Live-music mecca: A peek into the history of The Varsity Theater as Baton Rouge’s premier music venue
Some LSU students only know about The Varsity because it’s adjacent to The Chimes, but in the 1990s and 2000s, the theater was one of Baton Rouge’s premier concert venues, constantly attracting live acts to its convenient location just off LSU’s campus.
The theater opened as a music venue in 1990, and within a few years The Varsity was booking bands like 311, No Doubt, Squeeze and other groups from a variety of genres. The venue was a hotspot for college students and concert lovers alike. Glen Prejean, the booking agent for the Varsity from 1991 to 2002, said the period was an exciting time in the Baton Rouge music industry.
“It was really a special time to me,” Prejean said. “I just walked the neighborhood, and it has changed so much, you know. I wish I could transport you back to those days.”
The Varsity Theater would host about three or four live events per week. From heavy metal acts like Body Count to rock groups like Dave Matthews Band, the venue hosted shows for all audiences. One of Prejean’s goals as the talent agent at The Varsity was to book performers that hadn’t been discovered in the music scene yet.
“Back then I kinda was trying to be the first to hear something, establish a relationship with them and get them here before they got too big,” Prejean said. “I was trying to build up body work, but it was also about putting the varsity on the map. That was my job, and so that was the other point of it.”
Andy Canulette, a former LSU student and a serial concert goer, says that the Varsity’s atmosphere would fluctuate depending on the performer that night. The venue provided intimate concerts with experimental bands, mosh pits at punk performances and sold-out concerts with nationally-touring acts. He remembers one particularly exciting night where he hung out with Toad and the Wet Sprocket after they performed their set at the theater.
“It was an incredible show, and afterward the band came down and hung out with us,” Canulette said. “They were really friendly, and it was an experience being 19 and getting to hang out with these guys who had a hit record.”
For Canulette, the theater was a regular hangout spot and place to meet new friends with similar interests. He thinks it was important for the Varsity to expose a college town like Baton Rouge to experimental music that might not have played in the city otherwise.
“Music was a way to bond with like-minded people,” Canulette said. “A college town should be where people are learning what they like. It should be crawling with places that have stages for young talented musicians to learn their craft.”
For Caroline Heyman, a bartender at the Varsity during the early ‘90s, the theater was that kind of nucleus for discovering new music. She often attended shows outside of work and was able to meet many of the performers.
“It was just so great to be exposed to all these bands and get to see them as they were emerging,” Heyman said. “It was really cool seeing them from day one, you know, just watching them explode. Just to feel really dialed into the music scene, that was what I really enjoyed.”
The Varsity Theater had events other than live concerts as well. Their disco nights, ‘80s nights and even football gameday gatherings helped the venue generate revenue to cover costs for hosting some of the smaller, more underground bands.
However, the theater’s focus was always on bringing in quality music, no matter the cost. Prejean said Tim Hood, one of the general managers at the time, was particularly supportive of his choices in booking music.
“I’d be like Tim, I don’t know, man, they want a lot of money, and I don’t know if it’s gonna happen or not, and he’d be like ‘just do it,’’ Prejean said. “We were fortunate to have that kind of guy behind us. It wasn’t just about money, you know?”
One of the shows that stands out to Prejean was the first time he booked 311 at the Varsity. He booked the group in 1993 before they reached peak popularity, but they would return to play many more shows at the Varsity throughout the ‘90s and 2000s.
“They were magical,” Prejean said. “There were a lot of great shows, but the special ones were the ones where everything was just on, the audience and the band. That was 311.”
Prejean has since moved out of the music industry, but his talent-booking instincts keep him reaching for the phone when he hears new music he likes. He attributes the Varsity’s early success to their hard-working staff and collective love for music.
“It was just a good time in Baton Rouge, and it was because of everyone’s effort really,” said Prejean. “There were a lot of special people involved that made it what it was. At the time I would’ve said I had the coolest job in Baton Rouge, without a doubt.”
You can see a more complete history of the bands the varsity booked here.