Topic: Death of the Union?
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amn 
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 9:04:44 AM post heading: Death of the Union?
Supposedly the last night to party at the Union will be this Sunday--St. Patrick's eve. Please comment if you've heard any more on the matter. This totally sucks if it is true. FUDGE! |
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xindeed
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 9:43:19 AM post heading: wtf
what the fuck? |
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pencil 
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 12:12:17 PM post heading: ....
no. |
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luciferscrank
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 6:05:50 PM post heading: sucks
There is something happening. I heard secondhand that some sort of closing is happening. Maybe Lou just came back and was fed up. Sucks!!!!! |
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bad apple
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 6:44:36 PM post heading: Hmm?
Not to indulge any baseless rumors, but by close do you actually mean "sell the bar to someone else." Maybe someone without any integrity who isn't interested in maintaining the upstairs as a venue. |
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bad apple
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 7:02:25 PM post heading: Jokers
Not that I really give a shit, but if this is some inside joke I don't think it's very funny. Besides playing at that swill house I have many fond memories of the sometimes courteous but mostly openly belligerent staff. I hope undead, Zombie bikers from the Union's 70s heyday return and eat the brains of anyone who would try to alter its scum-bar DNA. |
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amn
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 9:03:42 PM post heading: Going to Union tonight
I'm heading over to the Union in a little bit. People hanging out there seem bummed out, including bartenders. I will try and figure out what the heck is going on. No, this is not an inside joke. - M |
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barticus
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posted: Mar 16, 2008 9:58:55 PM post heading: ..
say it isn't so |
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amn
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 2:42:18 AM post heading: Seems pretty real
OK. I showed up at the Union and most people seemed to agree, it's the end of underground rock in Athens. The Union is closing. Some people think it is temporary, but others think it is for ever. Landlords have been trying to convert the place into apartments for a while. Reference all the talk about the previous rent increase and Union closing threats on this website for verification. Rumors--and these are all second-hand at best--state that the keys were confiscated from the managers, the padlocks were changed and Monday, the bar will be closed. I will see for myself if that is indeed the case. In the mean time, Union regulars who heard what might be happening poured into the bar and held what might possibly be the best Union party ever. Bands collected their gear from upstairs, while downstairs, everyone danced on the bar, tables, and took off their shirts--boys and girls alike. It was the best party I've seen at the Union in a long time. The last song they played "Burning down the House" by the Talking Heads. People screamed "Union Forever" and many people took final photographs of the bar, including myself. Prominent musicians puked. Bartenders hugged. And like I said--if the bar is indeed dead... it is the end of underground rock, punk, metal, and anything avant guarde in Athens. We're pretty much doomed to top 40, jam, hippie, and bad cover bands in Athens from now on. Who is going to pick up the tourch? Casa? Jackie O's? What about For Real Fest... What about Blackout Fest? If the Union is indeed closed--the bastion of ORIGINAL music in Athens... well then, I think original ROCK --at the very least--is dead for a quite a while. This sucks pretty hard if it is indeed the end. Thanks to those who showed up: Barticus, Ostlandler, Chip, a lot of people from FrogNet, and all of We March... that was pretty much it. Perhaps if there was more warning more people would have showed up to celebrate the end of an era. Who knows. All I know is that I'm buying a mega lotto ticket tomorrow, and if I win, I'm buying the Union. Perhaps this town needs another worker-owned venue to keep the rock Alive? Who wants to invest? |
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xindeed
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 7:32:27 AM post heading: union death
please keep us updated on this situation! |
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pencil 
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 9:03:05 AM post heading: nothing's fucked here dude.
