in/audible - Ibiblio

TRIBUTE TO GO! ROOM FOUR:
In a spring in the early aughts, in the late
morning of my love life, in the mid-evening
of the day, whatever day it was, I trailed a
girl with whom I would eventually share
two months of kisses to Go! Room 4, about
which I had only heard things like, “You
can sit on the stairs while bands play, and
there are couches upstairs. You’d like it.”
Which was true, as I’ve always liked having
a place to sit, the exception being the Smashing
Pumpkins show at the Dean Dome I
attended in eighth grade at which the chairs
were all tied together and bunched very
closely, and I couldn’t move
my legs without touching my
dad’s feet. So I was quite willing
to give Go! a chance, even
if it was to see Atom and His
Package, whose sense of humor
I can never imagine coming to
appreciate. That night yielded
unforgettable memories like
getting Atom to do a rousing
rendition of the birthday song
for the aforementioned girl,
whose birthday it indeed was, cemented
in my mind an impression of Go! Studios
as definitely the best fucking rock venue in
Chapel Hill or Carrboro.
As I’m sure was the same conclusion
reached by most everyone else in this town.
Consider: At what other venue would you
be able to see Damo Suzuki make a mockery
of himself and know that you are definitely
not the only person in the room who understands
the historical context that makes the
affair so depressing? At what other venue
would you, for some weird reason, end up
going to a Mike Kinsella and Rainer Maria
show only to find out that the club obviously
failed to promote it properly because you
were one of only eight people in attendance?
At what other venue would your friend be
able to have sex with a sound guy on top of
the bar?
I loved that place. Sure, everybody walking
to and from the bar or the stage or wherever
made it impossible to plant yourself in
one spot for the duration of even one song.
Sure, I had to spend a WXYC/WXDU
Gone.
38 IN/AUDIBLE fall 2004
prom there that happened to be one of the
more poignantly lonely nights of my life.
But Go! Studios closed after A.C. Newman’s
August 15 hurrah, and it’s not even
that Canadian asshole’s fault, but rather
mine. I couldn’t even manage to show up at
the place once in the past six months, not
even to any of the benefit shows nor even to
see any bands that I genuinely like and knew
in advance were coming. This whole thing is
my fault, and I’m sorry.
I’ve drawn several things from Go!’s
downfall, though: 1) Rock clubs should
keep enough money for themselves
rather than giving so
much to the Torch Marauder.
2) Nobody cares about going
to rock shows to hang out anymore.
Maybe this is because
George Bush has made us
poorer (or richer?) financially
and/or in some other way
(don’t forget to vote!). Or, as
in my case, maybe it’s because
you don’t really want to bother
seeing a rock show unless fucking Robert
Fripp and maybe Christian Vander are there
shoving mega-nasty guitar notes and drum
poundings down into your face, and maybe
Bruce Springsteen’s standing in the audience
next to you, just pounding his fist in the
air with his head hanging down, the sweat
that’s dripping from his nose collecting in a
pool on the floor that you just know some
girl is going to slip on, so you’re just standing
there totally prepared to catch her and
give her that smile you’ve been saving for the
moment you fall in love.
But there’s not even a chance of that happening
anymore, I guess.
Rest in peace, Go! Studios.
– Stefan Mlot
EDITOR’S NOTE: The Go! performance
space will soon open its doors as your new
favorite local bar. New space owners Lyle Collins,
Wes Lowder, Mike Ellis and Bill Fischer
plan to open by Halloween. Recording studios
and band space will also reside in the rest of the
Go! space.