Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Local Music: The passing of Mohawk

It's strange how attached you can become to a building. Sure the Mohawk Place is like any other building in Buffalo, 4 walls, some beer, some live music, but it's meant so much more to WNY than any of that.
 I imagine this is how people a few years older than me felt about the Continental closing (i was only able to experience it for a year or two). Its like a passing in the communal family. A lot of the write up from the larger publications always bring up the fact that The White Stripes, The Black Keyes, Sam Roberts and the like played here, which is all very cool and very much a badge of honor...

But certainly not what i'll remember.

(Click to read on)


What i'll remember most about the Mohawk is the countless local bands i've seen over the years. Ive seen so many shows from bands (ranging from very good, to very, very bad) that my friends were in, where the Mohawk gave them their start. It was the one place you could count on, as a rock/indie/blues band, to drop off a demo, hop on as an opening act, and tell all your friends about it non stop for a month and a half til the big day.

There have been so many times that a friday night came and went spent inside, drinking a cold beer, watching from the bar as a band really, truly, gave it all they had on stage, and even if you didnt like the music, you could tell how much they loved being there. They'd hop off the stage when done, load up their gear, and then stick around the rest of the night to enjoy the other bands, grab a PBR, navigate the bathroom while not trying to hit someone using the urinal with the door, and just, be themselves.

Thats what i'll remember most.

Also, i'd be remiss if i didn't mention my very own claim to "fame" at the mohawk place. It was one of our absolute favorite Halloween places, partially because the costume contest. It wasn't a contest of "who wore the least clothes" like so many bars, it was an actual costume contest. Last year (2011) My drunken self got up on stage, dressed as Prince (purple and all) and won the halloween contest.... how a 6'3 pale male won a costume contest is beyond me, until you realize thats part of the magic of The Mohawk Place.

This is what it sounds like, when doves cry...... RIP Mohawk.
-Bob Z

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