For more than three decades now, Pat’s in the Flats has nursed Cleveland rock and roll on sweat and Straub. The boxy, battered, workingman’s bar is a ramshackle Rock Hall, its walls lined with snapshots of the many bands that have cut — and bared — their teeth at the place, a roster that includes everyone from the Dead Boys to Amps II Eleven. The club is still manned by its namesake, Pat Hanych, a sweet, wizened lady who’s an honorary godmother to Cleveland’s many rock misfits.
Tipping their hats — and beers — to the club, the Davenport Collective is holding a two-day benefit for Pat’s, with proceeds going to buy better P.A. gear. Boasting a handful of Cleveland’s most compelling bands, the collective now spans some 15 groups. Many of them will be on hand this weekend, including the blissed-out, feel-good rockers of the Volta Sound, the snarky blues spitfires of the New Lou Reeds, and the mesmeric, folk-leaning Dreadful Yawns. Finally, getting drunk and rocking out will result in something a little more edifying than a hangover.
This article appears in May 11-17, 2005.