Centennial Hall: Renovated and Ready to Go

Contributed

Philadelphia-based punks the Menzingers are rounding out their North American tour with a stop in Erie at the newly renovated Centennial Hall. Larry Wheaton spoke with guitarist/vocalist Tom May about their upcoming show.

It's a celebration nine months in the making as the newly renovated Centennial Hall gets ready for its grand opening hosting well-known pop-punk band The Menzingers. The building, which has a rich history, was purchased last summer by Jason and Nicole Lavery (40 Under 40 classes of 2013 and 2016), owners of Lavery Brewing Company. The building was originally used as a church when it was built over a hundred years ago, and has been a hub for the arts since its transformation to a theater space in the '90s and early 2000s as the Roadhouse Theater. Changing hands in 2014, artist and musician Bob Jensen (40 Under 40 Class of 2014) moved his all-ages venue Basement Transmissions (BT) from State Street into the historic structure. After just over a decade as BT, Jensen sold the building to the Laverys, who had, at that point, been hosting local shows in their nearby Bunker – a raw, bare-bones venue – to keep the music scene churning while the former BT building could receive some much needed upgrades to become Centennial Hall.

The Laverys completely reworked the interior of Centennial Hall, providing much needed updates to its electrical system, structure, plumbing, and paint.

Owner Jason Lavery spoke on some of the discoveries made during the renovations: "We had a lot of wins – this is our third big project like this – since we started the pub in 2009. Sometimes when you tear stuff down you don't know exactly what you are going to find and we have been very lucky with this building.

We found awesome intact beautiful brick walls, the trusses overhead were great, the ceiling only needed a couple panels replaced, the flooring is still in really good shape, the stage how they built it, because it was a church a hundred years ago, is also well built."

Nicole Lavery agrees, "With the ceiling open you can really see the trusses and they look awesome, the stage looks framed well, and it looks like a venue that people are going to want to come to."

Along with upgrading the physical building the Laverys spent a good portion of their budget on the sound system – with modern speakers attached to the ceiling and in front of the stage, building out a new area for the front-of-house soundboard. Jason shared, "We are ushering in this space from its 100-year-old past into the next hundred years of its life."

With the time and cost invested in renovating Centennial Hall, it feels natural to have one of Pennsylvania's biggest pop-punk bands play the venue's first official show there – The Menzingers are scheduled for the reopening on Sunday, April 12. Jason is excited to have the band christening the new venue and shares, "They have never been to Erie before – so to have them get Erie on their radar and be willing to come and break this venue in with us means a lot. One of their guys is a local, so it almost feels like they are doing us a favor by launching this venture together."

"I hope this is a new era of Erie live music that we can help usher in," Jason comments.

That energy is shared by The Menzingers singer and guitarist Tom May who said, "It's so exciting – we never played Erie and the first time we are playing there gets to be at a brand new renovated venue that everyone's real excited about, that has a deep history with punk and hardcore shows. All the lore that we heard about the venue, it sounds so exciting."

May continues, "That's always a great and beautiful thing … to meet each other, build relationships, and have creative relationships – it's exciting that we are a part of the beginning of something."

This may be the first time the Menzingers have played Erie, but not the first time they have visited. May mentioned that he watched the 2024 solar eclipse in Corry with the band's lighting technician Tyler Long, who hails from Erie. The Menzingers have also visited Erie's greatest resource, "We stayed in a hotel right near the water and I got to spend the time walking through those neighborhoods. I went to Presque Isle State Park and brought my camera and took a bunch of long exposure shots of the lake, it was absolutely beautiful."

It's always nice when Erie can make a good impression, which is exactly what happened when May and company visited. "Everybody that we talked to in Erie was so f***ing cool, and a lot of people from Erie come and see us when we play in Pittsburgh. It's always a treat and I'm so glad that we finally get to play here." May mentioned he is looking forward to playing in the town where two of his favorite bands are from, The Code and Roger Harvey.

Nicole Lavery reflects, "Erie is going to be a place for good music – people need to see it and realize it and buy the ticket and know Erie is going to be a hub, just like Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Buffalo."

Jason concurs. "The way touring has changed over the years, bands like The Menzingers might be choosing to play in a smaller market because the fans are very excited and people from nearby towns are willing to come to Erie."

