Year: 2024

Dueling piano bar new in Manchester

Sonya Gelinas embodies the spirit of an entrepreneur. She and her husband, Josh Philbrick, run The Smoothie Bus, a mobile business that now has brick-and-mortar locations. Gelinas is also CEO of CARE Counseling Services, with offices in New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and she’s one of the company’s therapists.

So when Gelinas strolled past the former Black Brimmer in downtown Manchester a few years back and imagined turning it into a dueling pianos bar, it was inevitable that she’d see the idea through to fruition. When Penuche’s shuttered, she and Josh began to make a move.

On May 2, Keys Piano Bar & Grill had its soft opening; a bigger celebration will happen later. For now, every Friday and Saturday has a pair of pianists playing audience requests, bantering and leading sing-alongs to favorites like “Friends In Low Places.” There’s also a spinning wheel containing several NSFW stunts.

Gelinas became a fan of dueling pianos while she was attending college in Tampa, Florida, where she regularly went to Howl at the Moon, a chain of bars. “I had so much fun, so those memories are embedded in my mind forever,” she said during an interview in Keys’ downstairs sports bar.

She’s looking to recreate that feeling at Keys.

“We want to be in line with what Howl at the Moon has created. We want a very interactive experience,” she said. “We want to have a place where people can go out and sing along and have fun and interact with the pianist…. That’s our goal, really, just a lot of audience participation.”

When she first began dreaming about opening Keys, Gelinas wanted a franchised version of the place she fell in love with in Tampa. “I said, I’m going to turn that into a Howl at the Moon one of these days. But Howl at the Moon doesn’t franchise, so we couldn’t do that. We had to build our own,” she said.

A Manchester native — she graduated from Central High in 2001 — Gelinas has a sentimental streak for the energy at the old “Brimmer” and hopes to bring it back.

“I’ve heard a lot of stories,” she said. “We had one couple come in, and they’re like, do you know we met here? Twenty years ago, we met here at the Brimmer. That’s really cool … it is kind of a hallowed space.”

Keys has launched a Caribbean-themed menu with jerk chicken, a Cubano sandwich and Island Fusion Tacos among the dishes. Also, they offer an adult take on the couple’s daytime business.

“We have eight different frozen boozy smoothies, which will be nice on a hot summer day,” Gelinas said.

Shows are free, but the only way to guarantee a seat at the bar is by signing up on the Keys website. Every performance is preceded by a party. “People can come in and eat during that time or have a couple drinks,” Gelinas said. “That way when the show’s on they’re just ready to have fun.”

A rotating cast of performers is provided by Shake, Rattle and Roll Pianos, a New York City agency.

“Every weekend we can expect a different combination, which makes it really exciting, but these aren’t just pianists, they’re entertainers,” she said. “That’s what makes them special. I’ve been to enough dueling piano shows to know that the personality of the guy behind the keys is way more important than whether or not they can play or sing.”

Keys Piano Bar & Grill has a lot in common with the couple’s other ventures.

“We build businesses based [on] passion,” Gelinas said. “My husband and I were really fond of helping people live happier lives, which is perfectly in line with the smoothie shop…. I know when I drink a smoothie every day I feel good. My health care business is about making people better. Now we have this venue, which is all about bringing people together, in happiness and fun.”

Dueling Pianos
When: Fridays and Saturdays (pre-party 6:30 p.m., show 7:30 p.m.)
Where: Keys Piano Bar & Grill, 1087 Elm St., Manchester
Tickets: keysmanch.com

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.