Local scene legend retires...

...and yet another venue closes in Fredericton, NB. Quelle surprise!

Currently: sad :(

Bugaboo, the home of punk rock, metal, rock and roll and whatever else you could throw at it has closed its doors. Apparently I’m a little behind because I just found out today and it was posted a few days ago on the Droltab Forum.

I, along with many of you I’m sure, have very fond and some not so fond memories of Bugaboo. To me this was a place you could go to take in a show, chill out and have a beer with friends or entertain yourself by watching the regular patrons of the bar. Including but not limited to “white shirt guy”, or “crazy arm wrestling lady” that Billy had to kick off the stage because the band was trying to play. I saw Nandez (RIP) for the first and last time here also SNFU, The Planet Smashers, Kilbourne and many others.

Bugaboo was also the home to numerous local bands and people including Spaceblood, Scarecrow Blues (a great way to keep your Mondays busy) Motel 69, Crosstown Rivals/El Diablo, Missing, Billy Strange (the cranky guy who ran the show aka Droltab) and Johnny P (local legend) just to name a few.

I think in a way Bugaboo/Droltab were the glue that was keeping the punk scene alive in this city. Billy was the only promoter putting on punk shows and putting on punk shows at reasonable prices. 5 bucks, that’s how much a show should cost unless you’re going to the Playhouse or UNB to see a show. There are other promoters who are putting on “punk” shows but I don’t like to count fashion core bands as punk nor would I pay $10 + to see said fashion punks be “unique”. Others mainly concentrate on metal. I miss the days when we had more than one venue to put on shows at. Before any of you yell at me “What about the Capital, Taproom etc etc” I’m referring to punk/metal friendly venues. Thank god Vixens opened up recently; it seems to have come at just the right time. I haven’t attended a show there as of yet so I have no opinion of the venue. I only hope that it’s decent ‘cause I wouldn’t mind spending part of my New Years Eve there. There’s a great line up. Iron Fist, Barracuda Sunrise, Pipeplayer, Spaceblood, Motel 69, Super Destroyer and the No-Shows not to mention it’s only 5 bucks and there’s $2 drinks between 10 and 10:30

There I go off topic. Back to the subject at hand, Bugaboo and what it has done for this city. Bugaboo helped pop my scene cherry way back in the day. I had been to numerous shows at other venues but I had never experienced a real drunken punk rock show like the ones at Bugaboo. One of my fondest memories is of New Years Eve 2004 at Bugaboo with Atomic Machetes, The Trick, Crosstown Rivals, The Dirt Track Dates & The Raisers (our own super group). I guess it’s not so much a memory as a faint recollection of the evening. I walked into the bar to have someone tell me that people were booing The Trick, now I realize that that line up was a little odd and The Trick was a little out of place but please have some respect. If you don’t like the band don’t watch. So receiving this news I proceeded further into the bar to cheer on The Trick super loud (and probably obnoxiously). At some point before even getting to the bar I lost all caring abilities. I don’t remember other sets or if I even watched them but I remember bits and pieces of Crosstown Rivals set but mostly I remember that they were awesome (not really, they were all hammered) and that Jon was having a really hard time singing and playing and having an even harder time standing up which is where the trusty mic stand came in handy. I wish I had pictures to capture that night.

As for the man who ran the show at Bugaboo, that was Billy. He booked probably 90% of the shows that came through there with his promotion company Droltab. He’s was always the one at the back of the bar or side of the stage trying to make everything sound just right. And a lot of the times running around doing whatever needed to be done at the time be it picking up empties or kicking drunken assholes out. He usually had a few sarcastic comments to throw in there as well. Billy is the guy that’s been around this scene since before all the fashion punks were in diapers and before most of us knew what a scene was. He’s a legend, Droltab and Bugaboo will both be missed dearly.

Banana