Fifth Dimension becomes Fifth Amendment

This article was published in the student newspaper The Georgian in 1964. It recounts a conversation with Gary Eisenkraft who speaks about the opening of his new club: The Fifth Amendment.

Transcription:

Amended Dimension

Last week on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Gary Eisenkraft, local blues singer, turned Capitalist, gave an exclusive interview to the Features Section of the Georgian.

It seems that Montreal folkmaniacs, blues buffs and sworn enemies of the Kingston Trio will again have a mecca. The Fifth Dimension (remember ? Bleury street, near Mayor) is no more but it will metamorphosise, in about ten days, into the Fifth Amendment, a new club in the same location.

Reverand Gary Davis, the great blues-gospel singer, will be the headline attraction at the Amendment’s opening and (said Eisencraft, lighting a straight Virginia and singing three or four Buddhist hymns) all subsequent headliners will be of the same calibre — people like Dave Van Ronk, Bonnie Dobson, Brownie McGhee, Sonny Terry and (Eisenkraft paused, gazing South as he balanced on a ledge) Mississippi John Hirt will appear.

That’s not all. The Fifth Amendment will have after- hours jazz sessions, poetry and prose readings by leading writers and classical music performances. This is certainly a departure from the format of a run-of-the-mill folk music club

Eisenkraft began pacing the roof, puffing on his recently acquired Iroquois peace pipe. Suddenly, he spun around. “The coffee,” he shouted, “will be the best. Anywhere.”

“Why?” we asked.

“Because my mother will make it.”

“What about admission and menu prices?”

“Cheap,” he yelled angrily, addressing the city and perhaps the entire universe.

“There will be Hotenannies too, tell them they can bring their guitars when we announce Hootenanny nights.”

You can bring your guitars on Hootenanny Nights. And from the way things look, you’ll be able to do so for quite a while. This will probably be One Fifth that won’t require any pleas.