RIP bulldog cafe.

[Dave]

To be honest the building itself was just not a great place for a venue, too low of ceiling, not enough power, load in and out sucked, etc.

Don't get me wrong here, not the people running the place's fault at all.

[Slut]

its his own fault for the way the place crumbled around him,

Wouldn't it have had to have been something in the first place?  Before it could crumble down, i mean?

Bulldog cafe reminded me of a junior high school cafeteria, with cockroaches, and poor soundguys.

Good Riddance, I say.

[rOulEtte]

huh, well from what i hear, its his own fault for the way the place crumbled around him, and i cant say "i just dont understand" because....I do understand, completly, other than the bands, i have no loyalty to the place. And from what i hear its only going to be a deja vu with this new place...Not there on time? Doesn't promote? Sorry just seems to defeat the purpose now doesnt it. I'll probably play a show within a lttle while and i'll update, but...Its not looking promising. But this is just my two cents, the way "I" have been treated at these shows, but yes do support the bands, they're worth it.

Dude, you are a dick.  Darren has done so much for so many people in Louisville, scene or not.  The place didnt "crumble around him."  He kept his venue in Fairdale for a place for the kids to hang out.  He knew if they werent at Bulldogs, they very well might be shooting smack in some ditch.  He didnt have the best of anything, and didnt care to.  He accomplished what he wanted to do.  He gave a place for bands to start out at and gave a place for kids to go.  Put your fucking time in before you can start calling yourself part of the scene.  Just because you post on the 502 board doesnt give you an automatic status around here.  Learn some facts before you post stupid shit like this.

[FiRePrOoF]

Here is the long and short of it: Darren is a GREAT guy, but a not so great businessman.

I applaud his efforts to try and continue giving kids a place to come and play, even though bulldogs will be closed now. I hope that for his sake, it will be successful. Brandenburg is probably a good place to set up shop. There are a lot of kids out there who are getting into playing music.

This is almost like Tek World closing for the younger generation.

I feel old.

[MikeFrom]

Agree.  it is like that totally.

[Cory Eaves]

Regardless as to how good the sound/stage/etc. at Bulldog was, it was a place for kids to go.
There are not many of those left.
There are also not many DIY tour band friendly venues in Louisville.

[Judas]

huh, well from what i hear, its his own fault for the way the place crumbled around him, and i cant say "i just dont understand" because....I do understand, completly, other than the bands, i have no loyalty to the place. And from what i hear its only going to be a deja vu with this new place...Not there on time? Doesn't promote? Sorry just seems to defeat the purpose now doesnt it. I'll probably play a show within a lttle while and i'll update, but...Its not looking promising. But this is just my two cents, the way "I" have been treated at these shows, but yes do support the bands, they're worth it.

Dude, you are a dick.  Darren has done so much for so many people in Louisville, scene or not. He kept his venue in Fairdale for a place for the kids to hang out. He gave a place for bands to start out at and gave a place for kids to go. 

Put your fucking time in before you can start calling yourself part of the scene.  Just because you post on the 502 board doesnt give you an automatic status around here.  Learn some facts before you post stupid shit like this.

Word.

I wasn't over moon about Bulldogs, but I do like Darren & he has to be respected for trying. Not everyone is born w/ silver spoons. I'm not inferring you were, idk you well enough to know. But Darren done what he could w/ what he had. That's all I'm sayin. 

And in this scene, you gotta walk the walk first for awhile before you get status bro. There's no auto cred. Seasoned musicians on here, like myself, didn't get instant cred w/ out some blood, a shitload of sweat & more than 1 tear shed first.

Respect is earned bro, not dispensed for free.  

And that is my opinion. You, of course, are entitled to your own.

Peace.

SFJ     

[BuddaheaD]

Darren SUPPORTED ALL MUSIC. something most all of us CANT/WONT DO. He gave bands shows that maybe didnt deserve them, because he wanted to see 502 have more than one big band.

Darren is a good fucking guy, and if he opens a venue in Brandenburg (don't ask me why) then I will support it.

preston fowler, you are a new jack douche bag. everything you say makes me want to never come to this message board again. people say stupid shit, you say shit that literally makes people feel dumb after wasting 30 seconds to read your piece. hang yourself faggot.

