MUSIC: Brick by brick

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Barflies who frequent a newly opened live music house and restaurant in Kaohsiung this weekend may experience a bit of deja vu. Brickyard, so called because “there’s lots of brick” according to co-owner Graham Dart, has been assembled from the pieces of three other establishments that have closed or changed owners recently.

Dart says he and partner Ryan Fernandez were “left with 50 grand worth of liquor and sound equipment” after leaving live house Join Us. Then the pub Happy Buddha closed and “we took a bunch of stuff from there, too.” When the Pig and Whistle closed the same weekend, they “took a circular saw to the third-floor bar and just took the whole” thing out, he says.

Dart and Fernandez teamed up with chef Yero Rudzinskas who trained at the Culinary Institute of America. He built a “Deep South smoker” out of a steamer they bought at a secondhand store to cook barbeque ribs, pulled pork, beef brisket and smoked vegetables. The menu also has American classics like macaroni and cheese and coleslaw. Dart says it is “totally a coincidence” that all three hail from the US: “We’re not some exclusive cabal of Americans.”

One weekday activity they’ll offer is beer pong, in which players stand at a table with half-full cups of beer and attempt to throw a ping-pong ball into the opponent’s cup. If successful, the opponent must quaff the beverage. According to Fernandez, the regulation size for a table is 8 feet (2.4m), which the bar will adhere to. Members of the Kaohsiung Beer Pong Association should be pleased.

The bar has free Wi-Fi and pool, and several big LCD screens for games and movies. Though the main weekend attractions will be bands and DJs, Brickyard will also host an improv night.

Upcoming events include a soft opening tonight at 10pm, with DJs Squid and Belize. Reggae band High Tide plays tomorrow at 10pm [see correction below]. Next Friday will feature free dance lessons from 11pm, music from the Latin Soul Project at midnight, followed by DJs Sapo and Christian from 1am until sunrise. The official grand opening party is on Dec. 12, which will double as a CD release party for popular funk band Coach (教練).

The following weekend features blues artist Jack Conqueroo and new-grass band WaySoon playing a style of music combining traditional bluegrass and country with pop and modern beats on Dec. 18. Brickyard’s big night is Dec. 19, when Art of Fresh will be playing. Juno-nominated producer Slakah the Beatchild teams up with rapper DO, who set a Guinness World Record when he freestyled for more than eight consecutive hours. The duo released their debut album Back to the Earth last year.

Cover charge at Brickyard ranges from NT$250 for Latin night to NT$300 for bands, which includes one drink. Admission for international acts will be higher: Art of Fresh is NT$350. “We don’t want to scare people off” with the prices, says Dart. Drinks are NT$120 for standard highballs, NT$100 for half a liter of San Miguel Draft.

“We’re trying different kinds of events,” says Dart. “We’re not going to be one of those places that has the same thing night after night.”

During the editing process, an incorrect addition was made to this story: High Tide was not scheduled to play on Saturday as stated in the article. The 'Taipei Times' regrets the error.