Welcome to a new series with which I'm trying to reinvigorate the DaveTronik 2000 blog. In these posts, I will write about an item or items currently stored in the unfinished side of my basement. Many of them have been stashed in boxes for decades, waiting for this moment.
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead.
These are just some of the bands I saw over the years at the late, great TT the Bear's Place in Central Square in Cambridge, Mass.
Opened in 1973 near the location that became it's long-time home five years later -- 10 Brookline Street, next to the Middle East Club -- TT's over the ensuing 42 years played host to countless punk, indie, country and rap acts. The room was no-frills and intimate, with an occupancy of just 300. I loved going there because of its close quarters. You could shimmy to the front and bathe in the performers' sweat. The stage was low and there were no barriers, so you could bump up against the action on stage. If things got too crazy or you got bored with an opening act, you could retreat to the other side of the bar, but even there you were close enough to hear and see what was going on.
The club hosted local bands and touring bands from around the country and the world. Acts that played there that went on to play much bigger venues include Smashing Pumpkins, Jane's Addiction (blech), Til Tuesday, Indigo Girls and Mission of Burma, among many others. The club was founded by Bonnie Bouley and her then-boyfriend, Miles Cares, per Wikipedia.
As for the odd name: "The...name originated from the need to be unique, to not have a name like any other establishment; the owners considered their own names, Miles & Bonney's; eventually they decided to name it after their pet 'Teddy Bear'-style hamster, who was nicknamed Tough Teddy, hence they settled on T.T. the Bear's Place," per Wikipedia.
In 2014 Joseph and Nabil Sater, owners of the Middle East, purchased the TT's building. "In early 2015, the owners announced that there was to be a substantial rent increase, and a lease of five years, with an option for another five years," according to Wikipedia. "Ms. Bouley did not agree to the terms (she considered the rent high and the lease to be 'short-term') and, without the new lease, the club could not be successfully sold to a new owner. Bouley decided in May 2015 that the club would close."
In June of 2015, TT's held a goodbye yard sale. I stood in line with hundreds of other nerdy folks and shuffled through the place, feeling odd the entire time that I was picking through the ruins of a club where I'd had so many great nights. I spied a fantastic Elvis bust, but found out it was spoken for. In the small room at the back of the club, posters by the hundreds were piled on the pool table and all around. There were gnarly stage lights, old microphones, amp cables, you name it.
What I came away with was the beer menu featured above, as well as some swizzle sticks, a poster of The Neighborhoods (which I gave to my buddy Ray) and a drinking glass that says "Swampwater" on it above a caricature of an alligator. The owner, Bonnie, was working the checkout register. When I showed her the glass, she looked wistful for a few seconds and said, "Oh, we used to use those glasses a lot."
In late July of 2015, TT's held its final show, featuring local legends O Positive and Scruffy the Cat with Dave Minehan of The Neighborhoods sitting in for the late Charlie Chesterman.
The space is now a club known as Sonia.
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