Dan's Papers - July 4, 2008 - At Shelter Island Lounge, It's Your Pleasure

There's no secret password to get into Shelter Island's secret hotspot, the Pleasure Lounge. Everyone is welcome to hang out in the renovated 19th-century barn-turned-juke joint owned by Joe Lauro, a music historian who makes documentary films on the subject and also plays bass for The Moondogs and part-time for The Lone Sharks, a local mainstay that often plays at the parties at the barn.

"When I first bought the house, it was a wreck," Lauro said. "Then they showed me the barn. I certainly wasn't going to raise chickens in it, but I saw the potential for a night club." For the 10 years that Lauro has owned his Shelter Island property, he's opened up this barn for a huge party, at first every few weeks, but now only every couple of months - including a legendary annual Halloween bash that has practically everyone on the island showing up decked out in their most creative costumes.

But don't expect a proper invitation to one of his parties, or to read about it in the events section of your local papers. News of these free events is spread primarily by word-of-mouth. But boy, does the word spread. Lauro will invite his friends, who in turn invite their friends, who in turn tell their friends...you get the picture. His shows usually draw, on average, 100 people, though he's seen his barn filled with even more than that.

Not only are these parties free, there is no alcohol for sale. So if you want to drink, you need to bring your own. This keeps Lauro from having to apply for those pesky - and often costly - permits to operate his lounge and pay for liquor licenses. "I run it as a private party," Lauro said. "I don't charge. If it's a benefit, we charge a couple of bucks. But it's more of a pass-the-hat situation for the bands. We have to be careful what we do because it's a private party."

He also said that local officials and police don't bother him about his shows, and are likely to be seen at them. And if a neighbor complains about the noise from the bands, Lauro does whatever he can to comply with their request. "Shelter Island is an unusual place," he said. "It's what the Hamptons were 30 years ago. There are plenty of regulations, but we're not regulated to death."

But the most interesting thing about the shows at Lauro's barn is the barn itself. Lauro has turned it into a museum for a bygone era of music and American culture. His barn pays homage to the music of the '40s, '50s and '60s - and sometimes even earlier than that. Finding most of what decorates the walls of his barn at flea markets or garage sales, and often receiving artifacts as gifts, the walls are covered in old road signs and handmade rock and roll posters. Upstairs, in his loft, is his bar, surrounded by old-fashioned, wooden booths taken from the Chequit Inn when it was renovated. Walking into Lauro's barn certainly takes you to another time and place. "I just get a hold of this stuff," he said. "I love the reaction of people who have never been here. They walk in and they're just like, 'What is this?'"

Standing on its own, the barn is a sight to see. But it's even more so when the barn is packed with all sorts of interesting people and rockabilly, Americana or roots bands are playing at one end of the room. For each show, Lauro even culls from his video collection of 40,000 music performance clips - which he says could be the largest collection of its type in the world - showing some of them on the door of the barn as bands play. And don't be surprised if you see go-go dancers there. "The barn is basically a live extension of what I do for a living," Lauro said.

What it comes down to, Lauro says, is that his shows at the Pleasure Lounge are all about showcasing great music. 'You can go to Sunset Beach, have a $15 cocktail and be seen," Lauro said. "No one cares about the music anymore. The challenge is getting people off their butts and out somewhere to be entertained by something real. Most people aren't interested in bands. They're just interested in their fabulous lives."

The next event at the Pleasure Lounge, on North Ferry Road, is a Boy Scouts fundraiser on July 8. Tickets are $25. The Lone Sharks, East River String Band and The Otis Brothers will be performing. You can contact The Lone Sharks (www.lonesharks.com) or any of the other bands performing to inquire about purchasing tickets for this event.