By Jerry duPhily
Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Bar in the World — what a bold boast.
Could’ve gone with Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Bar in Delaware. Even Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Bar in the U.S. But the world? That takes big . . .
But it’s genius, really. The ambitious claim almost dares you to go see for yourself. Greatest rock ’n’ roll bar . . . yeah, we’ll see about that.”
Credit the decision to trademark that phrase, then plaster it loud and proud on the stage backdrop of the Bottle & Cork, to Alex Pires. He was once the managing partner of Highway One Ltd., which purchased this iconic Dewey Beach nightclub in 1989. Pires is now the owner.
Like anyone who has spent time at the Delaware beaches, I have my own Tales From The Cork. As for its place in the pantheon of nightspots . . . let me put in this way: When you’re at The Cork and it’s playing its A-Game, you’re not wishing you were anywhere else.
Which takes me back to a Saturday Jam Session in the early 1990s. Our group had arrived early to beat the line, and because we had connections, we owned a strategic people-watching position on the patio while being served beers via the forward pass. Errant pass? They threw you another. Fumble it, that was on you.
We didn’t fumble on this day. We were playing our A-Game, too.
DJ Joe Bak was a big draw then, and he was in his usual Jam Session glory, stimulating the crowd with off-color jokes, bad guest dancers, and his uncanny sense for spinning the right tune at just the right moment.
This day’s moment had arrived, and Bak threw on Bruce Springsteen’s “Badlands.” Within seconds we were a chorus of hundreds, singing at the top of our lungs and doing our best to shake the patio’s concrete floor.
Badlands, you gotta live it everyday
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price you’ve gotta pay
Keep pushin’ ’til it’s understood
These badlands start treating us good
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa badlands
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa badlands . . .
At one point, I stopped singing and just watched the crowd. There was enough energy in the place to launch a rocket.
It was an energy I’ve felt few other times — in the Lake Placid arena when the U.S. beat the Soviets in the Miracle on Ice game in 1980; in the stands when the Phillies beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the 2008 World Series; and in the crowd at a Springsteen concert at the Spectrum in the mid-2000s.
Electric is the term often used. But this was beyond electric — it was collective adrenalin so powerful it was almost kinetic.
I would have other magic Cork moments — watching Robert Palmer perform with his full ensemble dressed in a three-piece suit in the dead of summer; sharing a toast to my 40th birthday with The Fabulous Thunderbird’s Kim Wilson; grabbing a photo in the parking lot with one of my longtime favorites, Dave Mason.
But that summer afternoon 36 years ago, that crowd rendition of “Badlands,” I remember it like it was yesterday. And it was awesome.
So, Happy 90th Birthday, Bottle & Cork. You truly are a special place.
As for the claim, Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Bar in the World . . . sure, why not?
