The Brewery, Raleigh, NC

When touring in the South East, many bands end up in The Triangle: the area that contains Raleigh-Durham, Cary, Carrboro and Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This relatively small area packs quite a cultural, and musical, punch. One hot venue in The Triangle was The Brewery.

The Brewery opened in 1983 and featured everything from reggae and rock to bluegrass and metal. A dark, intimate space with a capacity of 300, meant that you were always assured good sound a a good view. It was a very popular venue on Hillsborough just a block away from NC State University. A host of people played there over the years like Janes Addiction, Jeff Buckley, Living Colour, COC, Paul Westerberg and tons of others. It was torn down about 3-4 years ago and people still talk about it with great love and memories. The last documented show at The Brewery was Nov 18 2011: Agnostic Front, The Mongoloids, Nasayer, Vanguard, Dis.

Mystery Man

We set up, doors open, the early were birds were already seated and on their second beer. I was eating a take-out dinner when a mystery man came through the door.

I couldn’t help but notice him. How he looked around the room not looking for anything or anyone, but to take the feeling of the room in. There was a rooted quality to him, a presence of warmth.

His overall look I’d call lopsided, but in an endearing way. He titled his head ever so slightly to the left and his loose-fitting shirt sat at an angle across his shoulders. He had shoulder length black hair with just sprinkles of salt thrown in to be dignified.

His head stopped turning when he saw me and our eyes locked. He wore an expression of surprise… or was it recognition? The way he opened his mouth so slightly in a smile as if saying, “Ahhh, I see.” Then his smile broadened more and a I felt a shiver, a tease of electricity. Then his eyes went down, as did his chin, as he turned toward the bar.

Rosemarie slid into the chair across from me, smiling through her tears. “Oh, Trisha. I got the most amazing idea. How about after tonight’s show, I race back to Athens. Tomorrow you guys can continue up toward Philly with one of you in the back of the truck. Juanita was complaining about how the drums were getting damaged from sliding around back there, so that’ll fix that. Then I’ll meet you all in Washingon, D.C. two nights from now.” She sat up

The others were making their way onto the stage.

“Your aunt went in for a test, Rosemarie. Not to die.”

The Rosemarie sobs started again, “But she needs me!” she wailed.

“And we don’t?”

Rosemarie sighed deeply and looked toward the stage.

“You wanted to do this tour. That’s what you said, right?”

Rosemarie nodded.

“Come on, let’s go.”

I threw my empty take-out tray into the garbage and jumped onto the stage, Rosemarie followed as if in a funeral march.

Mystery Man sat at the table I vacated. Throughout our two sets he watched us with an intensity that was a bit off-putting, to tell you the truth. At times he’d take notes. He’d look from Toni to Rose, to Juanita, to me then Aline. His fingers drum-rolled on the table to the beat. He took more notes.

After the show I tried to find him, to talk to him. But it was as if he’d disappeared.

Later that night, the weird emails started.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAMGBG0OW58

Thanks to Stephen H Judge, owner of Schoolkids Records, Second Motion Records & Blurt Magazine for suggesting The Brewery. http://www.schoolkidsrecords.com.

Thanks also to Brandon Wise & The Scorchin’ Sons for taking us to New York Pizza for some beers, showing us around and coming out to see us. Cheers!