yo... everybody needs to calm down .. remember how we all started freaking out the last time this happened?...there'as no way ANYBODY would want to spend the money to bring that shitty building up to code let alone turn it into apts. We should also think about the fact that lou just got back from overseas and may be freaking out a bit himself. give it a bit of time and if they really do close it down forever I'll move back to C-bus....you have my word on that. (p.s I just got back from columbus last night...I've been reading this all weekend {sorry for not hookin up chris!}... and I stopped in to get carry out and saw matt without a shirt...partying...I'll probably kick myself for not hanging out but I really don't think they'll stay closed) |
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pencil 
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 10:19:39 AM post heading: Dziesięć Wieków Hańby
..looks like I'm moving to columbus |
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luciferscrank
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 10:38:23 AM post heading: horseshit
what you hear pencil? |
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pencil
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 11:04:35 AM post heading: O.K I was there last night but not because I was there to celebrate it's demise but because I had just gotten in to town from sp
read my post in the playground. |
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barticus
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 11:27:40 AM post heading: .
i really don't know how much this would help, but if people want to make their outrage more public you have till tuesday eve to send their letters into the a-news for the Thursday edition. if people want to organize to save this music venue somehow i'm down but its hard to plan/organize when you don't know whats going on or what we are up against. it was really sad last night seeing the snails guys take out there equipment |
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pencil 
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 12:28:00 PM post heading: O.K I was there last night but not because I was there to celebrate it's demise but because I had just gotten in to town from sp
whoever buys the bar: I will work for beer on the weekends...no joke. |
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bad apple
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 12:45:48 PM post heading: Union
I often say derisive things about Athens on here because of how deeply conflicted I have been about having moved away, albeit 1.5hrs away. I dearly love all of the amazing, creative people I met growing up there, and 90% of that would never have happened had it not been for Scott Winland and the Union Bar and Grill. Music probably would not continue to play such a central role in how I define myself as individual had it not been for that venue. The thought of it not being there is incredibly sad. Not every small college town is as lucky as Athens has been to have such a great venue and even greater steward. I wish I could have been there the other night to share in the memories. I'll raise a glass tonight to Scott and every great band I had the privilege of seeing because of his and the bar staffs' hard work over the years. |
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pencil
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 4:09:20 PM post heading: it's "lift me in the air"
well said chris...i suspect you're not alone. |
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houska
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 6:29:44 PM post heading: .
I am sitting here with a complete loss of words and feelings regarding this news. Its even more of a bummer that those who claim to be so supportive of the music community in athens would rather have one last "celebration" and get tanked in response to this matter, than come together to discuss where to go from here, what do we do with the rad upcoming shows, and how do we solve this problem? I think I am going to puke. Love, ray |
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acrn 
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 7:38:52 PM post heading: -
i walked into the union last night not knowing what i was getting into. the buzz was in the air. i thought it was shit. i started seeing faces that i normally wouldn't on a sunday night - barticus - matt toledo - etc. i saw the guys in the snails carrying gear out. it was true. i drank myself stupid and puked on myself - my first time at the union. danced on tables - no shirts allowed. i'm glad to say that i don't remember getting kicked out at the end of the night, my mind was elsewhere. i've gotten calls today from old friends who have graduated, some folks from dayton and columbus. http://www.donewaiting.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=22574 i'm interested in the real story. so i know where to start from in organizing people to purchase the property. there's too many people in this town that care to let it die. |
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shanah 
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posted: Mar 17, 2008 11:05:36 PM post heading: aoshdfaoifjoij
fuck. |
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pasquali jeremy
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 12:46:29 AM post heading: Balls
The last time this happened was during the Lennonfest of 2004. Paper Airplane had just performed their first show as a band and that was supposedly it for the Union. 1 week later the Union was just as solid as ever. I hope the same thing happens and rumors are rumors. It kind of sounds like nobody has talked to Lou as of yet so there is still is hope. With that being said I live and Oakland now and am coming home next week and was going to go the Union for Jameson and to just be a general sleazebag for a night. This has nothing to do with anything but I can't tell you how many times I have drank at the Union and threw up on the O' Hooleys window. Regardless I am going to puke tonight. Happy St. Patty's day and fuck hippies and Red Wanting Blue. |
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ed
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 1:07:02 AM post heading: FUCK
I really wished I would have seen the news of this on Sunday. I would have been up there to hang out and shit. When I got word of this from Brian I was thinking WHAT THE FUCK. I immediately called my mom and she was pissed and swearing up and down, as she used to go there in the late '60's and '70's and we go there ever year when she comes down. I really hope some of you can pick up the place and keep it running. If it is possible I will help by giving some of my student loan to the cause, because I am already screwed over by the banks, might as well help out the scene. For those of you that know me and are not sure who I am via this board: http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v116/155/43/12300611/n12300611_34749022_4570.jpg I hope things work out. - Ed |
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xindeed
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 7:49:38 AM post heading: wtf
Doesn't anyone know Lou well enough to call him and ask him what the deal is? C'mon - some of you people practically live at the Union and we still have no word on what Lou is planning... Even I tried calling the place yesterday afternoon....no answer. I've heard Lou will re-open it as a "private gentleman's club" - but that's not set in stone at this time... What the Fuck? |
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unclefun 
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 8:42:04 AM post heading: or maybe...
