'The Globe gave so many bands a chance.' Some are reuniting to honor the Milwaukee club.

Thirty years ago, the Globe East live music club opened its doors at 2028 E. North Ave., replacing another club, Boardwalk, on Milwaukee's east side.

Ten years later, it closed its doors. Now, 20 years after shutting down, the Globe East is coming back.

It'll only be for one day, a Globe Reunion concert at the Miramar Theatre Saturday, a fundraiser for WMSE-FM (91.7). But it's going to be a really long day.

There are 18 bands on the bill, many of them reuniting for the occasion. Combined, they will play from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.

That kind of recognition for a long-closed club that only operated for a decade may seem unusual. Not to former owner Leah DeMarco, who worked at the Globe when it opened its doors in 1993 and, four years later, bought the place from original owner Ian Pesch.

"I am really not surprised," DeMarco told the Journal Sentinel via email. "I am so very happy so many bands are reforming after over 20 years of not playing a show since we closed. … The Globe gave so many new bands a chance."

The venue hosted its fair share of noteworthy acts. DeMarco recalled a night in 1997 where No Doubt played for a handful of people during a snowstorm. Their opening act: Blink-182.

Other noted bands stopping on the road to bigger stages and stardom included Disturbed, the Faint, Breaking Benjamin, Less Than Jake and Veruca Salt.

'There was no real backstage' at the Globe

The Globe wasn't the most polished venue. In a 2003 Journal Sentinel interview before the Globe closed, Goff described the aesthetic as "rough" with a touch of "grime." (Goff was finishing graduate school at the time, and there were no takers to pick up the rent, which was expected to increase.)

"The Globe was a dump, but it was the best place to see live shows, because there was no real backstage," Peter Johnson, a frequent visitor to the club, told the Journal Sentinel in 2003. "So the bands you had admired for years would walk by you a foot from you to get a glass of water or something. … You could actually get to know the bands you liked. That made it very cool and the place to go."

Aside from the appeal of rubbing elbows with national touring acts, for DeMarco a point of pride was how the Globe East served as a hub for local bands. Many of them played at all-ages shows, a rarity among clubs in the city even today.

"Those kids grew up watching and playing live music in my club, set a foundation for a lot of their social lives," DeMarco said. “Regardless of only being open five nights a week — we still shuffled 40 to 80 bands a month through the Globe.”

All-ages shows would host seven to 10 bands a night, DeMarco said, with the most popular new bands rising the ranks from new band nights to weekend opening slots to headlining gigs.

"I would like to think that the bands that ended up getting signed to major record labels started on new band night," DeMarco continued. "I know at least some of them did."

A birthday party becomes a tribute concert

DeMarco said she's been pitched the idea for a Globe tribute show several times over the years, but she took the idea seriously when a friend and loyal Globe patron suggested it again this year. They both reached out to Jeff Hamilton, a noted local musician, producer and sound engineer who plays in Beatallica, frequently works with Violent Femmes and, most recently, hit the road with Zach Bryan. Hamilton recorded audio for several bands that played the Globe and operated a recording studio in the space above the adjacent venue G-Daddy's BBC with Paul Kneevers.

As fate would have it, Hamilton explained in an email to the Journal Sentinel, he had booked the Miramar for a Sept. 2 concert for his birthday. His planned birthday bash transformed into a Globe celebration.

"When Leah provided me with a list of bands she wished to perform, I informed her that many of the bands are either defunct, band members hate each other, have long moved onto lives elsewhere … or tragically members are deceased," Hamilton said. "It was (expletive) hard to pull this bill together. … However, the lineup I assembled is truly a microcosm of representation from that exalted era."

Some local acts, like Ethan Keller and Black Belt Theatre (the latter a local supergroup featuring past members of '90s rock bands Buzzhorn, Alligator Gun and Bender, all of whom scored record deals), are relatively active in the local scene.

But the lineup also includes a rare performance by the Benjamins, a local band that signed to Drive-Thru Records, played the Warped Tour and toured with Sum 41 in 2001; and the reunited Big Dumb Dick, which played the final gig at the Globe on April 30, 2003.

Other bands Hamilton booked for the Globe Reunion: Junk Fud, Secret Goldfish, Soma, Orange Ruffy, Miss Trixie, White Blotter, Mona Lisa OD, Banana, Mississippi Cactus, The Truck, Fictional God, The Invaders, The Exotics and Big Bang Theory.

"I would say the majority of the bands that are on this reunion bill played at least six to eight times a year throughout the Globe's tenure," DeMarco said. "It feels so good to know people still hold the Globe in such a high regard."

If you go

What: The Globe Reunion Show

When: 1 p.m. Sept. 2

Where: Miramar Theatre, 2844 N. Oakland Ave.

How much?: $20 in advance at themiramartheatre.com; $25 day of show

Contact Piet at (414) 223-5162 or plevy@journalsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter at @pietlevy or Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 18 Milwaukee bands come together to celebrate Globe East music club