Puppy Pen

Parish: Calcasieu

Location: Lake Charles

Mentioned in Louisiana and Texas garage magazine Brown Paper Sack, issue #1, January, 1997 in the article “Toga A Go-Go″:

“The (Roamin’) Togas solidified their rep throughout ’67 at most of the famed venues in South Louisiana at the time like the Beaconette in New Orleans, the Golden Slipper in Baton Rouge, the Puppy Pen in Lake Charles, Paul’s Lounge in Jeanerette, and the York Club in Lafayette.”

Mentioned in Louisiana and Texas garage magazine Brown Paper Sack, issue #1, January, 1997 in the article “The Bad Roads″:

The Bad Roads guitarist Bryan Smith: “We’d play…here in Lake Charles a guy named Eddie Arceneaux had a club called the Puppy Pen. It was an abandoned officer’s club on the Air Force base here that he’d made into a teen club. The whole club was painted flat black, two stages, kinda like the Catacombs. That was the spot, man…”

10 Comments

  1. I used to run the light show at the Puppy Pen when I was in high school. Eddie and his wife were the coolest and brought some very cool talent in. Groups like ZZ Top, the Zombies, the Box Tops, the Basement Wall. What an awesome time I and many others my age had at this venue.

    Reply
    • Rob…..I think you just solved a mystery. The Moving Sidewalks aka ZZTop (and Magic Ring) played an “Unknown Venue” in Lake Charles on 7/7/67. It would be cool as hell if you could remember ANYONE else that might have played there.

      Reply
      • I don’t remember many other bands from the time. Fever Tree out of Houston were always a hit. The Zombies were a challenge. I picked them up at the Lake Charles airport in the old hearse that Eddie Arceneaux owned. They were pretty drunk and had no equipment as they had left their coach and trailer on a beach and the tide came in and destroyed their equipment (according to them, YMMV). A quick scramble to collect equipment ensued, luckily I worked at a music store and we managed to hear them play, albeit a couple hours late. ZZ Top played there numerous times. One night they played during a storm and only a few people turned out. I put the light show on standby and sat on the edge of the stage while they played like it was a full house. I’ll never forget it. I live in Santa Barbara where Seymore-Duncan call home. They make guitar pickups for all the big players and had their manufacturing facility across the street from my work. One day about 15 years ago I saw a sweet 3-window coupe pull up to their shop and Billy Gibbons and his lovely young driver stepped out. I waited until they came back out of the shop and approached Billy Gibbons and mentioned the Puppy Pen. He looked at me with disbelief at the coincidence that someone in Santa Barbara would know that. We had a good laugh and spent a good half hour reminiscing. Good times.

        Reply
    • Hey Rob, My mother & father -Eddie & Trilby, owned the Puppy Pen! i saw looking around and saw this site. Thank you for saying nice things about my parents. i was very young only 5 at this time. I wish i could remember more. Love to hear your stories.

      Reply
  2. The band my friends and I enjoyed was Fever Tree.

    Reply
  3. I played at the Puppy Pen many times with my band The Oracle in the mid 1960s.
    The lead guitar was Terry Green
    The rhythm guitar was Ronny Hamilton
    Drummer Kenny Blevins
    the bass player was Joey Wright.
    We played there almost every weekend when we weren’t on tour.
    Great memories from such a long time ago now.
    \\][//

    Reply
  4. OMG..Puppy Pen ..Chenault AFBase..Bad Roads.and Fever Tree from Houston…Those were some good times…!!.

    Reply
    • Bruce, this is Chris Vlahogeorge. Please email me.

      Reply
  5. A first date with a girl when I went to Mcneese in 68, a girl I still regret letting go.

    Reply
  6. I loved the Puppy Pen. Along with other bands already listed, I also remember the Music Machine performed there.

    Reply

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