The three kids stood in front of me, not exactly trembling, but pretty clearly concerned. I can't say they were shaking, but they were ... wary.

"I ... I think I'm on the list," one of the girls said. The other two shook their head in response to my questioning look. A quick check showed that the first girl was, indeed, on the list. She heaved a sigh of relief while her friends held their hands out, clutching identical ten dollar bills.

Welcome to the all-powerful world of Doorman at Shank Hall.

As part of the OnMilwaukee.com series called "Shift Switch," I took over for doorman Dave Edwards at Shank on a night when four bands were playing: Magic Black Pumas, The Vega Star, The Maze and the Ragadors.

As Edwards pointed out, there's a lot more to being the doorman at Shank than just checking IDs, taking money and making change. You've got to know how to change the towels in the bathroom, make sure the bands know how long their sets are, what time they are scheduled to play and ensure that the gear from the band doesn't block the emergency exit path backstage.

But the real juice on this job is being the guy in the booth with the power of admittance or banishment over everyone who walks through the door in search of a drink, a date or song.

Shank Hall has been a special place in Milwaukee for two decades. Owner Peter Jest admits that he can't make a living from Shank, so he has outside interests from which he makes his living. But he's withstood competition, fire, jealousy and maybe even pestilence to provide the best place in the city to both play live music and see live music. Countless musicians are indebted to Shank for providing an unmatched place to play. Countless music fans are indebted to Shank as a place to see both local and national live music acts play.

Working the door brought up all kind of imagined benefits. People slipping you a $20 to get inside. Girls willing to trade favors to get in the back room in order to meet the band. Carefully brushing the dust of the street from the lapels of your velvet jacket.

I don't think so.

The first thing to know if you were going to be the doorman this night was that EVERYBODY SMOKES. And not just an occasional cigarette. More like incessant chain smoking. Most of the band guys, the sound guy (the wonderful Paul Biemann, who can make anybody sound good), the bartenders, the waitress and most of the customers. I used to smoke and it doesn't bother me, but there were moments when I couldn't see the cash register only two feet in front of me.

The two big jobs that you have as the doorman are to check IDs and to grant admission, either through collecting the cover charge or seeing if the patron is on the guest list. The guest list is something provided by bands for people who can be admitted without paying the cover charge. Since almost all bands play for a portion of the money collected at the door, I can't for the life of me figure out why bands want to put a lot of people on their list. I've got a friend who runs a gas station, for example, and I don't routinely ask him to let me have free gas for coming to his station.

Anyhow, both jobs provide long moments of tedium and an occasional spot of bright entertainment. Most of the time while you are a doorman at Shank you can lean over the counter and watch the band, stare at Tracy, one of the nicest and prettiest bartenders in town and who has been at Shank since it opened, or sit on a stool an stare off into space.

Sometimes, something interesting happens.

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5 comments about this article. Post a comment / write a review.

Recent Talkbacks ...

Posted by milROCKeeguy on July 18, 2009 at 5:03 p.m. (report)

I'm surprised the article wasn't about how loud the music was, or that the young glue sniffing kids were covered in crazy tattoos...

Posted by Broner on July 15, 2009 at 12:35 p.m. (report)

So is Dave Edwards writing this week's "Sports Commentary" column then?

Posted by sijan_heights on July 15, 2009 at 10:12 a.m. (report)

Dave, did they give you a crash course in being a jerk? That's really what being an employee at Shank Hall is about (save Tracey), but you know what they say: a fish rots from the head down. All in all, I wish this article would've been about being doorman at the House of Blues that we never got. (Axe ground)

Posted by themazemke on July 14, 2009 at 9:20 p.m. (report)

Thanks so much, we enjoyed having you as the doorman, you provided a pleasant experience for us and our friends.

Posted by sandstorm on July 14, 2009 at 10:53 a.m. (report)

Manequinn 3: Doorman Love.