Life rarely deals you a second chance. And getting another second chance after that is kind of unheard of…but it happened last Saturday Night.
There’s a new event center that opened up here off of Willow Knolls road called, 3300 Event Center. It’s a center that has several rooms for renting out and they’re also hosting concerts and different events.
This space used to be known as The Second Chance back in the day and every local band played here along with national acts like Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, John Mayall and many others.
Local musician and owner of Younger Than Yesterday Records, Craig Moore and JoElle Allen who used to manage Second Chance back in the ’80’s have been trying to have a retro show here and have another Second Chance in this space for years
Well, last Saturday night it happened and it was quite a wonderful and magical evening! I have a two part blog from this fabulous night and today we’ll be showing you the concert venue and some of the people and musicians in attendance and tomorrow we’ll have photos from the show.
Strap yourselves in, a splendid time is guaranteed for all!
Here we are at 3300 Event Center, the place formerly known as The Second Chance, decades ago.
Wow, I showed up early and there’s already a big crowd here!
Check out the Second Chance sign that’s been there since the ‘80’s!
Welcome to another Second Chance everyone!
Wow, it’s exactly the same as back in the ‘80’s! This is fucking trippy!
There’s two balcony areas in here, this is the first one. As you can see, there’s chairs and cocktail tables around the perimeter up here and there’s a nice view of the stage.
Here’s the top level and there’s a bar up here. This is the same bar from back in the day! Memories!
Okay, we’re back on ground level and there’s the bar down here. Let’s go up and get a drink.
Cherry, from the Red Barn was bartending and it was wonderful to see her, it’s been a while! She’s looking great and it was nice to say hi to her!
They had a nice merchandise area in the lobby with limited-edition t-shirts, cards and posters celebrating this special evening.
The proceeds from these sales went to TAPS No Kill Animal Shelter.
I ran into some friends at the show, from top, there’s Wes, Larry and Jeanette! Great to see all of them on this enjoyable evening!
There’s Rick Halberg, who’s the MC for the evening and he has a history in Peoria music as he was one of the original on-air personalities on WWCT 106!
The other MC for the night is another WWCT 106 veteran, Rick Hirschmann, who is currently an on-air personality at 93.3 The Drive.
He’s pictured with the lovely JoEll Allen, who used to manage The Second Chance back in the day and threw me out on several occasions for pouring beer on people and bands from the rafters!
Great to see all of them!
Here’s the guy who pretty much put this whole event together, Craig Moore. Craig is a life-long musician and played in several bands that were frequent headliners at the Second Chance back in the day. He also owns Younger Than Yesterday, Peoria’s premier record store.
Craig invited me backstage, so let’s head on back there and see what’s happening!
Here we are in the backstage area and I ran into musician Matt Warren who’s playing with several of the bands this evening. And in the spirit of the night he brought a Kool Ray and the Polaroidz button!
Rick also brought a blast from the past, his old WWCT 106 jacket! This is a night of memories for sure!
Here’s a trio of shots featuring Scott Robbins, from the Markley, Van Camp and Robbins Show which is Peoria’s only nationally syndicated radio program. You can listen to the show here in Peoria on WMBD Radio.
Up top is Scott with his girlfriend, in the middle he’s with musician Darren Peacock who’s performing in the show tonight and below he’s chatting with Rick Halberg.
One of the featured songs for the evening’s show is Robert Palmer’s, “Addicted To Love” and these girls are recreating the “Addicted To Love” female musicians from the video! I love it and can’t wait to see them on stage, they look identical to the original women from the video!
I just looked at the schedule and the show is starting shortly and I haven’t eaten dinner yet! I need to run because I haven’t eaten all day and I’m starvin’ like you know who!
Dinner was catered in for the evening by The Untamed Chef in the old O’Leary’s portion of the building.
And there’s Rebecca, the Untamed Chef herself and I ran into my friends Pj and John! Great to see them and Rebecca served up our dinner’s in record time, we shoveled the food down and now…it’s showtime!
Tune in tomorrow to see photos from the show!
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3300 Willow Knolls Drive
Peoria
309-966-0876
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Related Post: This Used To Be Second Chance Nightclub, Now It’s Second Chance Church.