The first large-scale benefit-concert was presented at Madison Square Garden on August 1, 1971 – the event being now known as the Concert for Bangladesh.

Concert for Bangladesh

Organized by George Harrison and Ravi Shankar, the two shows that day were meant to raise awareness and relief funds for the refugees in Bangladesh, their plight brought about by a massive cyclone (which killed approximately 500,000 people) and ongoing genocide from a civil war.

The video above is but only one performance of several delivered by the likes of George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Billy Preston and Leon Russell – Leon being on the piano center stage in the YouTube video you see above.

What a great performance! … especially remarkable since the organizers and musicians were treading upon new ground . History has shown that from a financial management perspective, mistakes were made in the production of the concert; however, lessons were learned from this initial benefit-concert which would later benefit future benefit-productions such as Live Aid.

Harrison, Dylan and Russell – 1971

To this day, sales of the DVD of the Concert for Bangladesh continue to support the George Harrison Fund for UNICEF who administered the original concert’s proceeds.

A gentleman who would have been in the audience rockin’ out at Madison Square Garden on that day in 1971 (if he had been alive then) was Jonathan Swift – a poet, author and cleric from around the 1700’s who believed that religion, morality and politics were inseparable.

“A man should never be ashamed to own that he has been in the wrong, which is but saying… that he is wiser today than yesterday.”

Jonathan Swift said that – profound, in my opinion. A far cry from the approach he took in Gulliver’s Travels, one of the classics for which he is known. Ol’ Johnny-Boy MUST have been smokin’ somethin’ when he created that four-part literary masterpiece penned under one of his pseudonyms, Lemuel Gulliver.

Johnathan Swift

But Mr. Swift ‘s statement about learning from one’s mistakes (as occurred with the Concert for Bangladesh) is still germane to many modern aspects of life three centuries or so after he uttered the quote. One such aspect is business, of course – my focus here being how that plays out in the Brews and Chews community here in the Greater Jacksonville area.

For those of you who were familiar with my old website, you probably remember a “Coming Soon” page I had entitled “Bitch Slaps” – a page I was reserving for those experiences during my Prowls when I would encounter bad service, bad food, dirty dishes or filthy, poorly stocked restrooms. It’s still in the works – mainly because I believe everyone deserves the opportunity of learning from their mistakes. My initial feedback to the offending establishment is personal and direct verbal communication with management – not published here for all to see. My feeling is that yours should be, too – it’s good for the establishment and good for the Brews and Chews scene in our community. Only when no attempt at improvement is made will the establishment fin d a dedicated post in “Bitch Slaps”.

If toes are stepped on, they NEED steppin’ on … and I hope all the owners, managers and staff of restaurants, bars and breweries in our area keep a simple truth in mind every day they are open to the public:

Once your doors open – every day – what we EXPECT is a performance on par with Leon Russell’s above. Every day – every meal – every beer.

We expect it because we get up and go to work in the morning like you do … and after taxes and other deductions, there is precious little disposable income to spend on entertainment, food and craft beer at your establishment. It follows naturally that folks sometimes get angry and show their you-know-what when they receive a meal which wasn’t prepared well or accurately – when they miss out on a wonderful experience due to a server who brought their personal issues to work – when their relatively expensive craft beer is served in a less-than-sanitary glass. Other folks keep it to themselves but have already made up their mind to never come back to that location.

We come to your place of business to ENHANCE our quality of life. The number of opportunities of enjoying a fun night out in a lifetime is finite – due to the natural aging process of man – and the limitation of funds.

Please strive to do all you can to make our experience with you first-rate by giving us the best performances you can – every time we visit.

Leon’s Youngblood lyrics included the lamentable, “I ain’t had none of the good thing” … here’s hoping your Brews and Chews delivery will have us singing, “this place? … it’s a gas, gas, gas”

… damn it … sorry … but I just read Ed Stansel’s re-post of Gary T. Mills’s article about the closing of Speckled Hen Tavern:

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/423471/gary-mills/2013-05-20/gastropub-closes-jacksonvilles-southside

… damn it … sorry again …

It’s not that I visited the place often – actually only once. But it is saddening to learn of the demise of a “brews and chews” establishment in our community – especially one (selfishly speaking) which offered a respectable array of craft beer.

