The Turners were (and are) a pretty interesting organization that got started in Germany during the 1800s. They were a bunch of "gymnastic unions" with the motto "Sound Mind in a Sound Body." In fact the word Turners is derived from the German word turnen for gymnastics. One of their edicts is:
"Liberty, against all oppression; Tolerance, against all fanaticism; Reason, against all superstition; Justice, against all exploitation!"
I don't know too much more about them... but that seems like pretty good stuff...
For info on Turners check out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turners
For more info on Turner Hall see:
http://milwaukeeturners.org/Preservation-Trust/index.shtml
Here's the upcoming gigs:
http://www.turnerhall.org/
Here's a couple of articles on the upcoming concerts at Turner Hall:
http://www.shepherd-express.com/1editorialbody.lasso?-token.folder=2007-09-27&-token.story=178434.113121&-token.subpub=
http://www.biztimes.com/news/2006/8/4/ballroom-enhancing
Turner Hall was build in 1882. It's a very cool building with a gymnasium, a restaurant/bar, and the ball room. The ballroom experienced a fire in 1933 that basically shut it down for entertainment purposes and so it was then used primarily for storage until the year 2000. The fire was reportedly started by a short in a Christmas tree at a Christmas Eve part in 1933. The damage was mainly to the stage area as seen on some beams here:
There was another fire in 1941, but I'm not sure what damage that caused.
Here's some more pics that I and E (thank you) took when we played on 4/23/2007 :
That's a pillar they restored to show what could be done to the hall to fix it up if funds can be secured to do it.
The windows that face downtown.
Here's one of the domes found in the ceiling. You can see the paint peeling away. Not sure how many layers off stuff there is, but originally there was supposed to be a bunch of stencil work. It would've been very cool to see it after it had just opened. It's very cool now and quite gothic looking. Makes you wonder how much of it should be restored or how much should be just left as is.
These are the windows as seen from the balcony.
Here's the rear balcony photographed from the side balcony.
Turner Hall Milwaukee
This is some of the ornate wood working found under some of the arches.
That's Brad and Steve White discussing something about the stage.
This is from the side balcony. The stage back then was very uneven with many a loose board. It was tough to find a place for my keyboards where I wasn't afraid they would fall over. Made for a memorable gig (in addition to having to lug all the equipment up a couple flights of stairs... they now have an elevator).
Here we are on the stage. Pic by E.
Another shot of us. Pic by E.
Brad Odland, the manically mastermind of the band. This was in set of rooms next to the ball room. I think these were small dressing rooms that Brad is standing. They many also have been bathrooms, I can't recall now. They add some wonderful old junk back there... including some gymnastic equipment.
M1 - Soul Amp Check out the old piano we found and those rooms next to the ball room. Also, I really dig the jumbled up pile of chairs behind me.
Voodoo Drummer - Soul Amp M2 rocking out.
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