Who Remembers…The New Wave Cafe?

Here is another installment in our Who Remembers? series. You can browse previous articles by using the search bar on the right. These articles are strolls down memory lane. In some cases the buildings, but new businesses have replaced them. In other instances, the buildings or even the properties have been razed. Instead of a building, it may be a TV show, personality, or commercial that no one longer exists. Either way, it can’t stop us from taking the Memory Lane stroll!

As always we would rather this be a discussion. No one knows this area better than those who grew up here! Please, leave constructive criticism, feedback, and corrections. We’d love to hear your anecdotes. Please share!

I’m going to pre-empt the meat and potatoes of this piece with a disclaimer: this article will be a reminiscing of the positive aspects of the New Wave Cafe establishment. Life is filled with too many negative Nancies, cynics, and haters. As I get older, I couldn’t care less about the negative aspects. The proverbial cliche of “There are those who believe the glass is half empty, and those who think it’s half full. Both are correct.” Rings more true than ever.

I have very fond memories of the “New Wave.” I met my current girlfriend and love of my life Rachael there 8 years ago. I asked her out there as well. I made some great, lasting friendships there. I’ve had some mouth-watering fare. I’ve seen some phenomenal music acts there. I’ve had half a dozen birthday drinks there. I’ve had some of the most rewarding experiences of my life there.

So forgive me, if I decide I’d rather focus on those instead of the rare bad time I had there or what led to the New Wave’s demise. 🙂

I’m trying to think of a better place when it came to variety of music, and I’m coming up blank. Most musical tastes are complex and people typically don’t restrict themselves to the imaginary borders that supposedly exist amongst genre of music. “Do I like this song?” is about a good enough litmus test as any. Genres be damned.

I like that I could watch people do Karaoke one night, acoustic (Tuesdays) another, open mic on another and metal on yet another. So whatever I was in the mood for at a particular time, I could just check out their MySpace (What’s MySpace?) page for the schedule or call owner Paul Mendes, who always had an enthusiastic answer.

When I frequented the New Wave, Wednesdays nights – Karaoke with Weezy and Dee – were perhaps the most popular. You had better of been nestled into your seat an hour early at a minimum, because they place was guaranteed to be packed. I’ve been to a lot of horrible Karaoke, but Wednesday evenings at the New Wave was filled with some amazingly good talent. A lot of local musicians would pop in and give everyone a treat. There were regulars you could rely on to put on a show. I particularly recall looking forward to enjoying Chris Haskell doing Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer.” Yeah, I’m a big Elton John fan.

The New Wave Cafe, at any given time, could have Jazz, Punk, Hip-Hop, Reggae, Punk, R&B, Blues, and everything else under the sun, but it wasn’t just music that made the place so enjoyable. There was a pool table and pool league, a Jukebox, those little electronic game kiosks where I played many hours of trivia and a game where two images were shown and you had to peck on the differences. Mikey Almond was usually my partner in crime.

I liked that I could come at lunch time and have some of the best Portuguese food in the area. One time I was there and Mendes had just hired a new cook. She was an immigrant from Mozambique. Yeah, you guessed right. We asked her to make us some Chicken Mozambique and it was out of this world.

Then there were the people….the people that came there and the people who worked behind the bar. Of course, there were too many servers to count over the long life of the New Wave Cafe, but Steph and Danielle were the best bartenders on earth as far as I was concerned. The people that frequent an establishment and work there decide whether a place succeeds or fails. You can have a great location, awesome food and music, but ultimately it comes down to the people. They create the atmosphere, environment and lend a vibrancy to a place. The New Wave was just “alive.”

Once I was there early in the evening. There were perhaps a half dozen other people. It was a slow night with no music scheduled. It was somehow discovered that a fellow that was sitting having a beer was a local who gigged out in Vegas that was back in town visiting. Paul Mendes casually asked this guy “Do you have your guitar with you? If you want, you can hop up on stage and jam out a song or two. Be my guest.”

Well, this guy did that. He grabbed his guitar, hopped on stage and blew our minds. Everyone started calling their friends to tell about this guy who was mind-bogglingly amazing. I kid you not, that within a half an hour Paul had to stop letting people in because he reached the fire code limit. That guitarist was Mark Small and he jammed for hours. I was stoked that I had been sitting their early enough and had the best seat in the house, because you could barely move, it was so packed.

Events like this were a regular thing. You showed up because you knew it was going to be an eventful, memory filled night. Aside from the regularly scheduled acts, there were special events like the Rockfest (each July), the “Save the Titties” which was a creative way to raise funds for Breast Cancer. I can’t finish without mentioning Ron Poitras who hosted the musical shows and covered the sound. He had an almost mystical status. Every band in the area had great things to say about Ron’s ability. You got the feeling that Ron was talented enough to operate the sound board at the Providence Civic Center, but would rather be in a small venue.

The back patio was the best place in the “house.” I loved that I could sit on a couch, and relax, yet I was at a bar! If the New Wave was to re-open, you would find me 3 nights a week sitting on the couch in the back patio.

There are too many names of servers to mention and my memory is not what it used to be, so if I forgot to mention you, I apologize. You can punch me in the face, when you see me next. I won’t take it personal.

I’ll close with James Brockman’s video. Chances are YOU are in it or recognize someone!

What were YOUR favorite memories of the New Wave? Best act you saw there?

New Wave Cafe
143 N Front St
New Bedford, Massachusetts 02740-7332
Phone: (508) 984-0080 (Defunct)

TON of photos on their still existing MySpace Page and on Flickr.

[Show as slideshow]