High Noon Saloon

High Noon Saloon is a live music venue in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. The venue opened on May 5, 2004, and was established by Cathy Dethmers as a successor to O'Cayz Corral, a Madison music venue destroyed by fire in 2001. Its name and visual identity draw on the country-western atmosphere associated with the 1952 Gary Cooper film High Noon. The venue presents a wide range of music rather than specializing in a single scene. Its programming has included rock, metal, alternative, punk, alt-country, pop, indie, bluegrass, blues, folk, and related forms. The calendar combines nationally recognized performers, smaller touring acts from outside the United States, and musicians from the Madison area. This mixture gives High Noon Saloon a role both as a touring stop and as a platform for local music communities. The building has a longer cultural and commercial history. Before becoming the High Noon Saloon, it housed the Buy & Sell resale shop and, earlier, an automobile repair garage. During the Buy & Sell period, the building contained basement rehearsal and recording spaces used by a number of bands and independent music participants. The site was associated with Green Room studios, No Name printing, Rhetoric Records, and other local creative activity. Musicians and groups connected with those spaces included Turbonegro, Brainerd, Ivan Klipstein, Brickshithouse, Trin-Tran, and X-OR, although those basement activities predated the venue's opening and should not be confused with High Noon Saloon's formal operation. The venue's physical setting has also included other entertainment and hospitality businesses. The basement formerly housed The Brink, a jazz-oriented space and wedding-reception caterer that permanently closed on April 30, 2023. The first floor is also associated with The Brass Ring pool hall and eatery. These neighboring or successive uses reflect the building's broader role in Madison's nightlife and small-scale entertainment ecosystem. In 2017, Dethmers retired from club ownership and sold High Noon Saloon to Madison-based concert promoter FPC Live. FPC Live is described in reference material as being partially owned by Live Nation Entertainment, linking the independently branded Madison venue to a larger concert-promotion network while retaining High Noon Saloon as a distinct local venue brand. The available reference material does not provide verified attendance figures, revenue, capacity, or a detailed current corporate structure. Its continuing public identity is centered on live performances, venue hospitality, and the presentation of diverse touring and regional music.

High Noon Saloon opened on May 5, 2004, in Madison, Wisconsin. Cathy Dethmers founded the venue as a replacement for O'Cayz Corral, a local music venue that had been destroyed in a fire in 2001. The new club adopted a country-western-influenced atmosphere and took its name from High Noon, the Gary Cooper western film. This identity distinguished the venue while leaving its programming open to many forms of contemporary music. The building was already associated with commerce and music before the club opened. It had previously operated as the Buy & Sell resale shop and, before that, had been an automobile repair garage. During the Buy & Sell era, the basement contained rehearsal, recording, printing, and independent music facilities. Green Room studios operated in part of the basement, while No Name printing and Rhetoric Records were also associated with the site. A number of musicians and bands used the building for rehearsal or recording, including Turbonegro, Brainerd, Ivan Klipstein, Brickshithouse, Trin-Tran, and X-OR. These activities helped make the property part of Madison's underground and independent music infrastructure before the upstairs venue began operating. Once established, High Noon Saloon developed as a multi-genre concert room. Its bookings have covered rock, metal, alternative, punk, alt-country, pop, indie, bluegrass, blues, and folk. The venue's role has been deliberately mixed: it hosts national acts, smaller touring bands from around the world, and local Madison groups. Rather than functioning only as a bar or only as a specialist club, it combines live entertainment, artist presentation, and hospitality under a single local brand. The property has also contained or hosted other businesses. The basement later housed The Brink, a jazz-focused venue and wedding-reception caterer, which permanently closed on April 30, 2023. The first floor is associated with The Brass Ring pool hall and eatery. These uses form part of the building's wider history but are separate from High Noon Saloon's concert operation. In 2017, Dethmers retired as club owner and sold High Noon Saloon to FPC Live, a Madison-based concert promoter. Reference material identifies FPC Live as partially owned by Live Nation Entertainment. The transaction changed the venue's ownership while preserving High Noon Saloon as a distinct branded destination in Madison. Publicly available reference material supplied for this entry does not establish detailed information about the venue's capacity, revenue, staffing, booking economics, or current legal entity. The venue's documented identity remains that of an active Madison live music room serving local and touring audiences.

• 2023

  The Brink closes

  [1]High Noon Saloonen.wikipedia.org

  The Brink, a separate basement business in the building, permanently closed on April 30, 2023.

• 2017

  Ownership transfers to FPC Live

  [1]High Noon Saloonen.wikipedia.org

  Founder Cathy Dethmers retired as club owner and sold the venue to Madison-based promoter FPC Live.

• 2004

  High Noon Saloon opens

  [1]High Noon Saloonen.wikipedia.org

  High Noon Saloon opened in Madison on May 5, 2004.

• 2001

  O'Cayz Corral is destroyed by fire

  [1]High Noon Saloonen.wikipedia.org

  The destruction of O'Cayz Corral created the context for Cathy Dethmers to establish a replacement music venue.

A Madison live music venue with a country-western-inspired identity and broad, genre-diverse programming spanning national, international touring, and local acts.

• Live music venue · 2004

  High Noon Saloon live concerts

  The core offering is a program of ticketed live performances in Madison. High Noon Saloon presents national performers, smaller touring acts from across the world, and local groups. Its documented genre range includes rock, metal, alternative, punk, alt-country, pop, indie, bluegrass, blues, and folk, making the venue a general-purpose concert room rather than a narrowly specialized club.

• Hospitality · 2004

  Venue bar and hospitality services

  High Noon Saloon operates as a music-club destination with associated bar and hospitality services for concertgoers. The supplied references identify bar services as part of the venue's typical offer but do not provide a verified menu, pricing structure, or separate hospitality brand details.

• 2017

  Sale to FPC LiveM&A

  Background

  Founder and club owner Cathy Dethmers retired from ownership after operating the venue since its 2004 opening.

  Action taken

  Dethmers sold High Noon Saloon to FPC Live, a Madison-based concert promoter.

  Aftermath

  High Noon Saloon continued under a local venue brand within an ownership structure linked in reference material to FPC Live's partial ownership by Live Nation Entertainment.

  Source

• 2004

  Establishment of a replacement music venueStrategy

  Background

  O'Cayz Corral had been destroyed by fire in 2001, leaving a local need and opportunity for a successor venue.

  Action taken

  Cathy Dethmers founded High Noon Saloon, opening it in Madison on May 5, 2004, with a country-western-inspired identity and broad live-music programming.

  Aftermath

  The venue became a Madison platform for local groups, national acts, and international touring bands across multiple genres.

  Source

1. 1High Noon Saloonen.wikipedia.org
2. 2High Noon Saloon official websitehigh-noon.com