Just a few musings on the heels of the news of the forthcoming closure of FUBAR by years end. These opinions are purely my (Anthony) own and are not meant to represent those of Stewart, Colin, or Mike.
The other day a friend of mine dropped off a bunch of old flyers and zines for my flyer project. In the pile of yellowing paper was a copy of my old zine, Impending Doom, which featured an interview with Bob Suren (Failure Face, Murder Suicide Pact, Sound Idea Records). I included two of his responses which are relevant in the present tense. They've aged well after almost 20-years, you can read them below.
I, like many of you, are mourning the pending loss of FUBAR. Losing two venues in the last year-and-a-half (give or take) has been a huge punch to the gut. It reminds me of the losses of two other St. Petersburg stalwarts: Club Detroit and Junction Pizza.
Back then it felt like the local music scene was in a death spiral, yet it bounced back thanks to the intrepid work of those who opened venues like the Refuge, Song X, 403 Chaos, the Kids, CORE, Sound Idea, etc. And while those venues also closed down, something filled the vacuum left in their wake. As long as there are people willing to shoulder some heavy lifting, we too shall weather the losses of the Local 662, and now FUBAR. Thankfully there are other great venues that will help mitigate the loss. You can read about those venues on Christian Costello's excellent response written earlier this week.
We should not be selfish, solely waiting for somebody to else to fill the void. Each one of us has the ability to step up and create an inclusive scene that we all want to be a part of ... lest we forget that we punks are bound by DIY ethics. The Tampa Bay area has been plagued by apathy for far too long, and now it's time to step up.
Seek out a little-known venue, perhaps an American Legion Hall, and put on a show. Ask a local record store if they will host a concert — Planet Retro, Microgroove, and Bananas all previously have. Got a spacious living room? House shows can be fun! And for those of you that have the itch to open something to call your own, expand the breadth of where you think a venue should be located — no, not everything needs to be in the heart of downtown — there are tons of cheap storefronts on the west side.
Never forget all is not lost ... well, unless you treat it like it is. Start a band, write a zine, put on a show. Or in the words of Bob Suren, "Punk rock is what you make of it. There is a lot to be done. If you are eating Cheetos and watching TV and complaining about your scene sucking, look in the mirror. Are you writing songs? Are you working on a zine? Who's to blame for your lousy scene? You are!"
