rtnirsd.i\, January 2
KLERS
/ from Page l
riic> thought thalifih.
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ted the lire.”
ire prevention pwjectt |
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-duty lire rated doer:
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AGGIELIFE
[hursday, January 27, 2(KK)
THE BATTALION
Page 3
— D««
Assistant Drs
merit of Residents
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lid hall stall men?
ig on the fire alarr
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ctor from the Stater
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‘We have always trr
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iyare
-CS clubs
mg
ownership
their doors?
crouds
-of stu-
dents left Bryan-College
Station for the winter holi-
days, the Monkee Bar on Main
Street in downtown Bryan died a
silent death. Formerly a club that of-
MMjljj fered live music, techno raves and a
weekly swing-dance night, the Monkee
liar will now be only open for private par-
J|pf ties. The doors of the club are locked tight,
leaving several Aggie organizations homeless
and many questioning the high rate of club
turnover in the area.
W Nick Cemoch, a member of the improvisa-
W tional comedy troupe, Freudian Slip and a junior
■ theater arts major , was stunned to have lost the
■ Monkee Bar. Cemoch said the intimate venue
I housed the troupe for at least six years.
“That’s really kind of upsetting. I thought |thc
owners] were turning it around," Cemoch said.
“What’s cool about the Monkee Bar is we always
enter through the back[door] and we’d walk around
the back.”
The doors that opened onto the stage and the con-
Isistently sold out Monkee Bar made for a more en-
4 ergetic environment for both the entertainers and the
laughing crowd.
A When asked what effect the Monkee Bar’s
closing will have on Freudian Slip, Cemoch said
fe, that performing off campus was very different^i
A. from performing in Rudder Theater.
“There is a big difference in our shows,
^Mkbccausc alcohol is available and die audi
ence expects more blue maj|rial. Wey
ask for it.”
The Texas Agije Swifig Cats
Ac (TASC) is another Agjjc organi/a-
S tif^n that oiice called the Monkee
r Bar home. Imn Delcarson, a
sophoniore speech commu-
^^Bncations major and
president of TASC,
taught swing dance lessons at the Monkee Bar.
“It was a heartbreaker for me,” Delcarson said.
“Unlike other clubs in College Station, the Monkee
Bar was like a home to so many people. We loved it
and we loved the people.”
TASC plans to utilize on-campus venues as
much as possible while looking for a new off-cam
pus location.
“We're going to do as many MSC dances as pos
sible,” Delcarson said. “We're by no means going to
let sw ing die.”
Jeremy Mitchell, a junior journalism major,
worked both as DJ and bartender for the club.
Mitchell said that the loss of the Monkee Bar will hurt,
both the su ing and the techno scenes in Bryan-G
lege Station. Prior to its closing, the Monkee Bar host
ed “Swing Night” every Wednesday night, offering
dance lessons and a night of swing for theThepepF 5 ’
of College Station. “It was like a dream come ttFe for
me to have a swing night at A&M,” Mil* hellfaid.
While the Swing Cats’ weekbgswm,i^night has
been cancelled for now, Mitchell said that Aggies
looking for their weekly dogB uf swung might soon
have to look no further tlum downtown Bryan’s 3rd
Floor Cantina. However, the search for the right venue
to cater to the growimi tecliho crow d may not be end
ed so easily.
Before its uijd-\!pRiion closing, the Monkee Bar
dished out |echno neats in what was called Battle
Night. (JjtiBmtle Night, two different DJs took the
stage l>efore the large crowd that turned out for this
; a . .smmon Brazos Valley occurrence. While Mitchell
said thar'the underground techno scene has become
reallVTarge,” even the success of Battle Night was not
enz'ugh to keep the Monkee Bar alive.
r The Monkee Bar had three different owners and
three different names in the past three years. Rami
Cerone, Class of'95, bought the club, which was then
called the Dixie Theater, in September ofl998. Even
then. Aggies might have predicted that the venue was ,
doomed when the word 'dixie' in die name could not
keep the club stable. One year later, Cerone sold the
club that he called simply The Theater to Chris Mer
cer and another co-owner who made the venue only
available for private parties.
In its closing, the Monkee Bar w'as just one more
casualty of an entertainment environment suffering
from a severe turnover rate. Besides the Monkee
Bar, Woody’s on I larvey and Club Ozone in North-
gate both recently locked up shop, not to mention
the closed
caffeine oasts,
Copasetic Cafe, or'
the doomed shrine, to
restaurant chaias on l egits
Ave. that once held H Arroyo
and Snuffer s.
“Witljithe live music it was hard,”
Cerone. now me owner of Cafe Capri,^A
said. “We w eren't open every' night. We^|
ight be open Wednesday and Thursday.
We rmght have a great night on Wednesday.^A
binon Thursday, if nobody comes in. I've still
^ot the band. They’re leaving tomorrow, so I've A
still got to pay them.” 1
While Cerone blames the clubs' high tumover^B
rate on the inherent difficulty of the business, the A
Aggies who called the Monkee Bar home point the A
linger at the Bryan-College Station community. ■
“A&M students are kinda lazy in that they'd!
rather just walk across the street to Northgate than!
drive 10 minutes to downtown Bryan,” Cernoch said. I
“We’re still not a real big town on giving new talent]
a chance, but if they happen to be at Fit/willv's. there’s ]
already people there.”
Delcarson said Aggies tend to carry their love of]
A&M tradition into every aspect of their lives.
“A&M is so full of tradition, and the tradition is |
to go to certain places.” Delcarson said. “1 think that 11
a lot of people like to follow the crow ; d, and Bar- JB
ry s and Rodeo 20D0 and Epicenter seem to have
grabbed the crowd. People are a little intimidat-Jb
ed to try something new. It’s really hard for jB
smaller businesses to get started.”
While clubs that eater to growing scenes
like sw ing and techno continue to go out of jA
business, Aggies may be forced to follow JB
a new crowd to the more stable clubs in JB
Houston and Austin. If Aggies con-^A
tinue to close their minds to new ac-
tivities, bands and clubs, the^A
doors of some of the area’s
coolest places will contin
ue to close as well.
OWN
ORRECTION
Jan. 26 article‘t
m about fee increase
•rectly stated that
pslature increasee
dated tuition byi’
<as Legislature inert
dated tuition byi-
:redit hour.
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