Legendary Kenmore Square festering petri dish of an iconic and career-launching rock club, The Rathskeller, needs no introduction here. But if it does, say if you weren’t even born yet when it launched in 1974 (or even when it closed in 1997, for you wee tykes), The Rat is more than just a missed-mark tribute room in a posh hotel nearby (which it also currently is). It’s the grandaddy of Hub rock joints, and to those that can still remember the smell of the floors there, it’s considered something of a holy grail.
Which brings us to a little something going down tomorrow night at the new eclectic mixed-use space inspired by the old Keith Haring Tokyo pop-up shops of the 1980s, Mom and Pop-Up, that’s being facilitated by Jamaica Plain’s Tres Gatos and TheFenway.com: Records from The Rat. For five hours on Thursday, TJ Connelly, DJ to Fenway Park as well as the Patriots, will be spinning records from old punk to gritty rock, all from mainstay performers in the lauded venue’s grimy heyday. Think: Pixies, Husker Du, The Replacements, Talking Heads, and so on. There will also be a truckload of killer vintage photos of The Rat during the (in)glorious years.
A mix of CDs and new and old vinyl from the bands associated with the club will be on hand for the purchasing, and be sure to check out next week’s issue of DigBoston for a deeper look at the pop-up space itself, which among other things (until it’s run ends on October 18) has/will involve Union Square Donuts ice cream sandwiches.
All praise their name.
RECORDS FROM THE RAT. THURS OCTOBER 9, 4PM-9PM. MOM+POP-UP, 1377 BOYLSTON ST.
Dan is a freelance journalist and has written for publications including Vice, Esquire, the Daily Beast, Fast Company, Pacific Standard, MEL, Leafly, Thrillist, and DigBoston.
