This is the exterior of Gabe's. (I took this picture. May 2004)
Image removed from http://www.thepicador.com/
This is the door to the bathroom. If I remember correctly, this was at the top of the stairs. [It was covered with stickers, flyers, etc.]
Image removed from http://www.thepicador.com/
It's stuff like this that I will miss and that I hope they are preserving, somehow. The number of band stickers and flyers that are posted all over that place is amazing. There is a lot of musical history there. It's sad to see it go. [This was a wall of flyers and band stickers; whether people realize it or not, it is things like this that are the history of a local scene. It's people like this who help preserve this kind of local music history. The Picador site has an empty page reserved as a Poster Archive. Hopefully, this will make up for ripping out the interior of Gabe's.]
Image removed from http://www.thepicador.com/
This is the stage. I spent most of my time standing at the left front of the stage. A few times I sat on top of equipment that had been placed to the right of the stage. Yes, it's a dump, but it is a well-loved dump.
This is the sign above the new front door. I know the new place will be nicer, and the pictures of the stage look nice, but look at this sign! There is a Budweiser emblem on the sign! It's like how on SNL they now have that blurb about how the musical guest was sponsored by the King of Beers: Budweiser. I'm sure they are getting a cut and I am sure that cut will help fund bands and bring in shows, but, dammit, it just doesn't seem right. Image from http://www.thepicador.com/
This is the door to the bathroom. If I remember correctly, this was at the top of the stairs. [It was covered with stickers, flyers, etc.]
Image removed from http://www.thepicador.com/
It's stuff like this that I will miss and that I hope they are preserving, somehow. The number of band stickers and flyers that are posted all over that place is amazing. There is a lot of musical history there. It's sad to see it go. [This was a wall of flyers and band stickers; whether people realize it or not, it is things like this that are the history of a local scene. It's people like this who help preserve this kind of local music history. The Picador site has an empty page reserved as a Poster Archive. Hopefully, this will make up for ripping out the interior of Gabe's.]
Image removed from http://www.thepicador.com/
This is the stage. I spent most of my time standing at the left front of the stage. A few times I sat on top of equipment that had been placed to the right of the stage. Yes, it's a dump, but it is a well-loved dump.
This is the sign above the new front door. I know the new place will be nicer, and the pictures of the stage look nice, but look at this sign! There is a Budweiser emblem on the sign! It's like how on SNL they now have that blurb about how the musical guest was sponsored by the King of Beers: Budweiser. I'm sure they are getting a cut and I am sure that cut will help fund bands and bring in shows, but, dammit, it just doesn't seem right. Image from http://www.thepicador.com/Gabe's was a major social center for the Iowa music scene and to see it turn into just another club makes me sad. The shows still look like the same type of shows... it just isn't the same.
I suppose I am just getting old, waxing nostalgic. And I suppose in ten or fifteen years, some 30-something will be going, "I can't believe they're changing the Picador. That place was awesome!"
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