The last time we loaded up the van and played a show was March 14th, 2020. News of the Covid-19 virus was exploding, and people were just starting to take it really seriously. That was the first weekend that most shows were cancelled, and we weren’t 100% comfortable playing, but I talked it over with the owners of the bar and both sides really wanted to do it, so we did. It was a little weird, but I’m really glad we played. Two days later The Village Idiot in Maumee, Ohio was forced to (temporarily) close their doors to the public for the first time in decades. They started back up a couple weeks later with carry-out pizza and beer, but when a venue as hearty as the Idiot shutters, you know it’s serious. I haven’t plugged in an electric guitar since that night.
Here we are, almost four months later. The battle feels like it’s over, but we know that the enemy is just hiding in the trees on the other side of the field, a little beat up, but still determined - cleaning their weapons, waiting for reinforcements, and getting ready for the next charge. They’re confident that our impatience, dismissal of science, and stubborn resolve against the most inane inconveniences in the name of almighty “Freedom” and faux-patriotism will be our undoing, and they’re probably right. As the smoke clears, at least for a moment, we pause to assess the carnage.
The Village Idiot has weathered the storm so far, thanks to some determined and creative owners, a supportive community, and one hell of a fine pizza. The same can’t be said for some other venues around the country. Here’s some thoughts about five music joints I’ve had (or would have had) the privilege to play in recent years, who have succumbed to the Corona Virus and are now closed.
Three Kings Tavern – Denver, Colorado – We first played the 3KT in October 2014 when our pals from Kentucky , Those Crosstown Rivals took us out as support for a tour of the west and deep south. The bill was packed with 5 bands, we were second. We had people travel in to see us, the crowd was great, and we were treated like kings ourselves by the staff and headliners, Denver punk legends King Rat. It was the best night of the tour.
Five years later we returned, this past October, for a second show. It was a Sunday night and several hours out of our way, and I wasn’t all for taking it because of those logistics, but I’m glad my band-mate Gabriel pushed for the gig. Being an off-night, it wasn’t quite the raucous affair the `14 show was, but it was still a lot of fun – we played to some faces, sold some records, and made some great friends with The Born Readies and Television Generation. I’ve heard that a local company has purchased the building with plans to continue hosting live music there, and I hope that’s true.
Read More: 3 Kings Tavern closes after 14 years on South Broadway
The Mothlight – Asheville, North Carolina – In the fall of 2015 we toured the Southeast supporting our new record “Above The Sweet Tea Line” and found ourselves in Asheville. This was one of our better tours, playing to good crowds and more-or-less breaking even most nights. We teamed up with a couple locals including Poet Radio, who’s front-person Madison had Michigan ties and was really sweet to us. It was a big space with killer sound and a rec-room-like area for the bands to hang out in. The logistics helped to make up for the Monday night crowd. My dad was at the show, traveling around that part of the country at the time, and he said it was the best he’d seen me perform. I think we made $20. The Mothlight closed last week.
Read more: West Asheville's Mothlight live music and event venue to close permanently
Douglas Corner Café – Nashville, TN – A few days after the Asheville show we played Nashville as we looped north, back towards Michigan, with shows in the Carolinas, Florida and Alabama behind us. We met up with old pals Those Crosstown Rivals and, again, my dad, for dinner at Hattie B’s Fried Chicken before the show. Ned Van Go (featuring Ned Hill, who you may remember from a recent Quarantine Blues) were our hosts, and it was a fun bill. My dad was blown away by NVG and still says they were the best band we’ve ever played with. The bartender at Douglas Corner told me to hide my video camera or the owner would charge me for the privilege of recording our own set (how Nashville is that?).
What sticks with me the most, however, was hanging out with TCR after the show, on the sidewalk in front of the bar, scarfing their leftover Hattie B’s off the hood of their pickup truck at 3am – ordered “Damn Hot!!,” which is just south of the inedible “Shut The Cluck Up (Burn Notice)!!!” but still ridiculously spicey. The wings went down ok, soothed by the thick coating of whiskey and PBR in my gullet, but the next morning I felt like I’d been partying in Hell, snorting rails of deep-fried lightning off the pimpled ass of Satan himself. I haven’t known pain like digesting those wings through a major-grade hangover in years. I was worthless as we drove up to Lexington for the last night of the tour. Damn, that was rough. Douglas Corner closed in March and announced in May that they would not reopen.
Read more: Douglas Corner Cafe, a Nashville songwriters haven, is closing permanently
This Ain’t Hollywood – Hamilton, Ontario – TAH is a legendary punk dive between Toronto and Buffalo that’s hosted everyone over the years. I’ve been trying to get a show there since this band formed and we started played Canada around 2011, but it never worked out. Lou was always friendly and open to the idea, but routing, scheduling conflicts, or last-minute changes always got in the way. This year I was on top of it – and in February I confirmed the September 2020 date. It was finally going to happen! All that patience, persistence, and hard work was finally paying off. Maybe this rock & roll thing has some legs after all. This Ain’t Hollywood was sold and will close in August. I will never get to play there.
Read more: Closure of This Ain't Hollywood 'shattering' for Hamilton's music community
Cosmic Charlie’s – Lexington, Kentucky – I saved this one for last because it kind-of sums up the Covid-19 experience for me. Lexington is our favorite and best city and we’ve played most of the rooms there, but we hadn’t played Cosmic’s yet. We were super-excited to be asked to join our brothers and sisters in NP Presley and The Ghost Of Jesse Garon (remember this review?) at their record release show there in May. It’s their hometown, they would be just returning from a month in Europe, and it was absolutely going to be a packed, insane show with some of our best friends on the bill and in the house. Covid hit, their European tour was postponed for a year, and the CC’s show was not looking good. The bar let them play, but to an empty house, live-streamed to Facebook. I watched my friends from my couch, playing their hearts out to no one while mine simultaneously broke as reality sucker-punched me in the gut. That was the moment it hit me how bad I missed playing live and how long it would probably be until I could again. Cosmic Charlie’s closed their doors for good two weeks later. I will never stand on that stage.
Read more: Lexington music venue Cosmic Charlie’s permanently closes
I’ve been in a funk since that night, grasping at any news that might bring some hope of an opportunity to carry a bunch of really heavy gear into a dive bar to play for 12 people and make $20 on a Monday night. I want to sit in the van waiting for a bandmate to pee behind a dumpster while I tally up how much more my bar tab was than my pay. I want to again experience the sensation of waking up with a hangover and ringing ears and struggling for a few moments to figure out what city I’m in. I’d give almost anything to be able to do that tomorrow.
Please consider writing to your legislators and/or sending a little cash to support this great organization who are working to to “preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live music venues and promoters throughout the United States.”
Jeremy Porter lives near Detroit and fronts the rock and roll band Jeremy Porter And The Tucos. Follow them on Facebook to read his road blog about their adventures on the dive-bar circuit.
www.thetucos.com
www.facebook.com/jeremyportermusic
www.rockandrollrestrooms.com
Twitter: @jeremyportermi | Instagram: @onetogive & @jeremyportermusic