It could be come a opium den with a house of ill-repute in the upstairs. |
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pencil
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 9:07:21 AM post heading: no.
I just hope that someone who knows the place and has spent a fair amount of time there'll buy the god forsaken place. Just as long as it's not a faux collective(like a "worker owned" business). or a bunch of overprivileged hipster brats, then we'll be O.K... |
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doorgirl
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 10:25:58 AM post heading: i am about to puke also
seriously. i cannot believe this. i owe Lou and Courtney some money. (they let me stay in their basement for a month or so, when i was broke and homeless) i think muy puking might have something to do with guilt here. I will be contacting them ASAP, but i dount a couple hundred bucks will help too much here. ( iw will contact them anyways) What can I doooooooo, other than puke??????? |
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legats
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:10:48 AM post heading: Starting to think a-town is cursed...
I think Lou had a good run |
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pencil
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:39:43 AM post heading: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
co-signed mark^^ |
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wolf_man
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 3:12:41 PM post heading: good news?
so, i just got word that the union will be open for booked shows. including this fridays show. i move that everybody get there asses up there and have fun and spend money so that we don't lose this wonderful place. |
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nonprophet
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 3:14:15 PM post heading: heh
nostalgia is for suckers. i've been saying this was going to happen for years, but nobody wanted to listen. i grew up in that place, playing shows and hanging out since i was 14 (i'm almost 27 now), but i think they're getting what they deserve. let's face it: the shows aren't very good anymore, and they don't treat the bands as good as they used to (not paying them, shitty drink deals, they let us practice up there, which is cool, but they don't really like the fact that we do), and they've been kinda shitty to the employees for a while now as well (constantly threatening to fire all of them, actually firing their most popular and financially prosperous bartenders, zach, mikey, and chandra). anyone that knows me knows how much i love that place, and me, potter, pencil, and chad are there more than pretty much anybody, but still, que sera sera. i'm sure this town will be fine. i'm sure that music will continue, and that, eventually, we'll have a plce to hang out and party. you can take the union out of the party, but you can't take the party out of athens. -the prominent musician that puked |
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junebug
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 4:53:05 PM post heading: Shows this weekend
The Union will be open for business this weekend. I believe that Lou just wants to get a handle on things. |
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xindeed
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 5:11:42 PM post heading: go
i've been going there for 23 years. guess i'm a fool for "nostalgia" (cool place to see cool music and people.) perhpaps nonprophet should stay away... que sera sera.. |
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dingomix
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 7:50:47 PM post heading: Death of the Union?
