We’ve written of Ellie’s Place, the downtown diner where the local scene was born. Some recall it as a place of shared tastes, town/gown equality, democracy.
Not so fast. The seating area next to the salad bar was known as Fortunate Fields because that’s where the prissy, slumming students from the college on the hill all sat. Likewise, the benches with the best view of the small stage and the quickest route to the bathroom was dubbed Aisle of the Blessed. The cheap seats—where the waitresses circulated less often, or behind posts—tended to go to townies. The economic disparity was clear—college students drank and ate more expensive stuff.
Still, at least these members of a formative downtown scene recognized each other as human beigns. The clubs on the highways out of town were regarded as dwellings of demons and monsters, pewrhaps because some of them doubled as strip clubs or illicit casinos. Those that lasted for a few years were soon able to be full-time clubs, with enough cheap local music talent to book every night. But these were still the dark ages.

Tonight: Submarine Caper (formerly Deadly Chase) at the Bullfinch, with Tic-Tac-Terror… Four-Headed Dragon and Crimson Flame, spandex covers at Hamilton’s… Cave-In (aka Cave-In!) at D’ollaire’s, featuring vocalist-for-hire Sky Sabotage.