Toad's Place

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Toad's Place is a concert venue and nightclub located on York Street in New Haven, Connecticut. It opened in 1975 in a former burger joint named Hungry Charlie's. Toad's has played host to the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, U2, The Go-Go's, Billy Joel, They Might Be Giants, Billy Idol, INXS, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Splice. Its capacity is currently 750 people, after a number of expansions. The original stage could barely hold four musicians and was only a foot or so high.

Since 1981, the Saturday night dance parties are attended by Yale, Southern Connecticut State University and Quinnipiac University students. Famous for concerts from nationally known artists and hopping dance parties, Toad's also brings in very popular local and regional bands like NRBQ to round out its itinerary.

In 1983, Toad's Place expanded and opened a club in Waterbury CT. This was short-lived, however.

The character used in the club's promotional illustrations evokes illustrations of Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows: both are dandyish in dress, and the club's character is green-skinned, as Mr. Toad is often greenish or green (resembling typical frogs of Connecticut and England more than the corresponding toads). Thus "Toad's place" suggests Toad Hall and the mischievousness of its host.

A second venue located in Richmond, Virginia opened on June 21, 2007. Located in the revitalized Richmond Riverfront, it features a concert hall and restaurant. Though scheduled to open in the Winter of 2006, the Highwater restaurant didn't open until September 2007. However, the concert venue opened on June 21 as the first stop on the Squirrel Nut Zippers reunion tour. The following night, Toad's Place hosted its first sell out with a fund raiser for Greater Richmond SCAN (Stop Child Abuse Now) featuring Carbon Leaf.

Toad's Place is one of the first venues at which legendary band U2 played in the USA. In the first-ever photo of the band in the magazine Rolling Stone, one member of the band can be seen wearing a Toad's Place tee-shirt.

On January 12, 1990, Bob Dylan played the longest set of his career at Toad's, a show that lasted over 6 hours.

The Rolling Stones opened their 1989 "Steel Wheels" tour with an unannounced show at Toad's on August 12, 1989.

[edit] Legal Problems

The New Haven club was closed for almost three months beginning May 6th, 2007, following charges stemming from a November 2005 raid by police and liquor inspectors. Toad's settled negotiations with the Connecticut State Liquor Commission November 2nd, agreeing to a 90-day suspension of its liquor license and a $90,000 fine for 2005's raid, during which the club was charged with a reported 90 counts of sales of alcohol to minors. As part of its compromise with the liquor commission, Toad's Place admitted to 45 counts of sales of alcohol to a minor. The venue reopened on August 4 with a show by the group Badfish, a tribute to Sublime.