SHQ: RIP? || October 15, 2007

In the rant I posted early this morning (see sidebar on left), I posed this question to the Observer's music section: "Are you going to wait until Secret HQ shuts down to look into the musicians and area fans who keep that compelling DIY venue alive?" Guess that got answered very effin' fast.

At 10 a.m. this morning, a post at Denton Rock City confirmed that as a result of an elaborate vandalism attack, the tenants of SHQ are getting the boot from the building at the end of the month, and concerts are (saving an act of God) over with for good. I'm not exactly sure what leeway a Texas landlord has in booting a tenant because said tenant was victim of a crime; this stinks to high heaven of the Dallas car wash owner who was blamed for attracting a criminal element to his place of business. Still, even if SHQ has the legal recourse necessary to reopen, chances are that the tenants won't pursue it, according to this post from co-owner Cody Robinson at We Shot JR: "When you're not a legitimate bar but people bring their own drink in, and when you're not formally a venue and bands play, you walk a very thin line."

This is made even sadder when you consider that the venue was making strides toward reopening as a brand-new venture in 2008. Scott Porter sent out a long missive to Dd and other local outlets a few weeks ago (reprinted in its entirety at We Shot JR), proposing a "counter-culture mini-mall" with new backers and big hopes. I've sent queries to a few SHQ'ers asking about their future plans, but I understand if they'd like a full day or so to sit in shock and reflect on what is/was/will be. -SM