Hi, I'm new here. The newspaper I edit, the Athens News, posted a story tonight on its web site about the Union situation. You might want to check it out. We also posted Southeast Engine's SXSW diary over the weekend. I'm not sure how active I'll be, but this is an impressive place. (I've been going to the Union since the fall of '73.) www.athensnews.com |
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luciferscrank
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 9:30:23 PM post heading: PRESS RELEASE FROM LOU
THIS WAS POSTED BY COURTNEY ON MYSPACE Mar 18, 2008 5:05 PM Press Release from Lou: It is one of the greatest pleasures of my life for many years to be able to provide The Union Bar and Grill as a unique venue which strives to provide a comfortable setting on the cultural cutting edge where all individuals can find refuge from the conformity of the status quo and which provides people an experience that makes them happy and wanting to return. I am a Major in the Army in which I have served over nineteen years and I have spent over the last four years away from home on active duty, first as the operations officer for a battalion responsible for training Soldiers deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan and returned only last week as operations officer for the Counterinsurgency Center For Excellence at Camp Taji, Iraq where I was responsible for the counterinsurgency training program for every Brigade Combat Team which deployed to Iraq over the last six months. During the time of my deployment my wife has been raising our three year old daughter, and trying to finish her graduate schooling while trying to give our staff direction in what little time she has available. Unfortunately, due to my lengthily deployments and my wife�s obligations at home, we have not been able to provide day to day oversight and had to rely on the staff to provide an inviting atmosphere and positive relations with our patrons. In our absence the bar's structure did not serve to maintain. The bar will temporally close for reorganization and restructuring to better serve my original vision for the Union Bar and Grill. I have also discussed the possibility of sale with several parties. The bar will reopen on Friday for already schedule shows. |
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amn
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posted: Mar 18, 2008 11:04:55 PM post heading: Worker Owned
I hope Lou is able to work out the wrinkles and keep the bar. However if he does sell, it would be sweet if some locals with good credit could get together and buy the place, or turn it into a co-op, Casa-like dealie so long as it doesn't become a meat market or hippie bar. |
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mikey
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posted: Mar 19, 2008 1:44:30 AM post heading: The Union
I am writing on behalf of myself and a few of my friends to state that you do not need to be blathering to know that The Union Bar and Grill's unwillingness or inability to adopt a position external to the world it fights results in an attempt to destroy this world from the inside. For practical reasons, I have to confine my discussion to areas that have received insufficient public attention or in which I have something new to say. The Union Bar and Grill's cabal appears to be growing in number. I pray that this is analogous to the flare-up of a candle just before extinction yet I keep reminding myself that I once managed to get The Union Bar and Grill to agree that its hatchet jobs run contrary to even the most cursory observation of the real world. Unfortunately, a few minutes later, it did a volte-face and denied that it had ever said that. We ought to reveal the nature and activity of The Union Bar and Grill's cat's-paws and expose their inner contexts as well as their ultimate final aims. That'll make The Union Bar and Grill think once -- I would have said "twice" but I don't see any indication that it has previously given any thought to the matter -- before trying to let us know exactly what our attitudes should be towards various types of people and behavior. I may not be perfect, but at least I'm not afraid to say that The Union Bar and Grill is not a responsible citizen. Responsible citizens show some backbone. Responsible citizens undoubtedly do not gain a respectable foothold for The Union Bar and Grill's pernicious conjectures. The Union Bar and Grill's opinion is that denominationalism and snobbism are identical concepts. Of course, opinions are like sphincters: we all have them. So let me tell you my opinion. My opinion is that no matter what else we do, our first move must be to educate everyone about how The Union Bar and Grill wishes it could buy "ethnic cleanser" at the grocery store. That's the first step: education. Education alone is not enough, of course. We must also weed out organizations like The Union Bar and Grill that have deceived, betrayed, and exploited us. Even if we accepted The Union Bar and Grill's crotchets, so what? Does that mean that it's perfectly safe to drink and drive? Of course not. The Union Bar and Grill's musings are a public admission of its immaturity and insensitivity. It is unclear whether this is because anyone who was sober for more than an hour or two during the last five years knows that by providing a carefully filtered, a carefully slanted, view of what is happening in the world, The Union Bar and Grill is able to trick people into believing that we should abandon the institutionalized and revered concept of democracy, because in order to maintain harmony with my conscience I must begin the debate about its orations, or a combination of the two. It is much to be lamented that so few people are willing to refute The Union Bar and Grill's arguments line by line and claim by claim. And that's all I have to say. |
