The Rathskeller
It was dingy, it was grungy, it was sweaty, it was smelly and it was known near and far as “the Rat.” From 1974 to 1997, the club presented a plethora of the established and up-and-coming punk, protopunk hardcore and alt-rock acts from Boston and beyond, usually before they made it big. Often referred to as “Boston’s CBGB” in the press, it’s widely considered to be the most significant punk club outside of New York City and Los Angeles.
PRE-RAT YEARS, NOTABLE APPEARANCES
The venue’s official name was The Rathskeller, but in the 1960s it had been a restaurant/bar called TJ’s that catered mostly to college students. At that time, it offered live music in a back room, hosting local garage bands including The Remains, The Pandoras, The Lost (with future Boston punk legend Willie “Loco” Alexander) and The Mods (whose drummer, Harry Sandler, went on to play with Bosstown Sound hitmakers Orpheus).
The ‘60s-era vibe completely disappeared in 1974 when new owner Jimmy Harold was persuaded to open the downstairs room and book some local bands that were starting to make the mark in Boston and the surrounding area. Over the next 23 years, as the undisputed champion of the city’s non-mainstream scene, the Rat hosted every local act that had made a name for itself, some of which went on to national, even international, stardom and others that vanished shortly after making their debut at the venue. As a sign of the Rat’s importance in Boston, the first WBCN-sponsored Rock ‘n’ Roll Rumble was held there in 1979.
Among the dozens of area bands who played there were The Cars, Dropkick Murphys, DMZ, Gang Green, The Infliktors, La Peste, Mickey Clean & The Mezz, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Mission of Burma, Dinosaur Jr., The Neighborhoods, Nervous Eaters, Pastiche, Pixies, The Real Kids, Robin Lane & The Chartbusters, The Stompers, Thundertrain and Unnatural Axe. The Rat was an essential stop for a wide variety of out-of-town acts that went on to become major stars including Steve Earle, Joan Jett, Metallica, Mink de Ville, The Police, The Ramones, R.E.M., Sonic Youth, Talking Heads, Thin Lizzy and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
NOTABLE STAFF, LEGACY
The club was known almost as much for the characters who went there and worked there as for the thousands of musicians who appeared on its tiny stage. The doorman, Mitch, was an imposing-but-dapper figure who spoke through a voice box. The soundman, Granny – whose technical mastery provided an audio experience beyond what anyone could expect in such a room – was known for never speaking a single word while on the job. And owner Harold – no punk himself, not by any stretch – presided over the nightly chaos with his characteristically gruff poise and equanimity.
A notorious , even infamous, hole in the ground, yes. The Rat was a thoroughly unique and almost indescribably important musical institution in Boston in terms of providing a stage for new talent at the dawn of the punk era and well into the postpunk, alt/indie-rock ones. For all those bands and all their fans, the Rat , if you’ll pardon the obvious rhyme, was where it was at.