Even though a lot of work has been done to upgrade and preserve Centennial Hall, there are still some projects yet to complete, with future plans to paint the exterior, put a bar and kitchen in the rear of the building, a new rear entry, and renovating the loft for a prime view of the stage.

During the Menzingers show, attendees will be able to purchase Lavery beer, with food provided by The Que Abides food truck, outside the venue. The Laverys are hopeful that Centennial Hall will become a place where Erieites can gather and be proud, where they hope to bring a variety of entertainment for the entire community to enjoy, hidden away on West 11th Street.

Scroll below for a full Q&A of Larry's interview with Tom May of The Menzingers

The Menzingers and I am the Avalanche // Sunday, Apr. 12 // 7 p.m. // Centennial Hall, 145 W. 11th St. // $35-$40 // Few tickets remaining, to purchase visit: tickets.eriereader.com

 As Centennial Hall (formerly Basement Transmissions and the Roadhouse Theater) and its new owners Jason and Nicole Lavery round the renovation corner, they're gearing up to welcome The Menzingers on Sunday, April 12 as their grand reopening act. (Photo: Contributed)

Additional shows coming up soon at Centennial Hall:

Leilani Kilgore Wednesday, Apr. 15 at 6 p.m.

Hit The Lights, Latewaves, There's Always Tomorrow Saturday, Apr. 25 at 6 p.m.

Kofi Baker's Psychedelic Trip Thursday, Apr. 30 at 6 p.m.

Alborn with Devil's Cut and More Friday, May 1 at 6 p.m.

The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis Sunday, May 3 at 6 p.m.

Confessions of A Traitor, Fight From Within and Exitwounds Monday, May 11 at 6 p.m.

For tickets and info for these shows visit: tickets.eriereader.com

Full transcription of the interview between Erie Reader contributor Larry Wheaton and Tom May, guitarist and vocalist for The Menzingers:

The Menzingers are a punk band from Scranton Pennsylvania who have toured around the world, creating a wide and dedicated fan base. They formed in 2006 and have played all over Pennsylvania in their twenty year career, but have yet to make a stop in the Gem City. That all changed when they were approached to host a concert at the newly renovated Centennial Hall, recently purchased by Jason and Nikki Lavery, of Lavery's Brewing Company.  The Menzingers singer and guitarist Tom May was kind enough to have a conversation with the Erie Reader to talk about the road and how The Menzingers performance in Erie is special for him and the band.

Larry Wheaton (LW): The band formed in 2006. Did you think you would still be playing as the Menzingers 20 years later?

Tom May (TM): To be completely honest with you, I did. I totally believed it and with all my heart and soul.

LW: What have you learned about being in a band with a steady following for all these years?

TM: I learned a lot of things. The biggest thing I learned was about the world, because you do so much traveling. There's playing in a band and all these technical things about the songs and ideas on how people listen to music and how they identify themselves through the music they listen to and all those kinds of heady things. But the biggest takeaway is seeing so much of the world and realizing that people are so simple and so intricately nuanced at the same time — that's the big takeaway. There are so many different  cultures and groups of people, and such a commonality that runs through it. Everybody's trying to figure out their life on their own, and rely on each other to figure out what the hell we are all doing.

LW: Being from Pennsylvania, what were some of your local or regional influences growing up — either before starting the band or around that time?

TM: So, we would go down to Wilkes Barre a lot to see punk and hardcore shows at Homebase or Metropolis, and there was a venue in Scranton called  Cafe Del Sol where we used to go and see what kinds of bands that the older punks had painted on their jackets. Then we'd go to the record store and get those records — that was the biggest influence. In Scranton, in particular, there were bands like the Swims that we really looked up to and helped teach us about music, the industry, and just playing shows. They were probably one of the biggest influences, at least among Pennsylvania bands. I guess if you are talking about growing up in PA and being influenced by PA, it's just the culture. I grew up listening to Irish music and all the different cultures that came to Pennsylvania to work. We weren't far from New York, in Scranton, and we weren't far from Philadelphia, and as we got older we would go to those places and see so many more bands, much bigger bands.

LW: Have you ever been to Erie before?