"oooo look we have an internet tough guy"

no just a pissed off stoner that will sadly be attending Bulldogs last show, tonight

[Auticus]

I will also point out something.  Bulldogs gave beginner bands a place to play.  We have the addage that too many venues = too many bands = crap yadda... I know I agree with that to a point.

However... if you don't have a place to play for new bands, new bands are going to have a tougher time of getting out.  There are a lot of bands in the past and some that exist today that owe their stage time now to cutting their teeth on the Bulldogs stage.

There is a catch-22 many of us are familiar with.  I can't get a job because I don't have experience, but I can't get experience because I don't have a job.

It's all well and good if you are connected and you have someone to put you on a show, but most people don't have that.

We need a venue like Bulldogs around.  Even if you feel that you are better than Bulldogs, you don't have to go!  But it provides new bands and new players vital experience that they will need to play where you play now in the future.

[madmurf]

for all you young folks ask about tek world.
folks said crap about them and after the doors closed WE lost something that I think we couldn't get back.
IT'S NEVER GOOD TO LOSE SOMETHING THAT HELPS US OUT.

[Fee]

I read this thread last night and have been thinking of a way to politely put this, but in the end I can't say it politely, so here it goes...

It is the scene's fault why Bulldogs isnt going to be with us anymore

Darren has put more money after propping up the lazy of Louisville for far too long...people wanna bitch about sound, or the size of it, etc....but it was a venue that should have captured what the scene was about for the south end...I mean do you really think tewligans or the machine were that great of clubs in the early 90's? Bulldogs had both those places beat...tek world wasnt that great either but you remember it fondly because it was backed by the people...you made it your hangout...

it fell because the scene couldnt be bothered to support someone who supported it...and there will be another, and another...because our scene is mostly selfish...it can't be bothered to actually visit the establishments that back our local music week in and week out...

everyone in here should feel ashamed for letting Bulldogs and Darren fall...

until people actually practice scene unity and support, I would be weary as a venue owner of ever opening my doors to the locals again...becasue it's only a matter of time until that venue would be screwed like they just did Darren

[Headcase]

I guess Darren was damned if he did and damned if he didn't.  If he was the typical asshole bar owner who funded a PA and light rig and then skimmed as much money off the top of the band take to make a profit, everyone would hate him, but the place would still be open and probably thriving.  If he instead did favors for the locals, he'd run out of money.  Darren did the latter.

BullDog cafe wasn't some oasis in Fairdale either.  Like Fee said, it was no worse than most other clubs, but it was a bit of a shit-hole nontheless.  I can recall waaaaaay back in the day when the roof garden of PHT had those shitty speakers up near the ceiling.  Anyone else old enough to remember that?  We used to bring in a bass sub and separate power amp for it and place it under the stage.  The soundman at the time (Larry Davenport) used to tell me "be careful under there, that powder is to kill the cockroaches and is toxic and there are rat traps under there as well."

One night I went back up there to pick up a mic stand I had forgotten and Larry clicked on the lights and it was like a bad horror flick.  Hundreds of giant cockroaches went scurrying everywhere.  And to think I used to leave my shit up on that stage when we played 2 nighters.  From then on, I would take my stuff out in my garage, spray the hell out of it with RAID and leave it out there for a day before bringing it into the house.  And let's not forget Dutch's tavern.  Last time we played there someone had taken a shit on the wall by the back door where the band loads in/out and there was some soft of strange new insect life form that was spawning out of the makeshift bathroom in the back.

[Zerochance]

Shows in Brandenburg are rad!  Grinstead always did really well there, and when I filled in for Arafel, we played a show there and the little fuckers went nuts.

I'm itching to take Stagecoach to B-burg but my understanding is that no shows are currently being booked there due to the lack of venues.

This new place is a little community center type building.  I've been to a few shows there.  It could hold promise if they do it up right.  Kids in the B-burg and E-town area are always down for going to shows.

[Headcase]

I don't know what the budget is, but there is a guy in Shepherdsville named Jeff Flowers who builds speaker cabinets.  We use his PA all the time and I swear it kills.  He has a new speaker array that he has built that could be hung from the ceiling and some bass subwoofers that could shake the foundation and it would be a fraction of the cost of buying a PA anywhere else.

