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This week, The Milestone Club celebrates its anniversary over four nights - one night for each decade the West Charlotte club's been open.
Known as the CBGBs of the South (and not just by its owners), the graffitied Tuckaseegee Road venue has seen its share of stars. Melissa Etheridge, R.E.M., Bo Diddley and Nirvana are among the Grammy winners to cross its stage - as did near-household names the Go-Go's, the Bangles, 10,000 Maniacs, the Violent Femmes and actor River Phoenix.
In 1969, Bill Flowers bought the building, originally a store and home owned by the family of Jamie Hoover, frontman for Charlotte's the Spongetones. Flowers turned it into a bar and live music venue.
"I designed it off a place I spent some time (at) in San Francisco where if you clapped right you might hear yourself on vinyl next month," he recalls. "I didn't care where you came from, but it had to be original material."
Honky-tonk songwriter Wink Keziah played there as a 15-year-old in the mid-'70s and opened for Black Flag, Diddley and R.E.M. He says it hasn't changed much. The '80s and early '90s served as the club's heyday with a who's who of on-the-cusp alternative rock bands.
Penny Craver, who co-ran the club from '91 to '94, flips through contracts from her shows: "Cowboy Mouth, Afghan Whigs, Swervedriver, Fugazi, Supersuckers, Reverend Horton Heat, Archers of Loaf, Jawbox, Shudder to Think, Hole..." Those acts form an impressive list, but folks who frequented the club rank regional artists like Southern Culture on the Skids, the Blind Dates, Hillbilly Frankenstein, Don Dixon, Marti Jones and the db's as the most memorable.
Current owners Neal Harper and Philip Shive, 29 and 27 respectively, took over after the lean late '90s and early '00s when Flowers hosted sporadic local punk shows. Shive re-established relationships with national booking agents attracting acts of old, such as Black Flag's Greg Ginn, Bad Brains' HR and the Melvins - as well as buzz bands like Sub Pop Records' Helio Sequence and instrumental experimenters Battles. Harper serves as a jack-of-all-trades at times, handling everything from bar to sound to repairs.
Shive says they're upfront about the venue's shortcomings but make up for it with an intimate setup with the performer practically eye-level with its audience, a well-preserved history, and by treating bands well.
"You know when you play there, you're adding yourself to an impressive and respected lineage that basically spans the era of modern music," says Cheetie Kumar of Raleigh's Birds of Avalon, which headlines Saturday's show. "I can't think of any other club in this country that can boast the same distinction and still be as down to earth and band-friendly as the Milestone."
"The place is special," echoes producer/musician Don Dixon (R.E.M., the Smithereens). "I've played wonderful shows there, seen wonderful shows there and even recorded a wonderful Babyshaker album there."
