Release your inner awkward teen in First Unitarian Church’s basement.
There’s nothing like the basement of First Unitarian Church to send you back to the days of awkward school dances. Partly because there will almost inevitably be a gaggle of skinny jeans–wearing minors shuffling their feet in mock dance, but mostly because, no matter what band is performing on stage, this unassuming location has no glamorous sheen. This is precisely what keeps music–lovers coming back for more.
The FUC basement — or Griffin Hall, its official title — isn’t particularly dazzling. But there is something so purely outrageous about raging under the auspices of Jesus himself. For, lest you forget it, you are in a church basement. Hailed by Rolling Stone as one of the top alternative rock venues in the country, First Unitarian Church has consistently showcased some of the best alternative and local music talent since the early ‘90s. Having featured mostly punk rock and indie music in years past, R5 productions — the company in charge of scheduling acts for the space — is consistently seeking to vary its genre repertoire. If basements don’t quite do it for you, the sanctuary upstairs is a bigger and more formal venue to grind in.
The drug–and–alcohol–free mission of R5 means that no mind-altering substances make it into the venue through official channels, which, once again, adds to the whole school dance feel of the place. With a few great beer specialists around the corner, alcohol has a vivacious presence at FUC, if only for the eclectic varieties funneled down the narrow steps.
At a recent Two Door Cinema Club gig, bassist Kevin Baird exclaimed: “After playing here tonight … I think we should go back to being teenagers and play church halls again.” And we have to agree. For, despite its pubescent feel, there’s no other venue as magically nostalgic as this.
