| Pontiac
Grille
304 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147 |
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Location: South Street Area
Phone: (215) 925-4053 Overall Rating (1 to 10): 7 What I’d Do To Improve the Place: Spruce up the exterior. Never been a fan of the glass blocks. Buy a new dart board, the British Darts Organization might want to place it in their collection of 18th Century bristle boards.
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| The Pontiac Grille is one of the rare venue's in Philadelphia that gives up-and-coming original bands a place to showcase their talent. In addition to the local talent, the Pontiac Grille has played host to such acts as Marcy Playground and
Julianna Hatfield. The site has long been a hang-out for the "Indie crowd." There is no dress code, but be advised that you will stick out like a sore thumb if you strut in there wearing a buttoned-down shirt and tie. Jeans and the color black are the
norms here.
If you dare, enter through the wooden door shown above. The first thing that you'll notice, is that the lights have been dimmed to focus your attention on the stage located at the far end of the room. Along the left hand wall are a hand-full of tables. Opposite these tables is the bar. The bar is large, seating about 20 patrons. The stage is about 3 feet off of the floor and wedged into the back wall of the building. The outline of the back stairs can be noticed, but it never really seems to bother the live acts. They've got enough room up on stage to get a good running start to stage dive if they so desire. Directly in front of the stage is an open area, large enough for about 40 - 50 crazed fans to do their thing. They really used their head when they hooked all of the televisions (on both floors) to a closed-circuit live-feed of the main stage. This was impressive. The closed circuit TV ensures that no matter where you are in this bar, you'll have a good shot of the live act. I can think of ten other bars that should pick-up on this. Upstairs are two full-sized pool tables, a dart board, another bar (with a TV showing the downstairs live act) and a small homage to Jerry Garcia containing photo's and ticket stubs from Grateful Dead concerts. Admittedly, the dart board has seen better days, but it is out of the way and there is no chance of impaling your fellow patrons. If you're visiting the South Street area, drop into the Pontiac Grille, you never know who you might end up seeing there. On Tuesday's there is no cover charge and it is open mike night, so bring an instrument and prepare to be a star (musical and TV), even if it is for only a few fleeting minutes.
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