At least twice in Northampton history, the iconic painting of the Handsome Waiter has been kidnapped and returned from the former Baystate Hotel, once by my own whack-job housemates when I lived on Kingsley Ave. in 1996, and again by some anonymous abductor when the Bishops bought the building from long-time owner Ron Sarazin. Now, having been returned through intense secret negotiations with the Northampton underworld, he smiles once again from his spot on the wall in what is now the Sierra Grille.
Spruced up as it is, there are still ghosts of the Bay State Hotel that come out when the music plays, especially at the Thursday night rock shows, when young local bands play in the same corner of the back room that we geezers did 10-plus years ago, and it still sounds great back there. Whatever they have in the walls, or whatever odd shape the interior walls/dining room tables form for sound to cascade off, it remains a superior, if intimate, chamber for the sweet (or occasionally sour, salty or bitter) sounds of music. And they don't even charge a cover.
Upcoming rock gigs include a Nov. 29 show with Heaven's Lament, The John Bobbit Experience, The Cheater's Club and Bi-Polar Bear, a New Year's show with the Aloha Steamtrain, and a January engagement with the Stone Coyotes. Other semi-regulars include Elle Longpre, Rusty Belle and The Novels. Sundays feature jazz at the Sierra, some weeks with Cidade and some with Swing Caravan, though one Sunday a month is reserved for the Grille's Big Game Beer Dinners, featuring wild dishes like Alligator Etouffee and a Pulled Boar Slider, all artfully matched with beers of impressive alcohol content.
If it's beer you like, the Sierra has 20 top-notch brews on tap, almost as many in bottles and always a $3 draft of something decent for the less-affluent music patrons. They also offer wine and liquor, appetizers and even a duck confit panini sandwich. You can check out the soup, suds and sounds at 41 Strong Ave., Northampton, or call (413) 584-1150 for more info on upcoming shows or special events.
—Tom Sturm
