Venue notes: JB's Down Under, Kent OH

Music venue/bar located at 244 N Water St. Shut its doors in late 1999/early 2000 and reopened as Fat Jimmy's sometime afterward. As of 2010, the place was once again known by its old name. Current bookings seem to lean toward more metallish bands.

Jim Smith recalls the old JB's in Nov 2006: "JB's was a place where people who just didn't really fit in with the 'big hair,' glam metal crowds in places like Filthy McNastys and Genesis Night Club. Upstairs from JB's was a second club called Mothers Junction. Mothers used to have a kick ass Reggae Night every week. But the great thing about Reggae night was the fact the the crowds were always like 3 to 1 women to guys. Like shooting fish in a barrel. Anyway, I was sad to hear that a place I loved so much in my 20s (Christ, am I REALLY 42?!?) is now just another beer and sandwich place. [...] I have had the pleasure of having been to clubs all over the world, and next to CBGB's, JB's/Mothers Junction was the best."

Deborah m, writing in 2015, adds by way of clarification: "Mother's was upstairs from Ray's, not JB's. JB's had JB's Up and JB's Down when I was around in the 80's. They may have changed their names several times but Mother's was where Ray's Up is now. A sad day when we lost that place."

Kelly O'Connor, a club patron of the club in both its 1980s and current incarnation, writes in 2010 that the owners have apparently made some effort to recreate the original atmosphere: "I never went there when if was Fat Jimmy's, but perhaps they have repainted it to look the way it was in the 80s. I had not been there since I was 19, so it brought back a lot of good memories. The last band of the night was supposed to be more hardcore punk, but I wasn't feeling it..."

Dave Bihn, writing in April 2011, contributes the following: "The bar upstairs from JB's Down was the street level bar, JB's. They played more blues, 15-60-75 type acts, with the punk stuff downstairs. Mother's Junction was on the 2nd floor above Ray's Place (on Franklin, a block away from South Water Street.) I enrolled at Kent State in Fall of '84 but missed the [Hüsker Dü] shows. I started going to JBs the following year. "

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