My first and apparently now my ONLY visit was way back on July 26, 2012 – and I DID prepare an unpublished blog post.

“Unpublished” because my experience was not that enjoyable – and because I had included the reasons for it being so underwhelming – and because I WANTED to love the place – and because I BELIEVED I COULD love the place – and because I am of the opinion any place deserves a second chance.

In fairness, there WERE some highlights, also – the beers we ordered for instance (copied and pasted from the unpublished post):

“We decided to sit at the bar which gave us a good view of the good beer selection in draft and bottles available at Speckled Hen Tavern and Grille.

Companion opted nostalgically for Old Speckled Hen since this was his favorite bottled beer in 2005. He was excited they had it on nitro in draft form and later said now that he had tasted it from the tap, he might be spoiled away from the bottled variety of this brew, described on Old Speckled Hen’s (Greene King Brewery) website:

Old Speckled Hen
Old Speckled Hen has a full, smooth flavour and is very easy to drink. Its rich amber colour and superb fruity aromas are complemented by a delicious blend of malty tastes. Toffee and malt combine with bitterness on the back of the tongue to give a balanced sweetness. This, all followed by a refreshingly dry finish.

I looked through their beer selections (over 80 counting taps and bottled crafts) and finally settled on (description per brewery’s website):

Bell’s Brewery Pale Ale
Pale Ale stands apart from the model of completely hop-dominated pale ales, offering a noticeable degree of malt body to counter the hop bitterness. A blend of floral & herbal hop notes provide the aromatic & flavor highlights, alongside the distinctive contribution of our house ale yeast. A crisp bitterness finishes the experience without being harsh.”

What issues did I have? … well, the bartender, for one thing:

“Our bartender was friendly, efficient and excited about an upcoming gig he and his band had. Although he spent most of our time there in discussion with a couple of regulars, he made sure we had what we needed.”

This was a nice way of saying as first-time visitors, NO effort was made to make us feel welcome – and he wasn’t that knowledgeable about the craft beers on top of that. I also had to almost drag answers out of him … aggravating. And by the way, ALMOST A YEAR LATER, I still remember that.

The half-price appetizers were certainly “appetizing” in their descriptions – but had a “freezer burn” taste to them. Granted, we were there early but …

So, here’s just my “two cents” … and keep in mind I have NO idea why Speckled Hen Tavern closed – they may be planning a regeneration elsewhere for all I know – but here we go:

1) I don’t believe there was ENOUGH of a focus on the promotion of available craft beer at Speckled Hen Tavern. Especially back in the summer of 2012, Speckled Hen could have touted the quantity and quality of craft beer then currently housed within their coolers and taps. Beer Dinners should have been presented – weekly beer events should have been coordinated with their distributor(s) and then broadcasted out in the most effective forum available – tastings should have been scheduled with details flooding the advertising venues.
2) I believe ANY bartender about to be “rolled out on stage” to serve the Jacksonville craft beer lovin’ public should be trained about the beer he or she will be slingin’ – at least a short but accurate description , ABV, IBUs and size of pour.
3) Special attention should ALWAYS be paid to first-time visitors. Look, we ALL want to become “regulars” as soon as financially possible at any place we frequent – BUT – during a FIRST visit, folks want to know their patronage is appreciated. They also want to know “the skinny” on the establishment – Happy Hour details, hours, Sunday Brunch details , frequent-beer-buyer programs, etc. – AND YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE TO DIG THE DAMN INFORMATION OUT OF THEM … sorry …

The menu looked phenomenal by the way – and we planned on giving Speckled Hen Tavern a serious second chance. Of course, there aren’t enough “hours in the day” or “dollars in the wallet” – or “stomachs and livers in a human body” to hit all the bars and restaurants in our area. Our second visit was on our radar –it just hadn’t happened to date.

You lean and hungry entrepreneurs out there – waiting for your chance at the “Brews and Chews Pie” in the Greater Jacksonville area – take 1) through 3) to heart before you open. If you do, you’ll see a steady stream of craft beer lovers spending their hard-earned money with YOU. Remember, I never want to read an article about the demise of what YOU worked so hard for … NEVER …

Crap! … I already miss Speckled Hen Tavern – I would have ended up loving it one day, I know …

… damn it …