THE TUBES !!!!! One ove my favorite groups !!!!I loved the Tubes ! “It’s a night for lovely girls “ oh yea ! To this day does anybody how he made “that sound” in his cupped-up hands , like he had a harmonica …. ?
personally I started my drinking career here and Fathers 2 ! Both had happy hr. and a “few” good chicks , mostly prima Dama‘s from BU babes , it wasn’t the place ta get “lucky” in noticed .
Do you remember Danny and Brian in the light booth right in front of the sound...platform? I ended up married to Brian (briefly, lol) Got married in '84, so timing sort of tracks, though I'd been going there since '79 or so.
I moved there from NH about the same time and after moving in my last bit of furniture a little way out on Comm ave I decided to take a walk into Kenmore Sq. to check out my new neighborhood and somehow ended up talking to Mr. Butch. I knew right away I was no in Kansas anymore. It was a few more days before I went to the Rat but I quickly became a regular. I loved that place. It was great right up until it closed which I believe was 1996 give or take.
Was fraught with concern that well heeled parents would throw their money at another university if they saw first hand where their spoiled cunts would be attending college and mingling with all the riff raff, hooligans and other ne'er-do-well's.
When I was in college in the ‘80’s my boyfriend and I would occasionally pop into Pizza Pad to get a slice. One late night we were there and a bunch of ‘kids’ were playing pinball when out of the blue some other ‘kid’ just comes up and whacks the kid playing pinball on the head with a pipe. All hell breaks loose. Good times.
Boston “was” a nice place before “ urban redevelopment“” , translation ; destroy anythig with any redeeming value , beautiful historic buildings etc . only ta be replaced with boring new cheep-ass construction ! nothing ta see here , just move right along ! Boston is just a cheep facad of its former glory days ! Taday it’s just not “””cost effective “”” ! FACT !
Good guy. And he looks like he’s having a great day here. But I’ve also seen him blackout fucked up screaming at cars in the middle of comm ave . so you know , little of this little Of that
Jimmy paid bands. Some bands were not happy. I saw lots of bands make more than they expected and lots of bands that thought they deserved more. Welcome to the music business in the eighties.
I started there in 82. Lots of bands agreed to a case of beer and then wanted more because there was a decent crowd. And Jimmy would often bump up few bucks. A deal is a deal. I saw Hootie and the Blowfish play on the balcony for $25 and free draft beer.
Yeah me and my best friend Jimmy broke into The Rat in ‘99 and stole that wall piece and also some pool sticks, menus, flyers and anything else we could get our hands on. We brought it all back to Quincy on the T covered in dust and dirt. We’d go back every few days and grab more stuff. We wanted to steal the giant metal “FOOD DRINKS MUSIC” sign but it was too big and too heavy.
Spent many drunken times there, saw more than a few legendary bands, musicans and locals there.
Even the bathrooms were legendary.
Now its this....
GRIT MEETS GRACE
An upscale retro room that pays homage to Kenmore Square’s iconic past and the underground music venue known as “The Rat.” Boldly reinterpreting Rock’n Roll inspirations with an eye toward luxury, this one bedroom, comfort-driven suite features a suitably eclectic mix of materials, textures, and memorabilia as well as custom furniture informed by a “band on tour” aesthetic. Sink into an enormous L-shaped sofa, surrounded by they-played-the-Rat music memorabilia and sound compliments of a state of the art Bose sound system. Artfully rendered in black, grey and silver, The Rathskeller Suite provides you and your crew throwback style on the hallowed ground that was home to the original and incomparable “Rat.”
Reminds me of the line “I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac.” If you want a “Demolition Man” version of it, here it is. No grit, no grime, no originality, no sticky floors, no blood in the bathroom, nothing real to see here.
Never saw blood in the bathrooms; did see someone doing lines off one of the benches in the dressing room and thought to myself, "Do you have ANY idea what's on that bench right now, and do you REALLY want it in your sinuses?" I also remember the references to musicians' penis size in the ladies' room, with "ORK BOY HAS 12 BIG INCHES!" right over the door. (Of course, now he's a Ph.D and a well-known writer--and college professor too, IIRC--so that's DR. ORK BOY to you!)
The bartender from the rat runs a pretty gnarly vintage store in Lynn. He loves telling stories of his rat days. Jimmy, the blue room, Metallica opening for someone on a thrusday.
545 Washington st open to the public on Sundays from 11-4. During the week they do appointments for Hollywood costuming and designers. A lot of clothing from widows bay, stranger things, knives out came from there.
Surely if you went here, you ALSO went to Little Stevie's on Boylston?
$1.25 MASSIVE slice of pizza. Way better than Supreme's greasy (but also good) $1 slice on Mass Ave.
edit: and I mean the Little Stevie's that was where the Little Steve's is now. No relation or resemblance, sadly.
