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Essentially, The Airport Lounge went down with a sinking ship--The Plaza Pub. The ailing pub's lunch trade had been failing to pay the lease for many months, which ultimately resulted in foreclosure, and the locked doors that greeted Lounge staff last Thursday, February 26. According to Susan Chase, The Lounge's manager, there were signs of the pub's troubles, but no one involved with the Lounge was made aware of the depth of the problems until the locks went on the doors. Chase claims that although the Lounge did have off nights, the balance of business was good--certainly sufficient for the Lounge to be self-sustaining. Perhaps the solitary slice of dried-out cheesecake and three shrunken nori rolls that always seemed to be left rotating in the desert cabinet inside the front door were truly unappetizing omens of the Pub's eventual demise. Plaza Pub owner Alice Kozlik stated that it was a simple case of economics: high overhead and lack of business. Happy hour business dropped off, the lunch trade fell away, and the Lounge couldn't carry the show. Kozlik blames the failure in part on a general fear of downtown, that people who work downtown by day flee to the hills come sundown, and that no band or drink special could convince them to do otherwise. "We tried everything," she lamented. The closing of the Airport Lounge registers not only a firm blow to downtown's live music scene, but a geater symbolic loss: The Airport Lounge was born of the enterprising spirit of two women with a vision and no venue, and a third with an unused basement space and a need for business. Between them--Susan Chase, Michelle Hotchkiss and Alice Kozlik--they managed to establish one of downtown's most successful venues featuring live and mostly local music. They saw a need, realized an opportunity and tried to make a difference. And for a while, they did. Sure, clubs are not necessarily the most stable of business ventures; especially ones that feature live music as their entertainment. Dance theme nights tend to draw more established crowds--witness the Outback, the Cage, the Fineline, the Club Congress. The loss of another predominately live venue, especially one so fundamentally dedicated to supporting and fostering local music, is indeed a tragedy for local music and the revitalization of downtown business alike. Unlike Berkey's on Fourth and Jaime's Bar, both of which closed doors in recent months--lately reopening with new management and new names, Mutt's and The Blue Room--prospects look much less rosy for the Lounge. Which is ironic, given that while both Berkey's and Jaime's closed due to financial concerns, falling victim to stale booking schedules and waning interest, the Airport Lounge was doing well. Anyone who's ever tried to get a table there after 10:30 p.m. on a Saturday can vouch for that. The Lounge was a testament to the fact that downtown clubgoers desire diversity and will support an alternative to '80s alternative. The focus was on variety and avant garde, no holds barred. It was a place where new ideas were played out on a regular basis. That was the beauty of the Lounge: While the space was really nothing special, aside from the novelty of its basement location, the people who ran the Lounge cultivated an atmosphere of openness and ease that celebrated creativity. For the relatively short time the Lounge was in operation, they can claim many feathers in their cap--the list of spectacular shows is too long for this short column. For me at least, the Lounge often felt like a cross between Cheers, a Berlin cabaret, and a house party thrown by some of the hippest folks in town. Sadly, the Lounge is gone, swept way like an accident victim, without warning, without fanfare and without a proper good-bye. So, to all the Lounge staff: Thank's for a job well done. It was tremendous fun while it lasted. We miss you already. ON THE HOLY ROAD: Hey all you Salpointe kids! Looking for some good, clean Christian fun? Celebrate your faith with one of the most popular Christian "rock" bands of the '90s--three-time Grammy nominees, Geoff Moore & The Distance. (Chances are there won't be any run-ins with the cops at this show.) The band is on the road touring their newest record, Threads, with hopes of spreading the good word and activating youth evangelism throughout the heartland. They kick ass for the Lord! Geoff Moore & The Distance appear in concert with special guests Out of Eden and Small Town Poets at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7, at the Grace Chapel, 6180 E. Pima St. Tickets are $11 in advance, discounted to $9 if purchased in blocks of 10 or more, and $13 at the door. Call 790-2440 for more information.
But if you can't beat 'em, pretend to join 'em. Infiltrate. In these Latter Days, it appears that the Christian rock onslaught likely began as the brainchild of concerned Coalition parents, a fabrication brought to bear as a means of replacing the objectionable, unholy and unwholesome material with something spiritually sanitized. In addition to their own special place in Heaven, Christian rockers even get their own parochial categories at the Grammys. The Grammys have a category for just about everything else, so why don't Rockers for Satan get the recognition they have coming? When are we going to see awards for Best Satanic Rock Instrumental, Best Long Form Satanic Rock Video, Best Performance of Faux Fellatio By A Satanic Rock Artist? Will Ozzie, Alice and KISS ever get what's retroactively coming to them? The separation of Christian rock from the rest of the rock flock, even if by nomenclature alone, only confirms what we already knew: Since the get-go, rock and roll has been the music of youth, freedom, and rebellion--the music of the Devil. If only church and state were as easily separated. Don't get me wrong, many Christian bands have fine musicians, deserving of their audiences' recognition and cash and fandome. They, too, have their place and a right to deliver their messages to the masses. But for anyone to claim what they do is rock and roll...I'm sorry, but that's blasphemy. LAST NOTES: Big Bad Voodoo Daddy is back! The foppish mobsters of swing, whose career was launched into high gear after their oft-touted appearance in the film Swingers, return to Tucson in their customary, dressed-to-the-nines style. Now all you swank young hipsters have another shot at seeing the band that counts among their most prestigious gigs a Hollywood New Year's Eve Bash at Bruce and Demi's house. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy appears with No. 1 British swinger band The Big 6--who packed the dance floor during their last pinstriped Tucson gig at the Rialto Cabaret--and local Hipster Daddy-O for an all-ages show on Saturday, March 7, at the Rialto Theater, 318 E. Congress St. The bar will be open to those with ID. Tickets are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. Call 740-0126 for more information.
Everyone who remembers The Wildwood Boys, The New Riders of the
Purple Sage and The Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band will want to beat
a path down to the Third Stone Bar & Grill, 500 N.
Fourth Ave., for a very special presentation of the David Nelson
Band. The list of band members reads like an all-star line-up
of '70s psychedelic country rockers: guitarist/pedal steel player
Barry Sless, keyboardist/ accordion player Mookie Siegal, bassist
Bill Laymon, drummer Arthur Steinhorn, and David Nelson himself
on guitar. Arrive early for a seat with a view. The David Nelson
Band appears Friday, March 6, on that fine, velvet-lined stage.
Tickets are $10 at the door. Call 628-8844 for more information.
--Lisa Weeks
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© 1995-97 Tucson Weekly . Info Booth |
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DEPARTING FLIGHT: My very first column, back in October
of 1996, led off with a profile of what was then a fledgling downtown
hot spot, a small club that showed amazing potential and no want
of down-home charm: The Airport Lounge. I'm now faced with the
most regrettable task of confirming the rumors that have been
circulating since last Friday--that the Airport Lounge, along
with the Plaza Pub, is closed, with very little hope of reopening.
Since we're on the subject, the whole concept of "Christian
rock" gives me pause for thought, and my first thought is
that is that the two terms are mutually exclusive. After all,
rock and roll sold its soul to Satan the day it was born, and
never looked back. If those uptight Christian sects had their
way in the '50s, we'd have no rock at all, let alone guitar riffs
for the greater glory of God Almighty. Even today the creepy Christian
Coalition is an easy shot--just look at how much ire a ridiculous
spoofter like Marilyn Manson has managed to generate among the
smugly saved. They missed the joke entirely and made him a rich
man in the process. Now who's laughing?
