not really sure what to say...so we had the last high art show at siesta last night...on a tuesday of course, cause we're not gonna start doing anything by the book now. fours years of bands, beer, and chaos. what a fuckin ride!! Lindsey McKague sums it up best i think, so following this is a note she wrote, used without permission...of course, but i don't think she'll mind. last night was awesome, everywhere i looked it was friends, people that made the clubhouse much more than it was, more than just a venue, or a good place to party. there was bands that helped create it, people that ran the door, sold merch, did security, came out to every show regardless of who was playing, a bunch of friends who seemed to center around a run down, crumbling building on a side of toronto where nothing was supposed to be happening. so thanx to all that came out last night to say goodbye, emotional to say the least. the place reaks of booze, and there was broken glass all over the stage, so i think we did it justice! :) thanx bag ladies, 68pornomags, burnitdowns, and endprogram. a couple of fond memories i had today, and thought i'd share. - being raided by 51 division, they thought it was a booze can, they were wrong, but the place was trashed, and there was blood smeared all down the staircase and pooled on the floor. they searched the place and asked the same damn question over and over for about an hour, and left. they never bothered after that. - the HA4TLD comp release weekend. not only was this a huge weekend with hundreds of people attending, but we put out a rad comp, defied some genres (i have a knack for ostracizing everyone at once). and we raised a bunch of money for the sick kids hospital. - rammers last show. just plain rad. everyone that was helping run the show that night kept telling me to close the doors "dude, we are WAY past capacity!". fuck it. i let everyone in that was brave enough to enter a 50 person room with 200 other maniacs. classic good times. - every one of springloaded's last shows. - a neighbor downstairs comin in and turning the power off. me and bruce rushed the stage past the band and chased him down, while carl turned the power back on. the show went on. fuck you downstairs hippy fuck. - during a particular rainy night this year, a ceiling tile collapsing from the weight of water leaking and crashing into the pit while kids were slamming, everyone cheered and/or gasped. all i could do was shake my head. fuckin slumlords. - drunk stripper on stage for the Motherfuckers fr. calgary. you had to be there. best show of the tour they said. no doubt. - duping steamwhistle into sponsoring an endprogram video shoot with tons of free beer!! hahaha! and then being so loud we wiped out 90% of the harddrive on the camera! - luke lambaste with his pants around his ankles yelling "FUCK XMAS!". thanx luke, a holiday doesn't go by without hearing that now. too many memories, friends, and bands to name name them all. but i figure if you're stilll reading this crap, you're probably one of them, so thank you. so the end of an era at siesta and the start of something pretty cool at Annies. the owner cathy was scared as shit, in true fashion i just kinda barged in and took over, and told her we are gonna do punk shows. nice woman, kinda felt sorry for her as a look of fear swept across her face, and stayed there for a while. was kinda nervous myself too. i think we're staring to win her over tho. 4th show in she calmy walked up and told me a bottle was broken in front of the stage, and the singer was rolling around in it. i told her "that's just what we do sometimes". see ya in the pit - matt lindsey's note: When I think of the High Art for the Low Down Clubhouse several acronymns come to mind. DIY. PMA. BYOB. PWYC. It's these ideals and mentality that defined a scene that was reminiscent of the 80's hardcore scene. A scene that Matt single handily created within those four walls we came to know as High Art. a scene where no one would dare refer to it as a "scene". It was a place where you go and check out some amazing bands and see friendly familiar faces. A place where there were no rules, no egos and no bullshit. It was small. It was dark. It was hot as hell. It was just the way we liked it. We were all assembled there for the same reasons. A love of punk and hardcore music and the overwhelming desire to have a good fucking time. Personally within the past year I was going through some of the hardest times of my life I could always go down to High Art and lose myself within the music and comradery. A breeding ground for friendships, I have met countless amazing people, several of which have grown to become my nearest and dearest friends. I am sad to see it go, but I am thankful I was able to be a part of it. I would like to thank all the bands that played, all the people who came out time and time again to the shows, and most of all Matt. Without him none of us would have ever gotten the chance to experience something so special and unique. He did it for a love of the music and never made a dime. All the money from the door was directly given to the bands. We sent the place off in a proper fashion last night. Thanks for the amazing memories and you will be missed! Huzzah! Lindsey McKague