If It's Too Loud...

With TT the Bear's closing forever this Saturday, I wanted to share some of my favorite memories of the iconic Cambridge rock club. Some of my most cherished musical memories took place within its walls. It is going to be missed greatly. If memory serves me correctly, this was the very first show I saw at TT's. It was dirty, set up poorly, cramped, hot... I immediately loved it. One of the truly great things about going to shows in the Boston area is how many Brits live in the city. You'll get bands that play arenas and stadiums in England, but when they come to the US they play tiny clubs. Fans that are used to seeing them as little dots from the cheap seats can now see them from mere feet away. The energy at one of these shows is simply epic. There were maybe a handful of Americans just discovering the band at the show, and the rest were die hard Brits. Ocean Colour Scene had just come off a tour opening for The Who, so they brought their arena rock show to TT's...

Via Facebook For anyone who doesn't know, last week is was announced that Cambridge, MA club TT the Bear's was closing this summer after over 40 years. This might be the first club closing to truly upset me. By the time I was regularly going to shows (1996?), The Rat was catering to mostly punk and hardcore bands, and Avalon and Axis were always the bigger, corporate clubs (even though they've been replaced by the even more corporate and gigantic House of Blues). TT's had an equal love of national and local bands, and felt like a home base to bands like Letters to Cleo and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper even as they got too big to play a 325 person club. For an example of how great this place was in the late 90s, check out the ad to the left. Jennifer Trynin, Allstonians, Velvet Crush, Boss Hog, Bikini Kill, and a Squirrel Nut Zippers/Magnetic Fields double bill in less than 2 weeks??? Plus, it was the site of the legendary Pixies/Lemonheads pairing on "nu muzik"...