Todd Stadler's blog

EJ's. R.I.P.

I went to one of the last concerts at local punk club EJ's tonight - the "last blowout", as it was billed. They're closing for reasons that are unclear, but seem to involve evil landlords and rent increases. It's always like that.

And it reminded me of a funeral. Here was something I hadn't paid enough attention to in recent years, but I had to go to pay my respects, not because of what was going on on stage.

What was going on on stage was fairly dull punk rock. There are a few punk bands I love, mostly because they can write a pop song like nobody's business, and they just happen to crank up the distortion. But I'm no longer accepting submissions for favorite punk group. There's just not much more to be said out there, and tonight's show failed to prove otherwise.

But we were there. Maybe just to say we had been there. Maybe because hey, they serve PBR's there as well as anywhere else. Which is nice.

It made me sad, though. I had moved within a five-minute walk of EJ's a few months ago, and yet almost never went there. I guess I don't go to rock clubs for anything but to see a particular band, and they hadn't been booking my favorites or I just wasn't in the mood. I had seen plenty of amazing bands there, though, such as the Dismemberment Plan, and the Danielson Famile.

Ah, well. The music plays on still. Just somewhere else now.