When Stevie Ray Vaughan Played Club Soda on His Birthday

It was a night Kalamazoo won't forget. After a show at Miller Auditorium, the iconic guitarist showed up at Club Soda and sat in with the band.

The Club Soda Kalamazoo Rocked! Facebook group remembers Wednesday, October 2, 1985. The story goes that Stevie Ray Vaughan was having the time of his life on stage at Miller Auditorium and didn't want the night to end. After the 11 o'clock curfew was enforced, Stevie, fueled by Jack Daniels, went looking for another place to play and ended up at Club Soda.

IDK was the band on stage that night and bass player Gary Germaine recalls, "SRV played along with our band for a few numbers, then it was just me, the drummer and SRV on a few numbers after that." There is no bootleg recording, like Stevie Ray Vaughan's final Kalamazoo show, but you can read the accounts of fans who were at Miller Auditorium and Club Soda on Facebook. This was the post that started the discussion,

Who was at club soda the night that Stevie Ray Vaughn showed up immediately after he played at miller Auditorium ? I ushered that night. And he was full of energy. I believe it was his birthday. I later heard that he played st club soda that night.

Here are a few of the comments:

That night SRV did not want to stop playing. He was on a roll. Miller Auditorium turned on the house lights and forced him off stage because he was going over his allotted time. And I heard that he brought his band to club soda and kicked that band off the stage. At least that’s what people who were at club soda said about when he got to club soda.
that night at Miller he was out of this world zone. I was amazed and became a fan.
I saw him at Miller Auditorium that night and he kept talking about how his birthday was at midnight. He proceeded to drink a faith of Jack in stage during the concert and didn’t miss a note! They wouldn’t let him play past the curfew which was at 11:00pm...No wonder he was full of energy!
I was there at Miller and it was an incredible show. My friend that went to the show with me said we should go to Club Soda after the show because it was Stevie’s birthday and he was sure to show up there and play more... I had to work early the next day and didn’t really think he would just show up and play. I was wrong, he showed up and even played with (members of) IDK! Those guys in that band were my friends and I missed out. One of my biggest regrets, missing that performance

Stevie Ray Vaughan Played Kalamazoo Just Days Before His Untimely Death