TM: I have! So I have been to Corry, which is where one of the members of our crew, the lighting designer and stage manager Tyler Long, is from. I went there to see the eclipse. We have never played Erie, but we had an off day in Erie and we stayed in a hotel right near the water and I got to spend time walking through the neighborhoods that are right by the water. I went to Presque Isle State Park and brought my camera and took a bunch of  long exposure shots of the lake, it was absolutely beautiful. Everybody that we talked to in Erie was so f***ing cool, and a lot of people from Erie come and see us when we play in Pittsburgh. It's always a treat and I'm so glad that we finally get to play here. Presque Isle has that famous UFO incident, I am really into that culture surrounding UFOs over the years.

LW: What, if any bands do you know from the area?

TM: Two of my favorite bands in the world are The Code and Roger Harvey, who is also one of my best friends. We also played with some Erie Hardcore bands. We played in St. Mary's, it's not close to Erie, but I think there was a band from Erie on that show, but that was SO long ago. 

LW: How do you feel about being the first artists to perform at the newly renovated Centennial Hall?

TM: So exciting! There are a couple reasons why: one, we never played Erie, and two, the first time we are playing there gets to be at a brand new renovated venue that everyone's real excited about, that has a deep history that I understand, with punk and hardcore shows. All the lore that we heard about the venue, it sounds so exciting.  We have been doing this for 20 years, but now there's a new thing where so many people are going to come and create another music scene and it's a shot of adrenaline to the whole scene there. That's always a great and beautiful thing as it becomes an epicenter to meet each other. That's how people build relationships and have creative relationships that go through their lives. It is really exciting that we are at the beginning of something.

LW: My friend Nick said he spoke to someone in the band about a proposed Pennsylvania tour with the Menzingers at one point, is there any place in the Keystone State that you have yet to perform, or that you would still like to?

TM: Yeah, there are a bunch of them. I don't think we have played in York (I could be mistaken). So we wanted to combine the Pennsylvania tour: Erie is the number one, the number one place that we have left to play in Pennsylvania. But then we kind of combined it with this idea of the solar system tour, because there are a bunch of cities in Pennsylvania that are named after planets. There is Mars outside of Pittsburgh, there are a bunch of other ones. I do want to go to Cherry Spring Park one day, maybe we will do a little acoustic set there at the observatory.

LW: You are bringing I Am The Avalanche on tour. How did you get hooked up with them and what's it like being on the road with them?

TM: We have known them for years. We first met them in Australia and we were on a giant tour, kind of like a bundle of bands together. One of the bands that we were bundled together with was I Am Avalanche. They are some of the coolest guys — we have so much in common, they are a great hang, they are so kind, and make incredible music. So, we have known them forever and when we heard that they were putting out a new record, we figured we would ask them to do this and they said yes. So here we are.

LW: Do you guys have any good tour pranks that you can share?

TM: So the number one prank, as far as tour pranks go (you don't want to do any pranks that are going to fuck with anybody, because you are basically camping) — don't push people in pools and shit, you can't go to your house and change. So the number one prank that we have done in the past: we'll change the band's walk out music track. So a band will have a walk out track, like Hall and Oats, so you change it to something goofy like "The Final Countdown" or the Curb Your Enthusiasm theme, something like that. Some people do stupid ass pranks that you want to kick their asses for. Someone put old bananas in somebody's bag one time and it f***ed all our clothes, so just like different shit like that.

LW: Is there an album that The Menzingers tend to play songs from on this tour?

TM: No, there are some that we play less from, but we are at the point now where we just recorded another album (that's coming out this year) and we're going to be up to at least a hundred songs at this point. We usually play 20 to 23 a night, so you can only pick and choose so many songs. We are hitting all the hits. 

LW: Do you rotate them night by night?

TM: We pick some odd balls, but for the most part we try to get the set down to really a tight experience with all the transitions. Now that were bringing Tyler to do lights, we try to keep it so that we have all those rehearsed really well. We don't change the songs night to night very much, but there are definitely some oddballs and we change some stuff up every night of the tour so far.

To learn more about The Menzingers, visit: themenzingers.com

Larry Wheaton can be reached at wheaton1138@gmail.com.