The Fox and Goose is a British-style pub and live-music venue at 1001 R Street in Sacramento that functions as a recurring stage for the city's local indie, folk, and alt-rock scene.[1][2] It is best known in the Submerge corpus as a favored album-release venue, particularly for the long-running local band Be Brave Bold Robot.[2] Founded in 1975 by Bill and Denise Dalton, the pub occupies a building dating to 1913 that formerly housed the Fuller Paint and Glass Company.[3][4]
At a glance
- British pub located at 1001 R Street, Sacramento.[5][6]
- Web presence at Foxandgoose.com.[2]
- Hosts 21-and-over live shows, typically with a $5–$10 cover, often starting around 9 p.m.[5][7][6][2]
- A repeat host of local album/EP release shows.[5][7][6][2]
- Served as a launch point for at least one open-mic performer who went on to a national career.[1]
- Approximately four blocks from the California State Capitol.[4]
Location and identity
The Fox and Goose is located at 1001 R Street in Sacramento.[5][6] It is repeatedly described as a British pub.[2] The name comes directly from Bill Dalton's hometown pub in Hebden Bridge, Yorkshire, England.[3][8] Across the Submerge articles it functioned as a small live-music room for local acts, with shows typically restricted to ages 21 and over and carrying a modest cover charge of $5 to $10.[5][7][6][2] Listed contact for the venue is Foxandgoose.com.[2]
The building's 1913 origins as an industrial warehouse are visible inside: according to Inside Sacramento, the space creates a striking contrast between the cozy trappings of a traditional English pub and the soaring vastness of an old warehouse, with original brickwork and high ceilings intact.[8]
The pub's location roughly four blocks from the California State Capitol has given it a secondary identity as an informal meeting place for Sacramento politicians. According to CBS Sacramento, it became a spot where lawmakers from both parties would come together over drinks to make deals.[4]
History and ownership
The Fox and Goose was founded in 1975 by Bill and Denise Dalton in a building that dates to 1913 and was formerly occupied by the Fuller Paint and Glass Company.[3][4] Ownership passed to their daughter Allyson Dalton in 1995, who ran the business until 2015, when longtime employee Peter Monson took over.[3][4] Monson had first come through the door in 1999, starting as a busser and host; according to CBS Sacramento, he worked his way through every position in the pub before assuming ownership.[4]
Role in the Sacramento scene
The Fox and Goose recurs in Submerge coverage primarily as a venue for local-band album and EP release shows:
- West Sacramento group Salt Wizard released their debut full-length album there on May 10, 2014.[5]
- Indie/alt-rock band Merdog released their EP The Lucky Ones there on June 11, 2016, with Rich Corporation and Blue Oaks also on the bill.[6]
- Prolific Sacramento songwriter Anton Barbeau, by then based in Berlin, played the Fox and Goose on Feb. 27, 2016 with Blame the Bishop and The Bobbleheads during a return run of hometown shows.[9]
The venue's deepest documented relationship is with Be Brave Bold Robot (BBBR), the long-running local indie/folk-rock project led by Dean Haakenson. BBBR held its release show for Press E to Continue there on Jan. 23, 2015, with local psychedelic rock band CFR closing.[7] Two years later, on Jan. 20, 2017, the band returned to the Fox and Goose to release But to Hate God Do Get a Hot Tub, with Chili Sauce and Bellygunner opening.[2] Frontman Dean Haakenson described the venue as a repeat home for the band's CD-release shows — counting that 2017 event as roughly the third — and expressed a particular fondness for the place, recalling that a venue booker told him a BBBR night (described as a 2013 show) was the best night the room had had in a couple of years.[2] The venue is so embedded in BBBR lore that it appears as a lyric: the song "Networker" on But to Hate God… includes the line "He had sex in the Fox and Goose bathroom," a part sung on the recording by engineer Patrick Hills.[2]
Notable performers and origins
The Fox and Goose appears in the origin story of Andy Allo, a Citrus Heights–raised, Sacramento-native soul/funk artist who later became a Prince protégé and toured with The New Power Generation: she "eventually played a solo gig at an open mic at Fox and Goose on R Street" early in her career.[1] Matty Gerken, later a "Forever Member" and bassist of Be Brave Bold Robot, recounted catching a Fox and Goose show and going to an after-party with that band — an encounter that led to his involvement with BBBR.[10]
According to Inside Sacramento, the pub's open-mic nights also served as an early launching pad for Jackie Greene and Cake — both of whom went on to substantial national careers after performing there.[8]
Local status note
As a physical venue in Sacramento, the local/touring distinction does not apply (local_status: na). The acts documented playing it span both local (Be Brave Bold Robot, Salt Wizard, Merdog, Anton Barbeau, Andy Allo) and out-of-town openers (e.g., California Lions of Long Beach, who opened the Salt Wizard release show).[5]