{image1}The Milwaukee rock and roll community took a blow Monday night as the Rock Shop, 6330 W. Greenfield Ave., in West Allis, was destroyed by fire.
One source said the fire began at 6 p.m. and was "still going strong" by 9:30. The roof collapsed and little appears to remain of the building other than the exterior walls. According to one police officer at the scene, no one was injured in the blaze.
At about 9:30 a.m., fire and police were still on the scene and Greenfield Avenue and adjacent side streets were closed to traffic.
Efforts to reach co-owner Brian Emmett for comment, who was reportedly unharmed, have so far been unsuccessful, but stay tuned and we'll add more information as it becomes available.
The club was opened by Emmett, who got his start booking bands at other area clubs, including Reed Street Station, and Ian Pesch, who was a former owner of The Globe East, in August and had quickly earned a reputation as a great place to see local and regional acts.
The Rock Shop building had served as a club before. It was also the home of the Metropolis teen club and The Globe West.
Local musicians are planning a benefit for the club's owners, beginning at 1 p.m., Sun., Jan. 25 at Vnuk's in Cudahy. Stay tuned to OnMilwaukee.com for updates.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
