John’s Red Lion Bar closed on Aug. 31, 2007, after more than 35 years in business. The building at 220 E. Superior St. has pretty much always been a bar. It was built in 1910 to house the Albert Salter Saloon. From the early 1950s to late ’60s it was the Two-Twenty Lounge. Before it became the Red Lion, it was briefly the Diamond Lounge.
Two years after the Red Lion closed, the Zeitgeist Arts Café opened, bringing a … how shall we put this? … more refined selection of art and alcohol to the block … along with food.
Below are photos galore from “The Last Roar by the Shore,” the final show in a series of concerts marking the last days of the Red Lion. Fittingly, the swan song of it all featured the surf/soul sounds of the Black Labels, the bar’s longtime Wednesday-night house band.
… and of course, the flashback wouldn’t be complete without this Black Labels video, edited by Emily Norton and featuring footage from the Ben Marsen collection.
