From Reverend Keith A. Gordon,
Your Guide to Blues.
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The Blues has Beale Street, Jazz has Bourbon Street, and Zydeco has the Hamilton Club. Or, it had the Hamilton Club. Located for almost fifty years on the outskirts of Lafayette, Louisiana, the doors finally closed on this fabled wooden dancehall. I was lucky to be able to catch one of the last dances and say goodbye to one of America's roots music shrines.

Known to the world as the Hamilton Club, mostly from a line in Keith Frank's Zydeco hit Went Out Last Night, the name out front actually says Hamilton's Place. No matter the name, the party was an intense mix of white and black folks, some of the hottest music on earth, and the most creative and energetic dancing known to man.

Located on the property of a working farm, William Hamilton opened the place in 1956 and catered to black audiences. With the addition of "White Night", a weekly night of Cajun and Rock and Roll music that attracted white crowds, the club's appeal crossed racial boundaries. Attracting those crowds were all of the greatest artists in Zydeco and Cajun music.

Zydeco and Cajun music both feature the accordion, but there is a difference. Cajun music comes from the Acadians, white settlers from French Canada. (If you say Acadian real fast you will hear where 'cajun' comes from.) Zydeco comes from Creole folks whose African and French roots pre-date the Acadians in Louisiana.

Clifton Chenier, Beau Jocque, and Boozoo Chavis all were regulars at Hamiltons. Though they are not names that penetrated the mainstream music world, they were the pillars of Zydeco and left a rich legacy in this little slice of American culture.

On a steamy Saturday night, I got to experience the clubs final night show. On the dimly lit stage was Zydeco's hottest new incarnation, Curley Taylor and Zydeco Trouble. Bouncing in rhythm behind the big stack of sub-woofers which amplify the kick drum to irresistible dance levels, accordionist Taylor and his band hit grooves that coerced just about everyone to dance on every tune. As Curley shouts "Let's knock a hole in this old floor" the dancers put the pedal to the medal and the whole place vibrates. The particleboard dance floor is noticeably uneven with a crown just in front of the band and even though the air conditioning blows hard on the floor, everybody works up quite a sweat. Hamilton's was where Taylor's band made their debut just over a year ago and the crowd was full of family and friends who came to say goodbye to this special place.

If you've never seen Zydeco dancing, the best way to describe it is watching a couple ride a horse. They get bouncing with the rhythm, then the breathtaking footwork takes over.

Hamilton's closing was due to several factors. Mr. Hamilton's health, sky-rocketing insurance costs, and competition from casinos and other legalized gambling in Louisiana. Some locals were saying it would be bought up and the club would continue, but it would have to be at a different location since the Hamiltons live about 30 feet from the stage and wouldn't want the disturbance. There is also talk of moving the building to a museum of Louisiana culture in Morgan City or a dance hall in Vermillion. It seems they still could knock a hole in the floor.