The End Of The Year Is Over

Through the rush of the holidays and the start of the new year I keep reminding myself to say "Happy new year!" to people, but loss is more heavily on my mind.

Emo's on Red River closed forever on December 30th, with a pretty much perfect bill of Rituals, Women in Prison, and Killdozer, who opened the room in nineteen dickety two with real steam-powered tickets and probably much better growling. There are really great pictures of the show and ensuing destruction on Brooklyn Vegan by Tim Griffin; almost every photo I took was shitty, which is appropriate given the mood.

I lost a ton of interest in going to shows downtown when the parking lot at Teacher's Retirement System was closed in 2008, roughly. Then 710 closed. As of 12/30/2011, there is no more free parking in downtown Austin. And the ensuing construction that will transform Emo's into a Mariott (or whatever) will mean more huge cranes and closed sidewalks and obstructed streets and less fun for those of us that lov(ed) to run around between Beerland and Red 7 and Emo's and Side Bar and Jackalope and Casino El Camino.

The last show at Emo's was messy, loud, great, and got very destructive towards the end. People were giddy, people were sad, people had seen it before in Houston and Deep Ellum. Beloved punk dump closes for upscale gentrification. Someone told me they heard Red 7 would be closed before SXSW. And though I care about it a lot less, Momo's closed abruptly on 12/27 citing issues with renovation via its FB page.

So the last show at Emo's goes off without a hitch, and then on January 1st many in the Austin music scene were shocked and heartbroken at the horrible news of the violent attack on Esme Barrerra, which caused her death.

Esme had walked home from a super fun event with live bands - her house was just two blocks from the venue, on a well-populated spot in Central Austin super close to UT campus.

Police are investigating two other attacks on women that occourred in the same area, at the same time. No arrests have been made. Please click on the link and view the artist's drawing of the suspect.

The Austin music scene reacted quickly, with much sadness. First the media rolled out what happened. Joe Gross wrote a story about Esme, and the Statesman's police blotter has good coverage. KXAN interviewed a witness and Esme's family, who are asking that the attacker comes forward.

The neighborhood where Esme lived is on high alert. There is a blog set up accepting donations for her family: http://forouresmeb.blogspot.com.

Free Week shows at Beerland, Red 7, and Mohawk will accept donations at the door for Esme. Also go to Girls Rock Camp Austin and give there, please.

Gerard Cosloy wrote a blog post on how Esme was a joy to be around, loaded with joie de vivre, and made many people happy. I am so stunned and shocked by this loss, and so heartbroken for Esme's family and friends. Why should anyone, let alone a woman this vibrant who did so much for so many people, a school teacher, volunteer camp counselor, and smiling friend in the rock scene, have her life ended at the hands of a violent offender? It is a damn shame, it shouldn't have happened, and now all of us left behind are more sober and aware that what we had is now gone.

In what I hope is the last and final shock to absorb this brand spanking new year was reading the most high-profile arrest of this most recent no-refusal weekend, or New Year's Eve: Laurie Gallardo, of KUT , host of Austin Music Minute, got caught by APD right before 3am and wound up a story in the Statesman's Blotter, arrested for DUI. Which is about the same time a 911 call was placed alerting authorities to Esme's home.

I know DUIs are public safety issues, but I find it simply sickening that someone ran unchecked on the streets for hours, assaulting three women - one who died - as APD takes time and puts many staff hours behind arresting drunk drivers. I can't expect every street in Austin to be patrolled or well-lit or completely safe all the time. But knowing the police were out in full force to catch drunk drivers in the downtown nightclub district when just blocks away, three women were attacked ON ONE BLOCK and still no one has been arrested, makes me very sad.

I sent Laurie a message and asked if she had a statement regarding her arrest. She does not, but said this about Esme.

At the moment, like so many of my friends, I have Esme's family in my thoughts and prayers. This loss is a terrible one, and it's left everyone devastated beyond words. We are heartbroken, but her spirit lives on through our celebration of her life and her compassion.

Which is really all we can do at the moment. Places will close, buildings collapse, we're all going to die, some of us much sooner than we were supposed to. It's so sad but we must go on. Here's hoping for justice for Esme in 2012 - soon.

There are benefit shows planned for Esme.
On Thursday, January 12th, Permanent Wave is holding a benefit in her honor at
Big Snow Buffalo Lodge (89 Varet St Bk NY 11206, Bushwick, NY) with Kelli Scarr, Golden Ghost is in town, Jo Schornikow (The Shivers), and Shannon Barnett.

On January 13th, Club 1808 will hold a Benefit for Esme Barrera's family with Quin Galavis, Fleshlights, Literature, Les Rav, Rambler Rose, Mugwump, Laute Leute, Wino Vino, Atomic Duo, Gospel and the Wolf, Quasi Trois at Club 1808 [6pm-2am, $5-$10 sliding scale]