He also sells the Crest Audio amplifiers and we use those on his PA rig.  I bet he could put together a nice PA rig for just a few thousand bucks.

And I have 2 Chauvet non-dmx LED lights with mirrors that are sound activated (LX-10's) that are new in the box (I only took them out to see if they work and they do) that I can let go for $100 for the pair or $50 each.  It would add a bit to the light show there.  Here's a link:

http://pro-audio.musiciansfriend.com/product/Chauvet-LX10-LED-Moonflower-Effect-Light?sku=801641

[Fee]

the point is being missed...

as a business owner of a venue, why would you throw money at a situation/scene that doesn't even know if it wants to be a part of itself?

those dollars are better spent elsewhere until the market re-emerges

the bottom line is that the scene isn't worth the money it wants in either promotion dollars or band pay-outs per show, because bodies at the door and food/drink sales are what makes these operations run...

ie, until the "scene" actively puts it's money behind these venues to prop them up, more and more venues will close their doors to locals and move into areas that will make their payday

[TheLocalSounds]

it fell because the scene couldnt be bothered to support someone who supported it...and there will be another, and another...because our scene is mostly selfish...it can't be bothered to actually visit the establishments that back our local music week in and week out...

everyone in here should feel ashamed for letting Bulldogs and Darren fall...

until people actually practice scene unity and support, I would be weary as a venue owner of ever opening my doors to the locals again...becasue it's only a matter of time until that venue would be screwed like they just did Darren

Louisville is a very clickish town. Especially in the music scene. Unity in my opinion is so far away because of too much elitism, too much comfort, not enough reaching out to community youth, and not enough bi-partisan support.

Bardstown rd people never even heard of south end music and we are all in the same town. Or a band plays 50 show throughout the year and half of them are at the same venue. Or kid wants to become apart but is given the new kid treatment. Or Kid gets all the way through high school without ever being in a band or orchestra or choir class because the school systems have removed the programs or parents convince the kids there is no value in music art.

We as musicians should be alarmed and charged to remedy this situation. But I think we perpetuate it to some degree.

[Auticus]

I think that's partially because everyone is stumbling over themselves and cutting each others' throats in their quest to "get signed".

[Fee]

We as musicians should be alarmed and charged to remedy this situation. But I think we perpetuate it to some degree.

couldn't agree more

even if we don't necessarily like each other's music, there is still intrinsic value in what we are doing...if we as musicians in this city could step outside of ourselves and realize this, that would be a huge first step...

and then we go from crawling to walking...

then after we respect each other, we book our shows together multi genre, combining our listeners into one big pot and get them out of their cliques...

afterall, how many bands that you used to think suck, have you realized were pretty good but you never gave them the chance at the time?

people evolve, and we should help them along in order to heal our music community

the more we segregate ourselves, the longer this downward spiral will continue

time to quit shooting ourselves in the foot then wondering why it is bleeding...

[1960lespaul]

Well I will throw in my two cents.  I only played two shows there and it always felt a little second rate but I think that is because I was told how cool it was there and I was a bit let down.  Some of the people there were dicks.  First time in some seemed like 16 year old kid tried to act like he was going to be my boss and acted like I was beneath him so that shit got straightened out real quick.  I always try to treat people with respect regardless of age and for someone to talk to me like that is in for a rude awakening.  Second time in was our last.  Second time in I was excited about the line up.  Finally got a chance to play a show with Inner Blue.  The strobe was bothering the drummer and I believe the singer said something about turning it off.  Next song it was back on.  I had to go to the guy and tell him to please shut the fucking thing off.  It's bothering the drummer.  But that seems to be what alot of problems that place had.  It wasn't Darren but others undermining him imo.  The band requested turning off the strobe.  You do it!  Very limited professionalism if any at all.  I admit I have limited experience there so maybe I am wrong and this was not the norm.  Plus it seems to me any place looking for success in the south end has failed before it even starts imo.  Also no such thing a scene unity as everyone will mostly always be about themselves.    

[Zerochance]

Louisville is an indie rock/hipster town.  If you sound like whatever band Pitchfork Media is plugging this nanosecond, odds are you will do well.