April 2, 2008
RETROVILLE: Paradise Lost
Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental feeling towards something in the past, but there are no rules about how far in the past something has to be before you are allowed to get nostalgic about it.
On Tuesday, April 1, The Paradise Lounge, the intimate listening room/bar/restaurant nestled within the Paradise Rock Club complex on Commonwealth Avenue, went dark for the last time. While we wish this was just some April Fool's joke we didn't get, the unfunny truth is that Boston has lost another venue for live music.
The Paradise Lounge wasn't large, and – especially in recent months – it wasn't pretty, but it had a certain gravitas born of the list of talented people that have stood and performed on that greasy, beer-stained, carpeted stage.
Boston's burlesque revival found a home at The Paradise Lounge a number of years ago when The Burlesque Revival Association brought some shows there. More recently, they've been one of Boston's burlesque stages, hosting The Boston Babydolls on a monthly basis.
The Lounge is a relative newcomer to the 'Dise scene, the baby sibling to the larger Paradise Rock Club just down the hall. The smaller space quickly earned credibility (and tour stop desirability among artists) by becoming part of Paradise lore. Audiences past have gathered for the Pogues, the Police, U2, and everyone's favorite ugly rockers, the Ramones in the main space. If you were a Boston musician on your way up (or down), you played at The Paradise. The J. Geils Band (and all of Peter Wolf's projects) played at The Paradise, so did The Cars, 'til Tuesday, The Dresden Dolls, Tracy Chapman, Jim's Big Ego, and pretty much every Boston musician of note for the past twenty-five years has played within the Commonwealth Avenue building at least once. Many of today's up and comers have turned to the Paradise Lounge on their journey up the ladder of the Boston scene.
The Lounge was part of the recent Paradise sale to Lir and McGann's Pub owner Joe Dunne, and venue staff said Dunne has plans to renovate the kitchen and front room to convert it into yet another Irishoid bar.
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Damn! I thought it was only closing for "renovations"...
Is this for real? What a shock!
April Fool's? The next two months are booked.
Has the person who wrote this post actually been to the Paradise Lounge? Paradise and Paradise Lounge, albeit connected, are two totally different venues. Yes, the Paradise has been around for 30 years, but the Lounge, if I recall correctly, has been open for less than five. Yeah, it was a fun little joint, but it's not a tragic loss.
Your mixing up the two in your post. The Paradise isn't in trouble. Sheesh, I almost had a heart attack reading this.
I'm disappointed - I've taken in a slew of shows in the Lounge and found it a nice contrast to the main room. It was a good space for artists in a transitional stage of their careers - not quite armed with the fanbase for a larger room, but still able to deliver a good crowd and then say that they played on Comm Ave in Boston. We need more rooms like that in town, not less.
Besides, pre-show eats are best at T's Pub anyway.
Seriously, this is appallingly poorly written. The Paradise LOUNGE is closing, not the Paradise Rock Club. The Paradise Lounge has been open for no more than four or five years at most -- it was a trashy Euro-dance club before this incarnation -- and its closing is no great loss. I think I saw two shows there (Nellie McKay and Jenny Owen Youngs) in all that time, and I only live like six blocks from the place!
If anyone has ever attended an over-packed summer show in the Paradise Lounge, they know how horribly bad the ventilation was in this joint. I went to a show there last summer where everybody lost five pounds of sweat.
To be honest, losing a live music spot of the size of the Paradise Lounge really isn't the end of the world. We have those places and there will be more.
Ironically- One of the downfalls of the Lounge was that it was adjacent to the Rock Club. Sound pollution was often an issue (- as it can sometimes be between the Middle East Up, Down and TTs in Central Square.) Just ask solo talent David Ford who recently tried to play a quiet set in the Lounge through the sounds of the Stooges next door!
Please consider this an invitation to investors here in Boston to do it better next time and soon!
It's cool, soon the only live music you'll be able to see will be in Cambridge
I'm getting out while the getting's good.