Remembering the Lounge Ax

[PopTodd]

I was contacted by the writer of this article for some comments about Lounge Ax.

http://gapersblock.com/transmission/2009/12/21/recasting_the_lounge_ax/

 

Why me?

I'm the guy who started the "I Miss the Lounge Ax" Facebook group, so I guess that they figured that I'd have something to say.

 

Petty good article.

And yeah, I still do miss the Lounge Ax.

[NightOfJoy]

Great article, thanks!

 

That was an awesome place to see/hear music-I got to see Pavement, Sea and Cake, the Slugs, Blake Babies, Uncle Tupelo, New Duncan Imperials, Bootyfruit and many others there over the years. I recall standing in front of there the last day they were open (I think Wilco was playing....or was it just Jeff?). It was mid afternoon and people were lined up to get in going all the way down the block. There was also that one dude who always recorded shows there. I had the impression he had an "in" with LAX to do so. I wonder if he's ever gonna release some of that stuff.....

[PopTodd]

Great article, thanks!

 

That was an awesome place to see/hear music-I got to see Pavement, Sea and Cake, the Slugs, Blake Babies, Uncle Tupelo, New Duncan Imperials, Bootyfruit and many others there over the years. I recall standing in front of there the last day they were open (I think Wilco was playing....or was it just Jeff?). It was mid afternoon and people were lined up to get in going all the way down the block. There was also that one dude who always recorded shows there. I had the impression he had an "in" with LAX to do so. I wonder if he's ever gonna release some of that stuff.....

 

He recorded at more places than the LAx -- Aadam Jacobson was his name, I think. (Yeah, the 2 "a's" are not a typo.)

I have a recording of Big Star that he made at Metro back in '94; a show that I was at.

[myboyblue]

the place was a dump and definitely deteriorated near the end but some extremely memorable shows. Jeff played solo fairly regularly on off nights to pay the rent. My favorite shows were a Jayhawks "secret" show, Golden Smog on New Years Eve and that last Wilco show. The place was packed and the band was very loose.

 

There is a great recording of that show if you don't already have it.

[jff]

"Miller's son, now 13, nearly grew up in the club. "I know it sounds weird, but I'm sad my kids don't have a bar to hang out in," she says. "It was a great environment for him. He would see the bands sound check every day and run around and have a blast.""

 

I got to see this first-hand, and it's my most vivid memory of the one and only time I visited Lounge Ax. I played there in October 1997. After I set up my drums in front of the stage prior to our sound check, Spencer sat down and started playing them. He was just a toddler then, but I remember thinking he had a pretty good grasp on what to hit and how to hit them. He wasn't just flailing away like most kids when they sit down at a drumset.