Al's Place

Wrote this little ode about Al's a long time ago, I was drunk and nostalgic at the time...



My favorite: Al’s Place
By Master Duff
9/27/2006

Al’s was the place to be. Every Wednesday nights were the night to congregate. A night of kareoke fun, and homestyle bar. Take for it’s worth, it was an experience, my freshman year was defined by the Wednesday nights. It was a wonderful mix of music, sports, and good old-fashioned drink till you drop. Al’s was a communication; nothing could communicate much like Al’s
I could remember like it was yesterday, drinking a pitcher, and making my way to the front stage. “Come Sail Away, and I sang the song. Along with everyone else on the floor, we sang a song together. I didn’t notice that on the Blue. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time at the Blue. I danced on the stage, had a pitcher on the pool table, danced with the sloppiest of sloppiest. But Al’s had a way about me.
Take it for my musical style, but the urban music wasn’t feeling’ me. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good hoping’, booty grinding’ song to get down to when you’ve had a few to many to count. But the essence of Steve Miller’s, ‘Swingtown”, can give you no other grove possible. This is what I what I mean by Al’s. It was a place were you could have that drink, and get crowded while drinking it. Take it down, have your name called, and sing that song you requested three or four drinks prior. You know you sang that song with the most heart you possibly put our. The ones before you cheered, joined you onstage for a trio and thus more, and made the best of the night.
Those nights will be forever lost, in the essence that was Wednesday nights. I personally tried the Blue for one night, and try to compare it to the Al’s experience. I came up short, so to speak. The ladies were bumpin’, the drinks were flowin’, but there was no innocence, like “You ain’t seen nothing yet”, by the Bachman Turner Overdrive. Rap and hip-hop is the music of the present, so to speak. But there is no doubt that the power of rock & roll can make you inspire to higher intelligence, to higher emotions, to higher levels of grasp.
The bouncers weren’t as forceful, they weren’t as bullying. As I remember they enjoyed a few beers as we sang our hearts out on the Al’s Idol. Those judges gave us the truth, we took it, and enjoyed the standings we were in. I personally came in fifth, in the semifinals so you know how I felt.
Why they closed, I do not know, they served the cheapest of booze around. Served for the most illegal of a crowd. But they didn’t care. All they cared about was making a profit, a making a profit of our dollars. Rent was an excuse, but I have the distinctive feeling that they were afraid of another police presence.
Al’s is a place that can never be replaced. A freshman year stint you may call it. But unconsciously, or consciously, it will be missed. A perfect mix. I will be miss it, and hope to all of you that you will miss it with equal sorrow that I feel.