Jay's Longhorn Bar, most frequently referred to by patrons as The Longhorn has arguably been considered what constituted the nexus of the punk music scene in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was located at 14 S. 5th Street in the downtown district of the city. Originally owned by Jay Berine with help from general manager/artist director/musician Al Wodtke (Badfinger, KYX,Crow,Apostles). The Longhorn became a legendary punk rock/hardcore punk venue. Bands that have played there include, but are not limited to: The Flamin' Oh's, Blondie, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, The Suburbs, the Suicide Commandos, the Hypstrz, Naked Raygun, The Effigies, The Ramones, Pere Ubu, Lily Tomlin, The Plasmatics, Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, Curtiss A, The Nerves, The Stranglers, The Police (on their first US tour) and many more. Before it was an established punk rock venue, the Longhorn hosted a thriving jazz scene. It was homebase for the progressive jazz group Natural Life and brought with it many national and international jazz acts.
Chris Osgood, singer/guitarist of the Suicide Commandos, said about the Longhorn in the July/August 2005 issue of Magnet magazine: "The Longhorn was like CBGB in that it was a long bar with a low ceiling and the band was up on a riser at one end of the room. It had been a Nino's Steakhouse before it turned into a bar, so it was not a dump, it didn't smell like piss and vomit like CBGB."
Nostalgia for the heyday of the venue was the focus of Minnesota musician Dylan Hicks' song 'The Longhorn Days' from his 1998 album 'Poughkeepsie'.
Famous quotes containing the words jay and/or bar:
“The lariat snaps; the cowboy rolls
His pack, and mounts and rides away.
Back to the land the cowboy goes.”
—William Jay Smith (b. 1918)
“They made a paction tween them twa,
They made it firm and sure,
That the first word whaeer shoud speak,
Shoud rise and bar the door.”
—Unknown. Get Up and Bar the Door (l. 13–16)