Metro Pulse/Music/Eye on the Scene

Closed Doors

The struggles of three nineteen have come to an end, but it's not the end its owners hoped for.

A longstanding feud with a neighbor, the refusal of the Beer Board to vote on its application, and a change in the city's brown bag law all contributed to the club calling it quits, says Cat Cleveland, one of the owners.

Located at 319 N. Gay St., the club's final night was last week.

Cleveland put much of the blame on neighbor Jack O'Hanlon. She says O'Hanlon frequently complained to the police, blocked the club's use of a backdoor (thus limiting its legal occupancy), and lobbied the beer board against the club's permit. A final straw was a change of the city's brown bag law, which made it illegal for patrons to have or drink alcohol after 1 a.m. (any alcohol they did possess had to be spilled out).

"There's no way to make money. We can't get a beer license. Some of the bands canceled on us. They said, 'We love playing there, you guys are great, but there's just no way we can do this,'" Cleveland says.

"It's just another sample of smalltown politics. It really does come down to who has the money and who has the influence," she adds. "When they show up [at beer board meetings] with their lawyer and they're shaking hands [with council members]....it's ridiculous. They want people to come down there and start businesses but if you're not the business they want you to be, they run you out."

O'Hanlon says his only objection to the club was noise. "You've got to question the wisdom of putting a nightclub in between two residential buildings," he says. "It was merely a volume issue.

"We couldn't even stay in our bedroom on weekends. We had to move to another part of the house, and frankly that wasn't much better...We were being 'unreasonable' by suggesting they maintain a reasonable volume level, and therefore we become assholes."

Cleveland says she's looking for another location for a club, possibly in the Old City. Her three nineteen partners have thrown in the towel.

Rumor Mill

From the file of more-or-less-substantiated rumors: El Camino, a Tex-Mex café, will be opening at the beginning of November at 116 S. Central, the space that once housed the funky, folky Bird's Eye View (and, before that, the Tex-Mex café Amigo's). Camino is the offspring of the folks who are behind both Patrick Sullivan's and Manhattan's, and will also offer music with your burritos—country artist Greta Lee will take the stage on Nov. 17. More solid news once we have it...

'Bats for Paul

Knoxville's own reconstituted Judybats are keeping very respectable company these days. They're one of the bands on a new Paul McCartney tribute album, Listen to What the Man Said. Organized by charity label Tribute LLC on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (in memory of Linda McCartney), the disc features 16 acts rendering versions of McCartney's post-Beatles work. Participants include They Might Be Giants, Robyn Hitchcock, Matthew Sweet, World Party and the Finn Brothers. The 'Bats contribute a rendition of the relatively obscure "Love in Song," about which big 'Bat Jeff Heiskell says, "I was immediately seduced by the tune's infectiously lonesome tone. Having made love to many a person via song, I identify strongly with all such sentiment."

Bring 'em On

We here at Eye on the Scene Unlimited could use some audio spice to jazz up our bleak days. And, while a shaker of nutmeg would be lovely, what we really, really want are new mix tapes. The ones we have are just, well, sounding a bit ho-hum to our jaded, tired ears.

So we call on you, the devoted reader. Either jot down a list of songs that you would put together on a tape (or recordable CD) or go ahead and record said offering and send it to us at 505 Market Street; #300; 37902. We'll make mention of your fabulous taste in this column and maybe toss in a prize or two as well. So get those burners burning!

Go.

Thursday: Frankenstein at Bijou Theatre. Conflict-of-interest alert—the Pulse's knock-out political cartoonist and stylish ad designer Rick Baldwin directed this creepy little tale of building a man.

Friday: Stateside with Geisha at Pilot Light. John Paul Keith's new outfit rocks out, along with local Panty Raid favorites.

Saturday: Rude Street Peters with Creta Bourzia at Pilot Light. I hear that drum riser can be tricky...have a PBR for me.

Sunday: Teresa Brittain, B.J. Clark, Becky Collins, Judy Brater-Rose and Peter Rose at The Art Market. A lovely way to kill an hour, support some local visual artists, and spy for holiday gifts.

Monday: Mapapa African Acrobats at University Center Auditorium. A free show that should dazzle your eyes.

Tuesday: Buffy, but of course.

Wednesday: Tribute to Miles Davis at Blue Cats. Members of Gran Torino, Left Foot Down, Marcus Shirley Band, local musicians JC Haun, Johnathan Whitlock and C-Bass offer up their skills in honor of a jazz legend.

—Emma "Fester is sleeping off the ether" Poptart