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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Goodbye, Southgate House
2:12 AM
Settle in, this might be a long one.

DSC_0001

Folks, hands down, my favorite venue in the general Cincinnati area is the Southgate House, just across the river in Newport. If you're FB friends or follow on twitter anyone in this area (or who's from this area), I'm sure you already have heard, but if not, here you go:

Southgate House || We are sad to announce that after 30 years in continuous operation as a music venue under the ownership and operation of Ross Raleigh, the Southgate House will host its last show on New Years Eve, Dec. 31 2011. || We look forward to opening our business in a new location soon. || Thank you for the wonderful memories and your support.

The closing of the Southgate House (at least its current location) is a major blow to the music scene. It's not just a favorite of locals, either: it's been ranked in national polls for the best music venues.

I'm not sure which show at the Southgate House was the first I attended -- I moved here in 1996, and for the first few years I lived here, I went to nearby (to my apartment) Bogart's. At that time, Bogart's was still booking some great bands (Porno for Pyros, for example, was my first show there), and it being in walking distance was a great incentive.

However, by the early 2000's I was hitting up SGH often. I didn't have a digital camera back then, so I don't have as much evidence of those shows as I do for later ones, and I don't have any ticket stubs to speak of either. Sad times.

I'm not the most eloquent when it comes to feelings, and SGH closing sure brings them up. I've seen performances by heroes and friends and heroes and friends and... yeah. So many.

And not only that, most, if not all, of the musical projects I've been involved with that have performed publicly have done so at least once at Southgate -- DJ Empirical, The Haywards, The Black Fives, Black Signal, Not Delicious, plus various one-offs for tribute shows and the like. Southgate House has supported local acts for years, and if they do continue elsewhere, I really hope they continue that. Plus, I've sung my fair share of karaoke songs in that parlour. :)

Shit, I've even dj'd a wedding there!

Anyway, While I've been writing this, I've been trying to remember some of the great bands I've seen there. Every time I think I've thought of all the biggest (as in, most important to me) ones, I think of more. Negativland, Ann Shenton, Buckethead, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Evolution Control Committee, Glue, Venetian Snares, John Waters, Mike Doughty, Cex, Hogscraper, Infinite Number of Sounds, Rasputina, Neil Hamburger, Grand Buffet, Sunn o))), Gil Mantera's Party Dream, Electric Six, Black Moth Super Rainbow, and on and on and on.

Anyway. I easily have about 1800 photos from there in my flickr stream. Here are some of them, and I'll put tons at the end of this post. Check them out, and then mark your calendar for 12/09/2011, which will be my last performance there, as a part of my band, Black Signal. We'll be releasing our first official music that night, a digital EP, in the same historic venue where we played our first show.

Be sure -- if they re-open somewhere else, I'll absolutely support them, especially if they continue to bring in excellent national acts and support excellent local acts. It definitely won't be the same, though.

Now pics. These are roughly in chronological order. You'll see my photography improve over the years; I have SGH to thank in part for that as well. There aren't many I kept from the last couple years, as I burnt myself out on photography in 2009, and I'm just recently getting back into it.

S2010027
The Black Fives, 2004.
This was before I was a member, when it was still Gabe's solo thing.

80s Pop Rocks
DJ Empirical, 2004.
This was at the first 80's Pop Rocks, a tribute to the 80s (thus the outfit)

S2010050
Glue [DJ DQ (L) & Adeem], 2004.
Also, a giant anime boobie.

S2010124
The Haywards, 2004 at Sound Off for Kerry.
That's Montana (me) on the left, and David on the right. This was one of the couple shows with Gabe on guitar (out of frame to the right)

S2010086
Burning Star Core, 2005.

S2010106
Cex, 2005.

S2010063
Large Number [Ann Shenton, formerly of Add (N) to X], 2005.

S2010038
Ruckus Roboticus, 2005.
This was my first gig with him, at a birthday party I'd been booked for; I enlisted him to pitch in.

S2010143
Hogscraper, 2005.
These guys sold out Southgate a couple Halloweens in a row back in the day.

DCFC0083
Lisa and Chuck of Wussy, 2005.
This was a Romper Room-style video thing. Weird and cool.

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Grand Buffet, 2005.
Saw these guys at Southgate a few times.

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Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, 2006.
These guys were touring through and needed a show, and I had a residency that month at Southgate, so I had them in. *Super* nice guys.

Buckethead
Buckethead, 2006.
A hero. Saw him here a few times as well.

DCFC0176
Negativland, 2006.
Not a band I'd ever thought I'd see live, and I saw them here.


DSC_0572
Forbidden Nectar, 2007.
This was a one-off project Sean P. Hafer (L) and I did at a Southern Rock tribute show.

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Sean P. Hafer, 2007.
Here's Sean running karaoke. Good goddamn times.

ratatat with a strobe
Ratatat, 2007.

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Montana Wildhack, 2007.
This was me performing in the 3rd incarnation of the 80s tribute show 80s Pop Rocks. I think I did the first rap song in the 3 years. (Kool Moe Dee's "I Go to Work")

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Dandi Wind, 2007.
This was the final night of the Lite Brite Festival that year.

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My Brightest Diamond, 2007.
So, so good.

Melora, of Rasputina, at the Southgate House
Rasputina, 2007.

john waters animated (see comments for animation)
John Waters, 2008.
Another Lite Brite Festival.

Neil Hamburger
Neil Hamburger, 2009.

Black Moth Super Rainbow (3 pics stitched)
Black Moth Super Rainbow, 2009.
Click through to see this one larger.

Sunn O)))
Sunn o))), 2009.

3 Comment(s):

Blogger chickenlaysanegg: I can't even talk about the demise of southgate house yet. certainly the end of a long era . I've started compiling a list of shows I played and attended there. thanks for including my Romper Room experiment in your list of memories. it was a 2 day LIVE televsion show projected through out the house as part of Lite Brite Test. I also helped shoot a nude photo session up in the gallery for Fudgie and Fufu . it's enlightening meeting people for the first time naked . good times

11/29/2011 12:11 PM 

Blogger djempirical: I *had* to include the Romper Room thing. Such a crazy experiment could not happen in a lot of places. SGH is/was one. (Even had a few shots of the firemen who showed up with puffed out chests about safety codes, even though there were only a handful of people there.

11/29/2011 12:19 PM 

Blogger djempirical: and YES, who could forget the nude photo shoot that resulted in two album covers? (here and here). I overslept, or i would have been there myself. :)

11/29/2011 12:22 PM 

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