I've heard rumblings about this for months, and now the rumblings have become louder: Fort Worth's Ridglea Theater may be no more soon.
Gulp.
I have not lived in Fort Worth since 2002, but I still occasionally visit to see friends and/or a show. The Ridglea is one of the few venues I went to and still went to whenever there was a good show. I'm not talking just good local shows; I saw Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Dinosaur Jr, the Flaming Lips, and the Dillinger Escape Plan there.
And, oh yeah, I saw the greatest show I've ever seen there too: Fugazi in 2002.
So, please allow some extra sorrow to emanate from me about this place closing up shop. I know this is a venue and a business and a business can't last forever and ever. But since I put more emotional attachment to a physical place (and also have a hard time coming to grips with its closure and/or demolition), this is a hard thing to take.
In some ways, I equate this to a house you either grew up in or spent many important years in be purged. Over the weekend, I heard that the house my great aunt and uncle lived in their entire married life (and I, along with my sister, spent many days in playing Battle, watching TV, looking at paintings my great aunt had made, looking at photos taken from around the world) was raised and replaced by tacky boxes doubling as condos.
Again, it's like the physical places you place so much emotional stock in are always subject to closure. Man, that's a little too heavy to understand.
But, on the flip side, thanks to existence of this theater, I did get to see those amazing shows. I even had the pleasure of playing there three times (twice with the 11:30s and once with Ashburne Glen). There's plenty of value in that. Usually the "cool" shows were in Dallas, a good 45 minutes away when I lived in Fort Worth. The Ridglea was only ten minutes away from the various places I lived.
So I thank those who were involved with the place over the years; you really touched those who cared about the place.
Gulp.
I have not lived in Fort Worth since 2002, but I still occasionally visit to see friends and/or a show. The Ridglea is one of the few venues I went to and still went to whenever there was a good show. I'm not talking just good local shows; I saw Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Dinosaur Jr, the Flaming Lips, and the Dillinger Escape Plan there.
And, oh yeah, I saw the greatest show I've ever seen there too: Fugazi in 2002.
So, please allow some extra sorrow to emanate from me about this place closing up shop. I know this is a venue and a business and a business can't last forever and ever. But since I put more emotional attachment to a physical place (and also have a hard time coming to grips with its closure and/or demolition), this is a hard thing to take.
In some ways, I equate this to a house you either grew up in or spent many important years in be purged. Over the weekend, I heard that the house my great aunt and uncle lived in their entire married life (and I, along with my sister, spent many days in playing Battle, watching TV, looking at paintings my great aunt had made, looking at photos taken from around the world) was raised and replaced by tacky boxes doubling as condos.
Again, it's like the physical places you place so much emotional stock in are always subject to closure. Man, that's a little too heavy to understand.
But, on the flip side, thanks to existence of this theater, I did get to see those amazing shows. I even had the pleasure of playing there three times (twice with the 11:30s and once with Ashburne Glen). There's plenty of value in that. Usually the "cool" shows were in Dallas, a good 45 minutes away when I lived in Fort Worth. The Ridglea was only ten minutes away from the various places I lived.
So I thank those who were involved with the place over the years; you really touched those who cared about the place.
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