Brewster Street Ice House is celebrating 10 years of live music in Corpus Christi. Located smack dab in the center of the S.E.A. (Sports Entertainment Art) District, the city wouldn’t be the same without it.
“Brewster Street is at the center of the music scene in Corpus and we’ve done as much as we can to build it up,” said Mark Schaberg, Operating Partner at the iconic venue. “In 10 years, we’ve put on 2,000 shows and sold over a million tickets.”
The venue has seen huge success its whole life, including opening night, which coincided (thanks to a lot of hard work and an accelerated schedule) with a legendary night on the baseball field.
When Whataburger Field was under construction, Schaberg and his partners from Concrete Street Amphitheater started plotting. They wanted a place where people could hang out before The Hooks’ baseball games. They saw potential in an old Union Pacific train warehouse, which they soon repurposed into a bar and grill with a stage. The result was a venue that created the same kind of atmosphere music lovers flock to in Austin, the self-proclaimed “live music capitol of the world.”
Hammers were still pounding at Brewster Street Ice House during The Hooks’ first season. As the second year of AA ball unfolded, the team announced that legendary pitcher Roger Clemens would take the mound for a rehabilitation game.
“We were two months from finishing but we put it in overdrive,” Schaberg explained. They weren’t going to let that opportunity go to waste. “We opened on June 9th, pushing sawdust out the back and bringing customers in the front. June 11th was the game that Roger pitched. That was our first weekend.”
Schaberg is proud that, since its inception, Brewster Street Ice House has had a significant influence on the music scene in Corpus Christi.
“We brought in this full size concert venue that wasn’t here before,” he said. “Bands that outgrow the local grassroots venues can come here. We help them continue to develop and grow.”
The venue boasts of many big names that have rolled through: Meghan Trainor, Kevin Fowler, Lady Antebellum, Randy Rogers Band, Justin Timberlake, Cody Johnson, Aaron Watson and more.
Now in it’s 10th year, Brewster Street is inviting everyone to celebrate this milestone. The venue is booked with special events throughout its anniversary month:
June 9 Turnpike Troubadors, with Old 97’s & the O’s
June 10 Erotic City: The Ultimate Prince Tribute
June 11 Russell Boyd’s Sing-A- Long Piano Bar
June 16 Zane Williams, with Prophets & Outlaws
June 17 Jimmy Buffet Parrot Head Tribute, with Jerry Diaz
June 23 Wade Bowen, with Dalton Domino
June 24 The Band that Fell From Earth: David Bowie Odyssey
June 30 Jon Wolfe, with Gabe Garcia
Brewster Street Ice House is located at 1724 N Tancahua Street in Corpus Christi. Visit brewsterstreet.net or call the venue at (361) 884-2739 for more information.