During The Rebel Lounge’s opening week in 2015, co-owners Steven Chilton and Chucky Duffy received an unexpected glimpse into the Phoenix venue’s storied past.
The catalyst: A call to 9-1-1 after a young woman took ill during a show. Once disaster was averted — emergency responders determined the woman was simply dehydrated — Chilton recalls overhearing a crew of firefighters who were lingering outside the 300-capacity venue. “There’s this 50-year-old firefighter and he’s like, ‘you guys aren’t going to believe it, but I saw Guns N’ Roses here,’” he tells Billboard.
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The rest of the crew then began telling their own stories about their experiences at The Mason Jar, the iconic venue that previously inhabited The Rebel Lounge space from 1979 to 2005. The Mason Jar (also named just The Jar for a short time) was a quintessential 1980s rock club that served as every local band’s first venue.
“It was your dingy black box,” says Chilton, “gross bathrooms, everything painted black.” And it wasn’t just local acts who played there.
