YUPPIES & REDNECKS & HIPPIES,
OH MY!
North Shores Fun and Funky
Reindeer Lodge
Its a
Saturday night at the lake in early spring. The
wind howls and blows snow across the road, adding to the six-foot drifts at the side. We pull into the Reindeer Lodge (or the
Deer as it is affectionately known) atop Mount Rose, after a harrowing
three-hour drive from the South Shore right in the fury of an all-out blizzard.
We try to park near the door expecting
that few storm-worthy travelers have attempted the trek and find the parking lot
overflowing with snow-covered auto mounds. Lydia
Pence and Cold Blood will not be disappointed tonightthe capacity crowd at the
Deer is sparking with anticipation. You
should be here on a hot summer night. Laughs Brian Wilkin, the hospitable and
affable manager behind the bar. A native
Nevadan from Pioche, he came to work at the lodge in 1990 and admits it seems to agree
with him. Saturday nights are sacred to rock
n roll here with headliner bands from the70s and 80s performing in
the intimately funky atmosphere. A typical
season sports Elvin Bishop, Leon Russel, Norton Buffalo, The Tubes, Greg Kihn, Moby Grape
(Jerry Garcias favorite band), Bo Diddly, Tower of Power, and New Riders of the
Purple Sage. How do bands get there and why
do they come?
The answer can be supplied with one
name: Gary Schmidt, rock promoter and pop festival organizer extraordinare, who came by
his trade via an unlikely route. Born to
resourceful parents, who came from farms in Nebraska and moved to Alabama during the
Depression, they farmed, logged, drilled for oil, became motel owners and miners. They moved to the Bay Area when Gary went to high
school, where he eventually graduated from San Jose State with degrees in Economics,
Computer Science and Real Estate in 1966, while working at Lockheed as a computer
operator.
Schmidt started following rock
n roll bands at dance clubs on the Peninsula like Beau Brummels, the Warlocks
(later the Grateful Dead), Mojo Man, The Doors, and Big Brother and the Holding Company at
the Morocco Room in San Carlos, the Chalet Inn and Big Als Gas House in Santa Clara. Soon, the idea of being in the music business
germinated. During the last 20 years, he has
owned four nightclubs in the South Bay (the Odyssey, the Night Cap, Frenchys and
Alfies) which regularly saw the likes of those bands mentioned above along with
Credence Clearwater, Van Morrison, Iron Butterfly, Procol Harum, Lee Michaels, the Chamber
Brothers, and Cold Blood, among others.
Schmidt in conjunction with his dad
and a buddy from Stanford, Mark Robinson, threw in $10,000 each and got into the rock
concert arena. They organized and promoted
the Newport Pop Festival in Orange County in 1968, one of the first outdoor rock concerts,
after everyone else said it would flop. It
obviously didnt and the partners laughed all the way to the bank. Over 100,000 rock fans showed to see Steppin
Wolf, Eric Burdon, Sky Pilot, Canned Heat, The Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe, The
Byrds, and Sonny and Cher, comprising the largest concert crowd up to that time. Also in 1968, they successfully launched the
first San Francisco International Pop Festival, and went on to promote major concerts in
Oregon, California and Nevada.
Schmidt bought the Reindeer Lodge as
an investment in 1972, when it was called the Sundance and he was occupied elsewhere
running his clubs and growing pistachios. Its
getting his full attention now, although he swears not to change the wild and eclectic,
antique and funk interior. He is sprucing up
the grounds that will feature snowmobiling in the winter and soon will offer stables and
horseback riding on extensive county park and National Forest lands. He and his bride-to-be are contemplating opening a
service facility nearby as this neck of the woods is a bit remote. It will include a gas station and repair shop, a
mini-mart and sports equipment shop, an art gallery, a small motel and cabins. And he promises to do all this in an
environmentally conscious manner.
The Deer also provides
food along with its entertainment and friendly warmth.
Internationally renowned Buffalo Burgers can be found here, along with
beer fries, superb burritos and grilled fare. Manager
Brian Wilkin and cook Noah will make you some mean BBQ ribs if you call in advance. And speaking of warmth, there is no livelier place
to dance in your blue suedes, cowboy/ski boots, or your Birkenstocks. The Reindeer is pure, unadulterated fun and funk
with crowds to match, all ages and origins. The
stage and dance floor nearly overlap, the bands are great, and the atmosphere is anything
but prim and proper: young rednecks and graying hippies dance elbow to elbow. One night when we visit, Lydia and Cold Blood blew
our socks off, and typically the crowd refused to let them go, so on they played.
If life has seemed to a little too
predictable lately, a trip to the Reindeer Lodge is recommended. Located eight miles east of U.S. 395 on the Mount
Rose Highway near the summit, the hours are 7 a.m. to ?, seven days a week. Fridays offer country music and Saturdays jive to
the best of rock n roll. Call
(702) 849-9902 for the line-up.
Susan Evans, Associate Editor Tahoe Reader
- June, 1991
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