O'Cayz saves the day

Tom Laskin reports that with the recent closing of Bunky's and the transformation of Headliners from a dingy rock palace into a glitzy megadisco, the quaint and cramped O'Cayz Corral is the only remaining local club booking national and local rock acts on a regular basis - leaving Madison in danger of dropping off the radar for touring acts. "With Bunky's shut down there's no 400- or 500-capacity club to put bands into," observes O'Cayz manager and promoter Tom Layton. "And that's why sometimes you'll see some of these crazy shows at O'Cayz - the Feelies and Camper Van Beethoven doing two shows at O'Cays instead of doing one show at a 500-capacity club. It's just by default.... Where else can you go? Obviously it would be nice to have a larger club to work with." But he adds that "the scene for local bands is as healthy as it's been since I've been booking O'Cayz - even healthier." Layton goes on to bring such bands as Jesus Lizard, Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins to Madison before his death in June 2004. O'Cayz Corral is destroyed in a fire on New Year's Day 2001, but then-owner Cathy Dethmers perseveres, opening High Noon Saloon three years later.