up here from Long Island in ’96, and I joined all the clubs at Buff State. Did the radio station (WBNY) and the Student Union Board. Held high rank pretty much in both of them so I got a lot of experience with booking and all the local bands that came in. So…knowing them, and then hearing about getting a job to book bands here, I took it. And it’s seemed pretty natural.

AV: So some of the acts already have a little radio exposure.

CR: Sometimes WBNY, sometimes the Lake. The local scene is very nurturing I think. I know I’ll always give a young band a chance to play—or a newer band. I mean, I can’t bring in 15-year-olds here.

AV: What about out-of-town acts?

CR: That’s the weird thing, when I started getting out-of-town acts, my email must’ve gotten on some list. And they just email you and if they’re on tour and the date’s open and some local acts like ’em and want to swap shows. Some bands might be really low on the radar, and they just want to get their foot in the door, where they might not be able to play other places in the city. It’s nice because if you’re a decent band you’ll pack the place and it’s a good time. New Year’s Eve was packed. We had Handsome Jack, Roadhouse Gypsies, Thrill Me and the Thermidors. And they’re crowd-pleasers in any bar. They like comin’ here. They’ve done the New Year’s thing for us every year I think since I’ve been booking here. We had to move the pool table it was so packed upstairs, and down here, and outside.

AV: And you have music most nights?

CR: I think right now there isn’t anything on Monday, but there’s acoustic college music on Sundays with Ed and the Sofa Kings. Charle Reed and Pat McCarthy, they do an open mike on Tuesdays. Jamie Moses plays out here on Wednesdays, mid-shift. People come out for that. Then my shows run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Almost always three bands. Sometimes jam bands want to play a little longer. But punk bands, rock bands, they pretty much want to play for a half an hour, 40 minutes. So you usually get three good bands for three or four dollars.

AV: What time do you like to get things started?

CR: On Thursdays it’s 10, on Friday and Saturday it’s 11. The bar’s open ’til 4am, so we try to rock it ’til around 2:30.

AV: What kind of a crowd do you get?

CR: You don’t know what to expect here. You do and you don’t. Merlin’s is like a Jekyll and Hyde bar. Earlier in the day you might get an older crowd, or bikers with their bikes lined up outside when the clam bar is open…plus the mixture of the college students that live around here. But the band brings the crowd at night. The regular staples will always be here, but people come in from Niagara Falls and the Southtowns. It’s definitely not a pretentious crowd, though. Down-to-earth, common crowd…a mixture of everybody.