The Mink Gets Sold, and (Probably) Won’t Ever Be the Same Again (UPDATED #2)

UPDATE #3, 9/9/11: Dangit, jumped the gun a bit; just got another email from Brandon Lemons, saying that not only has the Buxton show been shifted over, but so have the 9/22 Jacuzzi Boys/The Wiggins/Titan Blood/Psychic Palms and 10/29 Lords of the Universe/Indian Jewelry/Weird Party/Young Mammals shows, which is very cool; I was seriously afraid that those two might slip through the cracks, and that would’ve sucked.

UPDATE #2, 9/9/11: Got word this AM on another show moving to Mango’s — the Buxton/By the End of Tonight/Cosmic Sound show scheduled for 9/30 will apparently now be over there, too. On top of that, Marc Brubaker‘s got a very good new post about the whole Mink thing over at the {Houston Press} site — check it out here. Definitely clears things up a bit, and makes it sound less like the new owners are evil, dastardly villains (c’mon, they’re just people) and more like they just don’t have a clue who was going to the bar before they bought it.

UPDATE, 9/8/11: Ex-Mink booking guy Brandon Lemons has just posted an initial list of shows that’ve been moved over to Mango’s, over on the Hands Up board. Here’s what he’s got shifted over so far, with apparently more in the works:

More TBA but here’s a shortlist:
PILE is being added to a pre – exisiting bill 9/15
Mobley w/ Osirus, Deep Ella and We Were Wolves 9/23
9/27 Acid Baby Jesus w/ Hell Shovel, Mikey and The Drags and Psychic Palms
9/28 Rogue Improv Presents : Get Weird Wednesday! Stand Up / Improv / Complete Idiocy! $1 Wells! 21+
9/29 The Mild Mannered w/ The A.M. Prowlers and Grog
10/5 La Sien w/ Making Movies, Pop Pistol and Bang Bangz
10/22 The Black (ex Voxtrot)
10/27 Matthew Mayfield

Keep an eye out for more…

ORIGINAL POST: Damn. In case you hadn’t already heard, there’s been some news — of the bad variety, in my view, but I’m sure there’re others out there who’ll be happy — regarding Midtown indie-hipster venue The Mink, namely that it’s been sold to a pair of new owners who are making what I’m told are some fairly drastic changes. And frankly, the whole thing looks like a mess.

Apparently none of the actual employees of the bar were given any advance notice about the sale, and a large contingent resigned as soon as they were told the news. Several of the crew — Mike Hardin, Aaron Echegaray, Stephen Walker, Brandon Lemons, and bar back Eric — were able to quickly find a new home over at Mango’s, to which Brandon is trying to shift as many previously-booked Mink shows as possible. Tonight (Wednesday, Sept. 7th) is their first night at the “new” place.

There’ve been some major accusations thrown around (including, I’m told, accusations that some now-former staffers stole money from the bar, which seems pretty ludicrous to me, given the crew that worked there); the Press article linked above doesn’t say anything about it, but the word I’ve gotten is that the new owners of the club aren’t planning to honor a lot of the shows that’ve already booked there, which is extremely bad form, if nothing else. And obviously, if you happen to be in a band that was booked there, and the owners have pretty much thrown the calendar out the window, well, you may be kind of screwed.

Here’re all the shows that were scheduled, from our little shows page:

9/8/11 – Star & Micey/The Wheel Workers/Featherface @ The Mink
9/9/11 – Scared to Dance, featuring Mr. Castillo & Hit It or Quit It @ The Mink (front bar) [STILL ON]
9/9/11 – Black Cat Fridays, featuring DJ Black Cat & DJ Hell Chaos @ The Mink
9/10/11 – Cough/Omotai/Project Armageddon/Kair-Ros @ The Mink [STILL ON]
9/15/11 – Pile/The Libra Soul @ The Mink [MOVED TO MANGO’S]
9/16/11 – A Fistful of Soul @nd Anniversary Party @ The Mink (front bar)
9/16/11 – Sanctus Bellum/Las Cruces/All Dead Here @ The Mink [STILL ON]
9/22/11 – Jacuzzi Boys/The Wiggins/Titan Blood/Psychic Palms @ The Mink [MOVED TO MANGO’S]
9/23/11 – Mobley/Tax the Wolf/The Live Lights/Osirus @ The Mink [MOVED TO MANGO’S]
9/24/11 – Sleazefest: A Tribute to The Cramps, featuring Johnny Hootrock, Peasant, The Alley Queens, Chelsea Hotel, & DJ Hex @ The Mink [STILL ON]
9/24/11 – El Boogaloo Club, featuring Senior Jukebox & Jungla Neon @ The Mink (front bar)
9/26/11 – Fill The Silence/Ignite The Borealis/Pale @ The Mink
9/27/11 – Acid Baby Jesus/Mikey & The Drags/Hell Shovel/Psychic Palms @ The Mink [MOVED TO MANGO’S]
9/29/11 – The Mild Mannered/The A.M. Prowlers/Grog @ The Mink [MOVED TO MANGO’S]
9/30/11 – Buxton/By the End of Tonight/Cosmic Sound @ The Mink [MOVED TO MANGO’S]
10/1/11 – 3G Entertainment Presents!, featuring Konfo, Relic, Byron Bank, Desiree Valencia, Blocc Boyz, Analyst, Boss Regiment, Swain, i10, DollaSign, & M$. Red Bo$$ Bitch @ The Mink
10/19/11 – Sound & Shape/The Julys @ The Mink
10/21/11 – The Pons (record release)/Boats/The Tyburn Jig @ The Mink
10/29/11 – Lords of the Universe (Black Sabbath tribute)/Indian Jewelry/Weird Party/Young Mammals @ The Mink [MOVED TO MANGO’S]
11/5/11 – Davila 666 @ The Mink
11/19/11 – The Energy/Weird Party/The Mahas/Titan Blood (7″ release) @ The Mink [STILL ON]

Now, I’ve done a little poking around, and there apparently have been at least a couple of shows that’re confirmed to still be happening — the Cough/{Omotai}/Project Armageddon/Kai-Ros show this Saturday, Sept. 10th, for one, is reportedly still on, as are the Sanctus Bellum/Las Cruces/All Dead Here show next week and the show Nov. 19th with {The Energy}/{Weird Party}/{The Mahas}/{Titan Blood}. phew.

That said, tomorrow night’s Star & Micey/{The Wheel Workers}/{Featherface} show definitely is cancelled, and it looks like the Acid Baby Jesus/Mikey & The Drags/Hell Shovel/{Psychic Palms} show Sept. 27th is, too. Damn.

No word for sure on the rest, so they’ll stay up on the shows list ’til we get some kind of confirmation. We’ll be updating the list as we hear of changes, so keep an eye out…

Fuck. This pisses me off on a lot of fronts. The Mink’s been one of my favorite places to see shows these past few years — dinginess and run-down-ness aside, I saw some epic shows there, the staff was always cool, and the bar always felt like home. And now, according to Chris Gray‘s post on {Rocks Off}, the owners are claiming the bar was “dying”? Really? It seemed to get more packed and better-run every time I went there, but hell, what do I know — I guess it all depends on your definition of “success.”

sigh. At any rate, whatever the fallout from this, “The Mink” as we know it will probably no longer exist. Bands, if you were slated to play there at any point beyond, say, right about now, get in touch with the new management at The Mink or with Brandon asap (if Brandon hasn’t already gotten in touch w/you, obviously) and find out what the status is.

As for me, I’ll most likely be giving the bar a sad salute the next time I pass through Midtown…