The Brewery and Farmhouse to be razed

I’m bummed to learn that The Brewery, one of Raleigh’s oldest music venues, is closing its doors for good this weekend. The building’s been bought and will be razed for a mixed-use development. The last band will take the stage Friday evening.

I’ve seen many shows at the Brewery and made some fantastic memories there. It was small (or shall we say, intimate) and had a lacking beer selection, but those are about its only faults. You could stand anywhere in the room and have a great view of the band. And it had the best sound guy anywhere: the bands always sounded great. I’ve seen many local and national acts there: Cracker, Mojo Nixon, Whiskeytown, Dig, Southern Culture On The Skids, and many, many others.

Also on the chopping block is The Farmhouse, formerly known as The Cantina. The Cantina holds the distinction of being the very first bar I ever visited in Raleigh, back when I arrived for freshman orientation at N.C. State in 1992. I’ve had lots of good times there, too. There may have been one or two … uh, incidents that may or may not have taken place there during my wilder days. The stories those walls could tell!

So these two bastions of my younger days in Raleigh are being bulldozed in the continued mallification of Hillsborough Street. I suppose one can’t stand in the way of progress, but I can’t help but think that it’s just another instance of Raleigh plowing under its history: the very things that give our city its character. Certainly it’s plowing under some of my history. Sad to see it go.