From the Stones to Cardi B, this college haunt has attracted big acts
for 50 years
[August 08, 2025]
By DAVE COLLINS
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Nestled on a narrow, one-way street among Yale
University buildings, a pizza joint and an ice cream shop, Toad’s Place
looks like a typical haunt for college kids.
But inside the modest, two-story building is a veritable museum of
paintings and signed photos depicting the head-turning array of artists
who've played the nightclub over the years:
The Rolling Stones. Bob Dylan. Billy Joel. Bruce Springsteen. U2. The
Ramones and Johnny Cash. Rap stars Kendrick Lamar, Drake, Kanye West,
Cardi B, Run-D.M.C., Snoop Dogg and Public Enemy. Blues legends B.B.
King, Bo Diddley, Muddy Waters, Willie Dixon and John Lee Hooker. And
jazz greats Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Herbie Hancock.
This year, the New Haven institution is celebrating 50 years in
business. And the people who made it happen are reflecting on Toad's
success in attracting so many top acts to a venue with a standing-only
capacity of about 1,000.
“You know, I thought it would be good for a few years and then I’d be
out doing something else,” said owner Brian Phelps, 71, who started as
the club’s manager in 1976. “And then the thing started to happen when
some of the big bands started to come here.”
Music and cheap beer fuel success
Original owner Mike Spoerndle initially opened Toad’s Place in January
1975 as a French restaurant with two friends he later bought out. Before
that, the building had been a burger and sandwich joint.
But when the restaurant got off to a slow start, Spoerndle had an idea
for bringing in more customers, especially students: music, dancing and
beer. A Tuesday night promotion with bands and 25-cent brews helped turn
the tide.
Among the acts who performed was New Haven-born Michael Bolotin, who
would change his name to Michael Bolton and go on to become a
Grammy-winning ballad writer and singer.
The gregarious and charismatic Spoerndle, who died in 2011, endeared
himself to bands and customers. A local musician he tapped as Toad's
booking agent used his connections to bring in area bands and, later,
major blues acts.
Then, in 1977, came a crucial moment. Spoerndle met and befriended
concert promoter Jim Koplik, who would bring in many big names to Toad's
over the years, and still does today.
“Mike knew how to make a really great room and Brian knew how to really
run a great room,” said Koplik, now president of Live Nation for
Connecticut and upstate New York.
A year later, Springsteen stopped by Toad's to play with the Rhode
Island band Beaver Brown after he finished a three-hour show at the
nearby New Haven Coliseum.
In 1980, Billy Joel stunned Toad’s by picking it — and several other
venues — to record songs for his first live album, “Songs in the Attic.”
That same year, a little-known band from Ireland would play at Toad’s as
an opening act. It was among the first shows U2 played in North America.
The band played the club two more times in 1981 before hitting it big.
An unforgettable show for $3.01
On a Saturday night in August 1989, Toad’s advertised a performance by a
local band, The Sons of Bob, and a celebration of Koplik’s 40th
birthday, followed by a dance party.
The admission price: $3.01.
After The Sons of Bob did a half-hour set, Spoerndle and Koplik took the
stage.
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Harmonica player Don DeStefano, right, plays with the band Creamery
Station at Toad's Place in New Haven, Conn., on Friday, May 9, 2025.
(AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
 “Ladies and gentlemen,” Spoerndle
said.
Koplik followed with, “Please welcome the Rolling Stones!”
The stunned crowd of around 700 erupted as the Stones kicked off an
hourlong show with “Start Me Up.”
“Thank you. Good, good, good. We’ve been playing for ourselves the
last six weeks,” Mick Jagger told the crowd.
The Stones had been practicing at a former school in Washington,
Connecticut, for their upcoming “Steel Wheels” tour — their first in
seven years — and had wanted to play a small club as a warmup. The
band’s promoter called Koplik, who recommended Toad's. The band
agreed, but insisted on secrecy.
Those at Toad’s kept a lid on it for the most part, but swirling
rumors helped pack the club.
Doug Steinschneider, a local musician, was one of those at the venue
that night after a friend told him the Stones would be playing. He
wasn’t able to get in, but managed to get near a side door where he
could see Jagger singing.
“It was amazing!” said Steinschneider. “For being a place where
major bands show up, it’s a tiny venue. So you get to see the band
in their real element. In other words, you’re not watching a
screen.”
A few months later, Bob Dylan's manager reached out looking for a
club where he could warm up for an upcoming tour.
Dylan's 1990 show at Toad's sold out in 18 minutes. He played
four-plus hours — believed to be his longest performance — beginning
with a cover of Joe South’s 1970 song “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” and
ending with his own “All Along the Watchtower.”
“That was a good one,” Phelps recalled.
Variety is the key to longevity
Phelps — who bought out Spoerndle's stake in Toad's in 1998 —
believes the secret to the venue's longevity has been bringing in
acts from different genres, along with events such as dance nights
and “battle of the bands”. Rap shows especially draw big crowds, he
said.
Naughty by Nature and Public Enemy played Toad’s in 1992. After
releasing his first album, Kanye West played there in 2004 with John
Legend on keyboards. Drake played Toad’s in 2009, early in his music
career. And Snoop Dogg stopped by to perform in 2012 and 2014.
“When you have all these things, all ages, all different styles of
music, and you have some dance parties to fill in where you need
them, especially during a slow year, it brings enough capital in so
that you can stay in business and keep moving forward,” Phelps said.
On a recent night, as local groups took the stage for a battle of
the bands contest, many were in awe of playing in the same space
where so many legends have performed.
Rook Bazinet, the 22-year-old singer of the Hartford-based emo group
Nor Fork, said the band members' parents told them of all the big
acts they'd seen at the New Haven hot spot over the years. Bazinet's
mom had seen Phish there in the '90s.
“Me, the Stones and Bob Dylan,” Bazinet added. “I’m glad to be on
that list.”
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