Mississippi Nights RIP
Austin is known as the Live Music Capitol of the World, boasting the most music venues per capita than even NYC or LA. But no matter how many cities and venues I visit, there will always be one that holds at special place in my heart reserved for my first live music club. Growing up in the suburbs of St. Louis, my first club was Mississippi Nights. An entirely different world was only a lightrail trip away.
Mississippi Nights was where I saw my first local show. That dingy, beer-soaked club made me realize there was much more to live music than a giant amphitheater or stadium. Mississippi Nights literally put the music in your face. It was where I got stuck in the middle of my first mosh pit and subsequently my first and only fat lip.
Mississippi Nights also gave me The Urge, my first local band. First formed in 1987, The Urge ska-punked their way to the top of the heap in St. Louis and would eventually tour with artists like Korn and Incubus. Their 1998 album Master of Styles featured the hit Jump Right In with Nick Hexum of 311 on guest vocals. That album is still in regular rotation on my iPod a decade later, a testament to how profoundly music can enter our lives. (In my defense, it was copied onto my iPod from the original CD.)
It is no small coincidence that my first club show in the Live Music Capitol of the World was none other than The Urge themselves, fresh out of St. Louis on their final national tour in 2001. That show at La Zona Rosa was the first of many live shows in Austin, a list that grows to this day.
I wish I could have been there for the final Mississippi Nights show on January 19, 2008. Members of The Urge fittingly took the stage for the venue’s curtain call, bringing to a close 27 years of live music. (An eternity for a small venue.)
St. Louis music did leave me with some questionable musical preferences, but it is also left me with a love of live music in smaller venues, at a more intimate level. Even if you aren’t lucky enough to live in Austin, there is local music out there waiting for you.
Rest In Peace, Mississippi Nights. Thanks for the memories.
Images: Riverfront Times
Tags: Austin, live music capitol of the world, mississippi nights, st. louis, The Urge
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3 opinions for Mississippi Nights RIP
Zack
Apr 8, 2008 at 9:35 pm
Well, at least there *was* a farewell show. When the Crocodile in Seattle closed last December there was no warning whatsoever.
awolken
Apr 9, 2008 at 8:42 am
No warning at all? That’s horrible. Austin lost The Backroom within the last few years, but we had warning.
Kellen
Apr 10, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I know what you mean, having moved to Austin from St. Louis too. I cant help but feel a little nostalgic thinking back to all those high school shows at Nights, downing bottles of wine in the parking lot…which in turn had a positive effect. I’ve mostly forgotten about all the shitty music I used to listen to.
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