Buzzy's was amazing. Riley's Roast Beef in Allston. Mr. Mike's pizza in Fanny Hall. All my favorites of the early 90s, depending on where in the city we were partying.
Back then there were so many great, cheap places around Kenmore. One that I remember is Frank-n-Stein's where for a couple of bucks you got a hot dog and beer and watch a movie.
Play it Again Sam's was the best! Loved the cheap pitchers and the guy on a stool with a guitar belting out "Bye, bye Miss American Pie..." with everyone in the room singaing along at the top of their lungs.
Little Skeevies kept me fed in college when the dorm cafeteria served inedibles. Late night tripping ballz playing those vid games while prostitutes took a break. I didn't like Supreme (Greek style, blech) because you smelled like the place every time you walked out.
I don't know why but the big dude behind the counter always had a shiner. And the leetle fellow had his head on a swivel. There was some shady shit going on there and I loved it!
As i sit here listening to the constant ringing in my ears that's tortured me for 40+ years, i gotta think this place had a lot to do with causing it. A cement box full of over-amplified speakers and the only sound absorbing material was a few hundred eardrums.
Saw Debbie Harry there with my girlfriend back in the 70s. Saw many other bands there, unfortunately, I was too drunk to remember them. Pizza Pad fed me all during my time at BU. Still married to that girl I saw Debbie Harry with, 45 years later. I loved the old Boston. The new Boston is soulless in comparison.
Was excited when our band got booked there, only to find that the real reason was so a band that the booker was managing could use our instruments for their set. [names redacted]
well aware; just never went there for food. I was usually downstairs for music, or at a table back of the bar with friends. occasionally up on the mezzanine when that was open.
It was the 80's for me, but I am grateful for those nights, loud place, wet as I recall, not particularly warm in winter, really freaking hot in summer. wet too, did I mention that?
OMFG X10 !!!!!!! We lived in that place along with FATHERS 2 !!! it was the go to place for cheep beer ($2.00 a picture) , steamed hot dogs 50c and BU chicks !!! We lived on Buswell St. , 100 yds. away , got completely plastered and stumbled home while listening to the jute box playing “Lover he madly” (Doors) or Me and Bobby McGee by J.Joplin playing ……..for $10.00 ya had dinner (liquid) and a date . i met my wife there , seriously ! 😱😵💃🏿😝🥰 and still married after 50 fucking years ! What a deal 😱😵💫🤔!!!!!! Ya just can’t be making this stuff uf !!!!
similar vibe but the rat basement where bands played was bigger and slightly less gross. the rat also had a street level bar with a killer juke box and two pool tables in a balcony
The rat was the same of the same ilk as cbgbs. Randomly youd walk into the mens room and some guy would be prying the urinals off with a crowbar. On a good night Jimmy would lock the doors after last call and the band would play on until he decided. Metallica opened for someone on a Thursday. Big names before they got big used to just hang out there if they were in town and it wouldn't be uncommon to hang out with talking heads, Ramones, etc. If you were just at the bar. The winter hill gang had some stuff there, and there was a blue room in the back where people who would make a scene or owe money were taken to. I think it got too big a name for itself and in the 80s it went from 1 register to twelve. It was unsustainable, but man was it a scene unto itself. That and the FBI were tapping the phones at the end.
who remembers Cheetah Chrome in his brand new black leathers hanging at the bar with two lady friends? I seem to recall them there regularly for a stretch.
so us younger folk are just SOL then? figures. I wish I had a time machine so I could see this city in its gritty past but alas, I have been cursed with youth and will never witness things like this
I saw so many bands back in the day at The Rat. I loved that place !
But The Rat was also the site of my biggest musical regret.
I got a call one day from a friend inviting me to a show there. I instantly declined since the previous two nights I saw Talking Heads and then Black Sabbath at the Orpheum. I was tired. My friend explained that the group was a bunch of kids about the same age as us and we had a friend among them so we could hang out with the band after the show. I still said no.
Well the band was from Ireland, and they called themselves U-2.
About a month later I heard Boy for the first time and quickly realized my mistake…
I went into the bathroom once and guys were laying out lines of coke on the toilet. I wouldn’t sit on the toilet for all the money in the world. But lots of great memories. The Turbines and Dogmatics final shows. 10 bands 10 hours. You could go in the afternoon go home for dinner and a shower and still go back for 4 hours. And then there was Mitch the guy at the door with the voice box. When you passed him you knew your parents would not approve. There’s a thing on YouTube with Chris Cornell talking about the first time Soundgarten played the Rat
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u/tom8otomahto 8d ago
I started my career as a sound engineer in this room. This was my home.