Farewell to the 5th Quarter Lounge

Twice.

Being the professional that I must be in order to remain a music reviewer in good standing, I made sure I had my photo, protected my camera, and then turned and punched back. Then I extricated myself from the situation to the 5th Quarter's bar, where I ordered a shot and told Mona DeMaggio what had just transpired.

“Don't worry,” she said, handing me the bourbon. “I've got your back!”

I've only lived in Indianapolis since November of 2014, and I attended my first 5th Quarter show to check out Catalytic after I'd interviewed them about their album The Voice of Reason. I remember asking Dustin Strole whether this bar was any good. Their new drummer at the time, Alexander Farrington, told me about seeing Skeletonwitch there, and I was sure I'd be right at home.

Wasn't that the truth! I've lost track of all the shows I saw at the venue, which celebrates its final shows this weekend as DeMaggio and company plot their move to the new Taps Live location in the basement of Taps and Dolls at the heart of Downtown. But every show I saw there offered resounding proof that Indianapolis is truly a metal city.

Punk is at our roots, but when push comes to shove, Indianapolis loves to bring the doom. Especially the doom.

I still have a poster hanging on my wall from the second show I saw at the 5th, featuring underground local legends R'lyeh alongside Louisville's Stonecutters, and both bands remain among my regional favorites. I drank shots at the bar with bands where I was the only person there other than the bands and their girlfriends, and then I took punches during packed-to-the-rafters sets.

I never had the opportunity to play the venue with a live band, as I've never had a knack for keeping live bands together for long in any capacity. But I did get to sing on the stage during several of their Metal Karaoke nights, including one evening where my wife bore witness to my version of Nirvana's “Smells Like Teen Spirit” complete with Mona sneaking up behind me with that giant wooden paddle she keeps around for kink nights and giving me a mock beating. My wife Aimee will vouch – “Anyone else, I would have gone up there and kicked her ass!” she told me afterward, laughing. She'd found herself at home at the 5th Quarter, too. 

I also got to see what happened then the 5th Quarter family came together in the wake of Jeremy “Worm” Dreher's untimely death, a show where all the local bands – originally intending to be there opening for Crowbar on an otherwise normal Tuesday night – united behind their friend, playing the music he loved for an audience of his closest friends. That was the night I was introduced to Void King, another local band I've become a definite booster for. It's also the night I learned what Indianapolis' scene can do when given a chance to stand up and represent something beyond mere music.

It's a shame to be losing the 5th Quarter Lounge, but in the end while the venue is hosting its final shows, the heart of the place has always been the people who showed up, even on a Monday night, if it meant seeing a band like Goatwhore come through town to play an intimate venue. 

It was a place where those national bands, even when out on tour playing other venues like Old National Centre, would then come in after the show to see their favorite bartender and just shoot the shit. It felt like home, no matter who you were, and that's what makes spots like this worth holding on to.

So we'll fight to keep the spirit alive and fall in love with a whole new dank basement, this time Downtown when Taps Live opens May 4 with a series of summer metal shows. And when we go, we'll be supporting our friends who keep the spirit alive by booking incredible shows even when they're not always recognized for it.

We'll support the local scene, and all those bands who find their way from opening a five-band bill to headlining much larger shows.

And we'll further support the notion that in Indianapolis, when push comes to shove, our scene supports great music.

And for that, I'll take a shot to the balls any day of the week.