Open Letter (to a Landlord)

Even before the coronavirus hit, the Boston rock scene was taking a beating, at least in terms of independently-owned clubs, anyway. TT the Bears closed a few years back, the Middle East was for sale and other venues went away or were bought by corporate entities. I mean, it's the way of the world, I guess, but it still sucks.

And we all know how small businesses are suffering since everything basically shut down in mid-March. But when Tim Philbin, general manager of legendary Allston club Great Scott, announced yesterday that the club would not reopen, that stung.

It's been around for 44 years, but I only really started going to shows there in the last 10 years or so. I guess it was more of a regular bar for most of that time until the 2000s and it was never really on my radar until I started seeing bands there with my good buddy Jay Breitling. I think the first show I saw there was a record release party for The Hush Now.

It was a tiny hole in the wall, located off Comm Ave halfway between the Paradise and Brighton Music Hall. You walked in and there was a bar on the left and the stage was straight ahead in the back of the room. I saw a ton of great shows there over the years: Ty Segall (seen above on 9/19/14), Sloan, Johnny Foreigner, Ex Hex, Bash and Pop, The Swirlies, Rough Francis, Speedy Ortiz, La Luz, Kuroma, Ringo Deathstarr, Soccer Mom and on and on. You could get right up close and absorb the decibels. It was goddamn glorious.

Apparently the landlords decided not to renew Great Scott's lease because the club's post-COVID fortunes don't look good. I'm sure those fuckers will put something more essential in there like a CVS or a Dunkin' Donuts. I get it, they're looking at the bottom line. But I'd argue that the arts are essential and Great Scott was one of the last pure great rock rooms in the city environs. It'll be missed, and those landlords get the finger from me. Maybe even two.