From the Stones to Snoop, They've All Played This Joint

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-DMC, Snoop Dogg, and Public Enemy. Blues legends BB 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, reports the AP, an unlikely A-list-studded milestone for 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," says 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." Some highlights:

• New Haven-born Michael Bolotin performed; you might know him by his later surname Bolton.
• Springsteen stopped by Toad's in 1978 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.

• On a Saturday night in August 1989, Toad's advertised a performance by a local band, The Sons of Bob, followed by a dance party. The admission price: $3.01. After The Sons of Bob did a half-hour set, the stunned crowd of around 700 erupted as the Rolling Stones kicked off an hourlong show with "Start Me Up."
• 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.
• But variety was the key to longevity. 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 in 2009, early in his career. Snoop Dogg stopped by in 2012 and 2014.

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