The 1,000th concert in Norfolk performed March 14
By Bob Bumcrot

Two milestones were reached in March for Infinity Music Hall and Bistro, often referred to as IMH for short. The first, on the 14th, celebrated the 1,000th concert performed on the Norfolk stage. “I’m both proud and grateful,” said IMH owner Dan Hincks. “It’s amazing how the time has just flown by.”
By happy coincidence, the 1,000th concert performance by the progressive rock group Jefferson Starship was also the 76th birthday of the band’s founder, Paul Kantner. A singer and rhythm guitarist, San Francisco-born Kantner was an early member of the legendary Jefferson Airplane, whose concept album Blows Against the Empire was nominated for a prestigious Hugo award for science fiction. In 1985, he formed the hard and progressive rock group Starship, renamed Jefferson Starship in 1994.
An after-party intended as a celebration of the 1,000th show was converted to a birthday celebration in the Infinity Bistro with the band, staff and some audience members. Kantner, once an advocate of the psychotropic drug LSD but for many years a proponent of healthy living, asked for a glass of milk with his cake, while the other band members swigged beer. “I thought he was kidding,” said restaurant manager Jackie Ferreira, “but he wasn’t.”
The second milestone was the groundbreaking on March 26 for a new IMH venue, Infinity Hall Hartford. All IMH Norfolk staff were invited to the event at 32 Front Street in Hartford. The ceremony was also attended by Governor Dannel Malloy, in recognition of this important step in the revitalization of the Hartford waterfront area.
There was a brief performance by singer-songwriter Jonathan Edwards, perhaps best known for his anti-Vietnam war song Sunshine (“How much does it cost? I’ll buy it!”). He gave a blessing to the whole experience,” said Hincks.
The current structure on the future IMH site, an empty shell with gravel floor, will be converted over the next eight to ten months to a 500-seat theatre with accompanying bistro
The new hall, while larger than the 300-seat IMH Norfolk, will maintain the same intimate atmosphere. Do not expect the extravagant productions of arena rock. “The (IMH Hartford) architects have been here to absorb the atmosphere, but you can’t really duplicate a lovely 130 year old building,” says Ferreira. “We fully expect that the two venues will strengthen each other, in marketing, talent selection, and economies of scale,” says Hincks.
Barring construction delays, the Hartford facility will open by January 1, 2014.