PORT ANGELES — The Upside, an all-ages rock ‘n’ roll club that has been bending ears on the North Olympic Peninsula since 2004, is closing its doors.
The upside of the closure is that rock ‘n’ roll is not dead in Port Angeles.
Owner Matt Bailey put up the “For Rent” sign Thursday but said he will be organizing monthly rock shows to keep local youths on the edge of new music, a rare feature for a small town on the edge of the continent.
The downside of shuttering of the Upside, 108 S. Lincoln St., is that headbangers, punks, rockers and indy music aficionados won’t have a regular haven.
Jasie Jackson, 24, of Port Townsend said she has attended at least a dozen shows at The Upside.
“It’s just a bummer that we can’t count on it every weekend,” she said.
Time investment takes toll
Bailey, who owns the building and sign shop next door, said that the amount of work required to keep the Upside booked and thriving had taken its toll.
He had to take a night job just to keep the club open, he said, and that was too much for his family.
Bailey had considered making one night a month a 21-and-over night and serving alcohol, which is how most clubs make ends meet.
“I just felt that would be stepping backwards from what I intended for the place,” he said.
“We were doing it to give kids under 21 something to do on Friday night opposed to sitting in the Rite Aid parking lot.”
The sign shop, which is still in business, is in the former home of Bailey’s comic book store, the Anime House.