Long before it became Bogart’s, the building opened in 1890 as the Nordland Plaza Nickelodeon, a vaudeville theater that closed in 1955 and reopened as a movie house in 1960. It would be used in different capacities until being taken over by Al Porkoláb, who transformed the space into Bogart’s Cafe Americain in 1975.
Originally from Lorain, Ohio — a suburb of Cleveland — Porkoláb worked at a venue in his hometown called the Big Moose Showcase that hosted bands like Jimmy Page-era Yardbirds, The Association and Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. He tells CityBeat he had been interested in music and even thought about the music business as early as his high school days, but never pursued it.
The University of Cincinnati first brought him to the area in 1965, and after finishing school, he returned in 1971 and spent some time working at the Cincinnati club Reflections. A few years later, when another local club — The Inner Circle, which occupied the former Nordland Theater space on Short Vine — closed, Porkoláb pursued the opportunity.
“I was always interested in music and when the opportunity arose to acquire the old Inner Circle, I thought it was a great opportunity and thought about having a club that did national recording artists for, you know, literally decades,” Porkoláb tells CityBeat.
The first event at Bogart’s featured national touring act The Hello People, who did four shows at the venue, which was a norm at the time. The venue held just 250 people then, with a kitchen and restaurant.
“We made some changes that allowed us to increase the capacity because when we first opened, we had a restaurant, which was a major mistake,” Porkoláb says.
According to Porkoláb, the original club was set up with a restaurant and kitchen in the front, while the original theater’s proscenium stage was in the back — hidden behind a wall and replaced by a smaller stage where the bathroom stairs are now.
“So, if you looked at it today, if you went into that right corner, the stage was in the right corner,” Porkoláb says. “It was like a triangle fit into that corner. And then when we did a little bit of an expansion, we put the stage flush in front of the wall that would be the stage today and got larger.” After that expansion, the venue’s capacity increased to 450 people.
When the norm changed and artists no longer wanted to do multiple shows per night or multi-night stands, the venue underwent a massive overhaul, which included removing the wall in front of the original theater stage.
“In order to do that, it was a big structural endeavor,” Porkoláb says. “We had a huge crane — it was a big architectural deal.” With this change, it became Bogart’s as we know it, reopening on November 7, 1982, with a capacity of 1,500 people.
A who’s who of the last 50-plus years of popular music pops up throughout our nearly hour-long conversation. More stories and artists than space allows here.
The venue has seen performances from artists at the beginning of their careers and has served as a regular stop for artists on the rise.
“I think north of 20% of all the artists in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame played Bogart’s,” Porkoláb says. “Of course, when Prince first played there, when U2 played there, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews, Boston — there were a lot of artists I thought were going to go onto bigger and better things, which they did.”
He recalls getting a surprising call from legendary industry figure Bill Graham, who was managing a then lesser-known Eddie Money, where they worked out a deal to bring Money to the venue.
“We did a free show with Eddie Money — packed the place. He immediately started getting airplay at like three stations in the market and it became something where Eddie Money could come back and sell the club out. We did that with a number of groups.”
He mentions favorite moments like when Gil Scott-Heron was performing two sets at the club and Al Jarreau and George Benson, who were booked across the river in Kentucky, stopped by.
“Al Jarreau and George Benson came to Bogart’s and we still had a restaurant and they came to hang out,” Porkoláb says. “The lights go down, Gil came out for a second set and is starting to play, and he goes, ‘Brother George Benson on maracas’ or whatever, and ‘Brother Al Jarreau,’ and they were on stage with Gil Scott-Heron.”
Another highlight he mentions is the now legendary Prince surprise show that acted as a dress rehearsal for the Purple Rain tour in 1984, when Prince played the club unadvertised. Apollonia, Morris Day, Jerome Benton and Sheila E. — all at the height of their fame — also performed that night, months after the Purple Rain album and movie were released.
Prince had played at Bogart’s before and, Porkoláb says, liked the club, but details another part of the now legendary story.
“He liked the club, but there was a rep from Cincinnati — Chuck DeBow — who really deserves credit for this happening, who was with the label Prince was with and Chuck was the one who was the catalyst for this happening.”
Porkoláb remembers another time when Prince came to a Bogart’s show featuring James Brown and Wilson Pickett.
“It was one of the great shows,” Porkoláb says. “We did two shows. The second show lasted until like three in the morning (laughs). Of course, we weren’t selling any alcoholic beverages — the bars had closed up before that — but the city manager was there (laughs) for that show. My production manager called and said, ‘Prince just walked in the back door.’”
There were also highlights behind closed doors the public never saw. He tells CityBeat that labels would use the venue for private parties, like the time the Eagles played Riverfront Coliseum in the late ‘70s and celebrated Don Henley’s birthday at Bogart’s.
“Bogart’s was closed down — it was just for them. We did a number of those events. We did one for Jefferson Airplane, the Running On Empty Tour for Jackson Browne.”
In addition to appearances from up-and-comers who would become legends and long-established artists like James Brown, Bogart’s became and remains a go-to place to see artists on the more alternative side of music. Porkoláb remembers when the late Mike Riley, who worked at then-nearby Short Vine record store Mole’s Record Exchange, would tip him off on interesting artists on the rise.
“There was a young man who worked there, Mike Riley, who did a radio show (Danceable Solution on WAIF 88.3 FM) with “Handsome” Clem Carpenter, but he was a guy who turned me on to a lot of artists I’d never heard of, like Echo & the Bunnymen and really cutting edge new artists. Mike would come to me and say, ‘I think you oughta book this person or that person.’ He was a great guy.”
It’s clear there was a sense of community on Short Vine. Other local establishments, like Martino’s on Vine, The Lakewood, Zino’s and the Cupboard, come up here and there in CityBeat’s conversation with Porkoláb, often referencing relationships and memories.
Assessing the venue’s legacy, Porkoláb remembers a time when he was reminded of its meaning. He was sitting with his close friend and fellow Short Vine business owner of Martino’s on Vine, the recently passed Martin Anthony “Mop” Angiulli, when they noticed someone pouring something out along the sidewalk in front of Bogart’s across the street. Angiulli sent an employee over to investigate. It turned out to be someone pouring their friend’s ashes out in front of the venue as part of his last wishes.
Porkoláb moved on to nonprofit work in 1997 but feels Live Nation is carrying on the tradition of being a showcase for up-and-coming artists on tour or locals lucky enough to play there alongside legends.
“The bottom line is, the reason that Bogart’s is still there is [because of] the support of the community.”
He continues, “I remember the first show we did with Hello People, I think it was the drummer, who was the leader of the group, said that a lot of clubs in the area tried to do this and they haven’t survived. He said, ‘You need to support a club like this.’ And it was pretty prophetic because the Tri-State did and Bogart’s is now a part of history.”
This article appears in Jun 11-24, 2025.