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mikey
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posted: Mar 19, 2008 2:05:17 AM post heading: PS
PS While you're probably sick of hearing about The Union Bar and Grill, it is crucial that you read this letter. First off, The Union Bar and Grill irritates all and sundry. As long as I live, I will be shouting this truth from rooftops and doing everything I can to deal with The Union Bar and Grill appropriately. The Union Bar and Grill's hostile activities often resemble an inverted fairy tale in that the triumph of innocence comes at the start and the ugly sisters of sadism and negativism enter on stage in triumph for the final curtain. When I state that neither The Union Bar and Grill nor its vicegerents have dealt squarely or clearly with the fact that for every dollar we spend to better our communities, The Union Bar and Grill'll spend a thousand more to subjugate persons of culture, refinement, and learning to the most illiterate evildoers you'll ever see, I'm merely trying to plant markers that define the limits of what is viperine and what is not. I, not being one of the many vainglorious dirty-types of this world, understand that The Union Bar and Grill always gives noncommittal answers to questions, but The Union Bar and Grill deeply believes that it is omnipotent. Meanwhile, back on Earth, the truth is very simple: There is a proper place in life for hatred. Hatred of that which is wrong is a powerful and valuable tool. But when The Union Bar and Grill perverts hatred in order to impact public policy for years to come, it becomes clear that we must evaluate the tactics it has used against me. Our children depend on that. The Union Bar and Grill fully intends to promote promiscuity and obscene language. But that's not enough, not for it. The Union Bar and Grill will additionally undermine the intellectual purpose of higher education, which is why I claim that it wants to insult my intelligence. You know what groups have historically wanted to do the same thing? Fascists and Nazis. Think about this: I don't know if The Union Bar and Grill is consciously and purposely evil or merely sinful. I do know, however, that I'm not an inarticulate person. I'd like nothing more than to extend my hand in friendship to The Union Bar and Grill's deputies and convey my hope that in the days to come we can work together to treat the disease, not the symptoms. Unfortunately, knowing them, they'd rather establish tacit boundaries and ground rules for the permissible spectrum of opinion because that's what The Union Bar and Grill wants. All of these things are related: neopaganism, The Union Bar and Grill's hariolations, and the general breakdown of our society. I'll even tell you how they're related. It's really very simple. In essence, statism is classically a hodgepodge of cock-and-bull stories crafted for mass appeal. Please re-read and memorize that sentence if you still believe that the cure for evil is more evil. The Union Bar and Grill's politics are eerily similar to those promoted by madmen such as Pol Pot. What's scary, though, is that their extollment of propagandism has been ratcheted up a few notches from anything Pol Pot ever conjured up. The Union Bar and Grill's perspective is that it is better that a hundred thousand people should perish than that it should be even slightly inconvenienced. My perspective, in contrast, is that we must remove our chains and move towards the light. (In case you didn't understand that analogy, the chains symbolize The Union Bar and Grill's irresponsible platitudes and the light represents the goal of getting all of us to eschew noxious, insecure cronyism.) If The Union Bar and Grill thinks its actions represent progress, it should rethink its definition of progress. The Union Bar and Grill recently got caught red-handed trying to obfuscate the issue so that one can't see what ought to be totally obvious to all. Well, surprise, surprise, surprise, as Gomer Pyle would say. And if you think that The Union Bar and Grill's merely trying to make this world a better place in which to live, then you aren't thinking very clearly. I am indubitably not up on the latest gossip. Still, I have heard people say that it's possible that the hysteria and witch-hunts fueled by The Union Bar and Grill's taradiddles will skewer me over a pit barbecue sooner or later. However, I cannot speculate about that possibility here because I need to devote more space to a description of how I would like to give you an example of how brusque The Union Bar and Grill can be. The Union Bar and Grill has admitted that it intends to coordinate a revolution. Okay, that may have been a particularly bald-faced and unsubtle example but if a cogent, logical argument entered The Union Bar and Grill's brain, no doubt a concussion would result. We must enhance people's curiosity, critical acumen, and aesthetic sensitivity. We must unite rich and poor, young and old. And we must invigorate the effort to reach solutions by increasing the scope of the inquiry rather than by narrowing or abandoning it. Please join me in incorporating these words into our living credo. |
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xindeed
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posted: Mar 19, 2008 7:15:58 AM post heading: ha
once - kinda funny and confusing. |
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rev.jc
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posted: Mar 19, 2008 10:32:40 AM post heading: death to the union
what the hell mikey? Are you high? |
