THE DAMAGE IS DONE

THE RED ROSE IS DEAD; LONG LIVE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE RED ROSE

The Nashville Scene reported on Monday that longtime coffee shop/venue The Red Rose was demolished. I haven’t been in Tennessee for almost five years, and at that time I’m pretty sure it was closed (and I’m not sure if it was open during my last five NYC years), but the Red Rose still means a lot to me, the Features’ history, and therefore this Tumblr.

As a senior in high school, the Red Rose was a crazy alternative to EVERYTHING ELSE in the Smyrna/Murfreesboro area that me and my friends adventured in (mostly Wal-Mart and Hollywood Video adventures). I hadn’t really been to coffee shops and I had not really seen local music played lived prior to the Red Rose. Heck, I didn’t even know that hangout spots like those only glimpsed in sitcoms really existed. The Red Rose was a cool alternative, in every sense of that word, for me and all the other high school kids (and the actual college kids who surely frowned upon us encroaching). I remember ordering Peter Pan Polar Bears (a chocolate peanut butter frappuccino and the first ever coffee-ish substance I ever drank and enjoyed) and sinking into bliss while drinking them (I was a lonely 17 year old).

As a music venue it was great. I saw everyone from my friends to Of Montreal play there (my first Of Montreal show). Now, their history with the Features? Where to start? The band would play there often, even though it was really too small for them. That didn’t deter them. The shows they did there were intimate yet raucous; the lack of proper lighting led to the band literally playing in the dark, illuminated only by the kitchen’s lights and whatever poured in from the glass brick wall they would play in front of. The band only played there 5 times after 2001 (according to my fairly thorough database) but those times were extremely memorable. One of them included openers Elekibass and 63 Crayons, which actually has to be my favorite Features show (just due to the fact that the openers were also stellar).

The only Red Rose show that I have is the one from February 28th, 2003. This is hands-down one of the best recordings I have of them; the versions of “Dark Room” and “See You Thru” are definitely my definitive live versions of them.

You can listen to the February 28th, 2003 Red Rose show here.

The Features also played a benefit concert to save the Red Rose from closing on February 1st, 2003 at Bingham Barnes’ giant apartment/fun complex/later-turned-Grand-Palace.

You can listen to the Red Rose benefit concert from February 1st, 2003 here.

I also have video of the entire concert from April 27th, 2003, when the Features played the outside patio. It being 2003, I burned it to a video CD and, well, not sure where the original files are. When I get free time I’m going to try to track it down and get that put up here too.

Those are my feelings about the Red Rose. Long live the Red Rose.