Look beyond The Dame for music in town

Despite the loss of our fare lady, The Dame, the Lexington music scene is not dead.

The popular music venue closed in July and was shortly thereafter torn down, along with 13 other historic buildings. The Kernel reported online Sunday that, according to The Dame’s general manager, the venue will re-open on Oct. 3 at the location that is currently Main Street Live at 367 E. Main Street.

The truth is, this is an opportunity for everyone to step back, take a deep breath and try something new. Or to be more matter-of-fact, try something that is not The Dame.

On Saturday, residents met downtown and walked around what used to be Buster’s, The Dame and 12 other historic buildings and mourned their demolition. Later that night, around 500 people attended an ‘80s dance party that was held to express sadness for the loss of The Dame.

It’s been two months since the destruction of The Dame. This demolition has brought this community together, and there is a lot of synergy building around the construction of CentrePointe. It’s time to redirect our attention to the real reason The Dame was so significant. The Dame was a music venue before it was a bar.

Instead of mourning over the weekend, people could have celebrated a great concert with The Swells Brass Band at Al’s Bar on Sunday night. The Swells, the same group that was given the honor of headlining The Dame on her final night, will reappear at Al’s on Sept. 21, so don’t worry. You have another chance.

Or, if The Swells aren’t your style, Al’s Bar, located on Sixth Street and North Limestone, has a deep list of live music on their MySpace Web site (www.myspace.com/alsbarlexington) that is nearly full every day from now until the beginning of November.

If Al’s Bar is too far from campus to fit your schedule, maybe you should check out a few obvious choices that are almost on campus. The Fish Tank and Lynagh’s have performances lined up and advertised all the time. Pop’s Resale has shows every weekend this month.

It will be nearly another three weeks before The Dame re-opens. The community should turn its head to the other venues that have the same values and agenda as its dearly departed Dame. Local musicians have not stopped performing, and if this really is about the local music scene, why should we stop listening just because they can’t play at one venue?

Jonathan Rodgers, the spokesman for the ‘80s dance party said losing the block where The Dame once stood relates to the college demographic.

True. He also said losing The Dame was “the death of something great for the younger people.”

Also true. But what died is not the music scene. When The Dame fell to the ground, it took the soul of support for Lexington music with it.