Is St. Louis's Local Music Scene Doomed?

When it comes to a united live music scene, St. Louis was never an Omaha or an Austin. But through the years our small city has managed to hold its own with the big boys, with many influential national acts making St. Louis a stop on their tours. No one seems to want to comment, however, on what is slowly happening to those few places that local music lovers hold so dear. Is the St. Louis music scene living out its final death throes? If not, what venues will possibly be able to carry the torch?

The trouble began, in my opinion, in March of 2006 when the Creepy Crawl changed location from Tucker Avenue to a new site in the Grand Center. The Creepy Crawl is a Mecca for St. Louis metal, hardcore, and punk bands, and the atmosphere of the old Tucker location was ever so appropriate: walls completely covered with stickers and posters and a bathroom that was sure to give one tetanus if he touched anything. Seeing a band play there was an experience, not just because of the music but because the place fit so well with the scene.

The new location is, well, nice. It's much larger and allows the over 21 crowd a much better chance at seeing the stage, but it just doesn't have the ambience that the old location did. Where are the stickers? Where are the signs of all the bands that have at one time played that stage? I need those stickers.

A more solid blow came when the Hi Pointe closed in September of 2006. Some of my most memorable experiences in live music were seeing bands that I loved at a place as intimate as the Hi Pointe, dubbed St. Louis's best "dive bar." I was, at times, able to have actual conversations with band members because the place was just so completely chill. Unfortunately, with the sale of the building that the Hi Pointe operated in, it was forced to close its doors for good, and at this point there are no plans to reopen at a new location.