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The Forgotten Venues Tour, Stop 4: Fusion Bar & Grill

Posted on 14. Dec, 2009 by thederosh in Features, Forgotten Venues Tour

Okay, we have a quick confession to make: Our never-ending mission to present you with Springfield’s lesser-known and overlooked places to see or book a live music show hit a bit of a snag in the last several months. The Forgotten Venues Tour’s van broke down, if you will. Thankfully, after some roadside work using a matchbook, two sticks of gum and the plastic hula girl we pulled off the dashboard, we’re back on a roll again. The tour lives, people!

So what should be the next stop? After starting out with stops here, here and here, how about a location with one of the best-sounding rooms in Springfield not dedicated full-time to live music, a place where you can keep up with The Big Game while taking in a show and maybe even squeeze in a game of pool while you do it. You know, that kind of place that’s a fusion of a sports bar, a music venue and a pool hall… hmmmm…

Where is it?/How Do I Get There? Fusion Bar & Grill (2609 N. Kansas Expy.) is located inside a shopping center just a hop, skip and jump away from another sports bar, Buffalo Wild Wings. Admittedly not the way to distinguish yourself, but there’s a hidden plus to it: You’re a stone’s throw away from a multitude of late-night food spots. Smashed and hungry after bar close? Jimmy John’s, IHOP, McDonald’s and Waffle House are all within walking distance. We don’t need more temptation!

The directions are simple: Take Kansas Expressway north toward the Wal-Mart Supercenter immediately south of I-44. When you reach the intersection that takes you into the Wal-Mart parking lot (you’ll know it when you see the Quik-Trip on your left), turn in and then take the first possible left in the lot and double back southward. Keep a close watch on the lighted logo signs to your right on the shopping center; you won’t find another way to spot Fusion once you’re in the lot.

What’s the crowd like? Remarkably diverse (21 and up, and filling all points in between) and remarkably willing to dance. It could have been because of the band–cover group Open Fire was playing its last show ever at Fusion the night we went–but we doubt it. These people would dance to anything, from Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold” (which one would not think would be popular with the ladies, and yet…) to The Clash’s “Should I Stay Or Should I Go.” Regardless of the song, there was much booty on the dance floor–at least a dozen people at any given time–and there was much shaking of it. 

How’s the stage? The stage is the floor on the east end of the main room, save for the biggest drum riser we have ever seen. Seriously. It rises at least a foot and a half off the floor and is large enough to hold a drum set that could make Neil Pert blush. Okay, maybe not, but it’s damned big. To be honest, Open Fire guitarist Frank Howell doesn’t need much of a stage anyway; it’s “have wireless guitar, will travel” with that guy.

How’s the sound? Surprising, to say the least. We walked into a room full of the concrete-block interior walls typical of a commercial building and expected the bouncing, screeching, assaulting sound that typically goes with them. We couldn’t have been more wrong. The three instruments onstage came through clearly and the sound wasn’t overpowering, though you may strain just a little to carry a conversation if you’re any closer to the stage than, say, the bar. “The bass tone is insane,” Scott P. said at one point, not because it was so extraordinary but because it could be heard so well. 

The bar uses its own PA and lighting rigs, complete with an imposingly large booth over the singer’s right shoulder to run the whole thing. On this night, though, Open Fire brought its own mixing board and is running its own sound.

What about the atmosphere? It’s pretty chummy, especially when you accept that there’s more going on than the show. Fusion is a sports bar, and as such it has 16 television screens sprinkled throughout the building and pennants (ironically, none of them related to baseball) adorning almost every wall. The only spot you can’t watch a game from is the bathroom, and you can’t watch the show from there, either. The point is the concert can have a lot to compete with for the public’s attention, depending on the circumstances, but the crowd’s lack of pretense bridges all gaps. Here you have sports fans without the jock vibe, music lovers who aren’t hipsters and bar people who aren’t annoyed that the other two groups are in the room. 

One thing all three groups have in common: They seem to like their cover bands. Others are welcome–EgoMagnet used to play here, for example–but Pearl has three Budweiser-provided posters around the stage area. You can seat about 30 people at the ginormous semicircular bar, and the rest of the seating is a mixture of high and low tables. With about 100 people in the room on the night we went, though, there was quite a lot of standing going on, too.

Here’s a fun bonus fact: Fusion may be located inside a shopping center, but you would never know from the inside. Nothing feels cheap or cuttie-cutter with the design and decor of the place, with the aforementioned concrete wall the only visual indication this location might have doubled as a Dollar Tree store at some time.* Great quality and attention to detail.

Why do people keep asking about the notebook we brought? How else are we supposed to take notes about a place? What, you mean people don’t normally do that in here? The guys at the table ahead of us meant well–simple curiosity–but it must be awfully strange to have a guy keep looking in your direction and writing something down while he does it. At least we’re in a friendly room; that might be a beatdown-able offense in some places.

How do I get in touch with them? If you would like to find out more about filling one of Fusion’s Thursday-, Friday- or Saturday-night live music slots, or would just like to see who’s playing when for some listening fun, call 417-869-3874.

* We don’t actually know what the room was before it was a bar, but we’re betting it wasn’t a Dollar Tree. Maybe a nail salon or something. We kid, we kid!

Tags: budweiser, concert, egomagnet, forgotten venues tour, fusion bar & grill, local, music, neil pert, open fire, pearl, profile, scott p., springfield, ted nugent, the clash, venue