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| - This place has been a part of my life since I was eighteen years old, and I continue to frequent it as often as I'm able.
I have strange, convoluted memories of the old location, with everything ranging from a hole in the floor that they called a toilet, layers of encrusted filth and stickers coating the walls (constituting a veritable walk down musical memory lane), Cleveland's ever-present hecklers verbally assaulting many a band or musician, and occasional possibly mentally ill persons ducking and weaving in bizarre, oddly entrancing dancing directly in front of everyone during shows whose music wasn't conducive to that dancing at all. The place used to be a dump, but it was our dump, and we loved it. At times, it got so crammed to the gills and sweat-filled that I went outside and sat on the sidewalk instead of paying the entry fee. I happily enjoyed an excellent Jimmy Eat World set without paying a dime that way.
The new venue is much cleaner, larger, and generally better overall. It can still get crammed, but at least you're able to breathe in this place (as compared, at times, to the old one). As mentioned in other reviews, there's definitely a red vibe going on, accentuated by the prerequisite dim lighting, low staging, and odd wall murals (someone's sexualized version of stuff along the lines of Rat Fink). I still generally avoid the restrooms (although these are better than the other location), but the beer is affordable, the merch area is relatively easy to access, and I've been able to genuinely enjoy ridiculously good music in the Grog's still-intimate dynamic without coughing up tons of cash.
Thinking of this place makes me want to sit down and attempt to catalogue the shows I've seen here over the years. Dang. Everyone from Tristeza, 16 Horsepower, Him (ex-June of 44), Pedro the Lion, and early Death Cab to being one of approximately six Gentiles at a phenomenal Matisyahu show... yeah. The Grog's a great place. The only venues in town that would combat it in my book in regard to foundational musical experiences would have been The Euclid Tavern and Speak in Tongues, but The Grog has outlived them all.
Good stuff.
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