Poster

When her ’90s band Vroom reunited for a one-time show at West Columbia’s State Street Pub earlier this year, Elizabeth Hale got an idea, one that has now become a reality. Starting this week, the bar will feature regular live music. The free shows, planned to take place each Saturday, kick off this week (Oct. 28) with a reunion set by the New Jack Rubies with support from Sixtensplit. The plan right now is to have two acts play each week.

“The owners saw the potential when we did that show with Vroom and Cherry Cherry Pow Pow,” Hale says. “and now they have invested in a PA system that Jay Matheson of the Jam Room [recording studio] helped set up.”

State Street Pub has had live music occasionally in the past, but its status as a private club has limited the reach of such one-off nights. The difference for the new series is that it will be open to the public during the shows, and there will be no cover charge.

Hale is handling bookings. Having lived in Athens, Georgia, and Charleston in addition to Columbia, she is making use of connections made in all three cities to bring in a variety of bands.

How will this be different from, say, any given night at New Brookland Tavern just up the block? Hale doesn't see it as competition, for one thing.

“We are aiming for a different crowd, the 30-something Gen X-ers and ’90s crowd who don't go to the punk and metal shows, but still love indie rock,” she says.

Add in the somewhat early start and end times (9 p.m.-midnight), and it might be a perfect solution for aging alt-rock fans not ready to stop going out, but who want to be done relatively early

The New Jack Rubies are a solid choice to get things started. In the ’90s, the band combined already weathered veterans of the local scene into a gritty, propulsive blend of garage rock and punk often compared to The Stooges, offering a string of 7-inch and album releases. They haven't played together in 20 years, and the members live in opposite corners of the country. But all have continued to play music at some level. Sixtensplit reunite occasionally but not often, with members including John Sease of Self and Donbravado along with Patti Davis, Stan Gardner and the ever-present Jay Matheson.

Other shows on the calendar so far include Kings for the Day on Nov. 4, Grand Republic on Dec. 2, Athens, Georgia-based indie folk string trio The Moonshine with local acoustic rabble rousers River Baby Bathwater Revival on Dec. 9, The Distributors on Dec. 16, and the Jeff Liberty Band on Dec. 23.

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