Blind Rage Records was originally located at 734 Watervliet Ave. in Dayton. After eight months, it moved a few storefronts down to 740 Watervliet Ave., a bigger location with a stage for local and touring bands.
Since then, Blind Rage has been the go-to spot for punk, hardcore, indie, and metal records, while also hosting nearly a hundred all-ages shows. Touring acts have included Richard Lloyd, Tommy Stinson’s Cowboys in the Campfire, and Exit Angles. Several local DIY bands, like Sheller and Bomb Bunny, cut their teeth on Blind Rage’s stage.
Although Blind Rage is as much a venue as it is a record store, the new location doesn’t have an obvious stage. While that doesn’t necessarily mean there won’t be shows in the store’s future, the focus is on the records.
So, to celebrate the store’s next chapter, owner Gwen Downing-Groth decided to put on one last show, one that truly represented Blind Rage Records.
On the week of the Belmont store’s official last day, a crowd of pierced ears, dyed hair, and leather-clad punks flipped through the record stacks ahead of the opening band, Caught Dead. Sheller, Body Farm, and Wounded Paw followed, with Bomb Bunny closing out the night. The show was two-fold as the final in-store show and a fundraiser for Mac the Dog, an Irish wolfhound in need of surgery.
A few shelves had already been moved to the Oregon District location, which opened up the pit for more bodies. And more bodies there were. What little air conditioning could be experienced was absorbed by a max capacity crowd, and finding fresh air outside seemed to be a bit fruitless given a high temperature in the mid-90s.
Some sought refuge at the Taco Bell across the street. Most sweat it out inside, because they knew it would be the last time.
“It’s pretty bittersweet,” Downing-Groth told me, standing in the doorway of 734 Watervliet. “I’ve had a lot of show spaces over the years that have had their last show, but usually we never knew it was the last show. In other places, the cops showed up and said ‘no more,’ not because we planned it. So I underestimated how emotional I would be.”
She was very intentional about the final lineup. Body Farm is on the Blind Rage Records label, whereas the other bands on the bill are some of Downing-Groth’s favorite local bands. Wounded Paw’s first show was at Blind Rage, and some of the earliest Sheller and Bomb Bunny shows happened there, too. Bomb Bunny recently went on to open for Brainiac, Dayton indie rock legends.
“I think that for those bands, it’s an important place to them,” Downing-Groth said. “When we started doing shows here, there weren’t any other places for all-ages shows. And so it was kind of born of necessity. If we wanted to have all-ages shows, we had to have a place. And this worked out.”
Downing-Groth says that she doesn’t feel that way anymore, since venues like Yellow Cab Tavern and Hidden Gem Music Club have also started hosting all-ages events. She still plans to put on shows, just maybe not in the store.
For fans and bands, Blind Rage was a place to hang out, to shop, to use as a practice space, and to play shows. The final in-store performance was a last hurrah. The crowd brought it, like it always did.
I walked in halfway through Caught Dead’s set, earplugs in position, trying to not invade anyone’s space cushion to little success. A grandmother posted in a corner, she told me, to not embarrass her grandson in the mosh pit. Up ahead, underscored by searing guitars, a large stuffed monkey violently crowd surfed, and I figured that was my cue to go back outside.
It was very loud. It was very hot. And it was very Blind Rage.
Brandon Berry writes about the Dayton and Southwest Ohio music and art scene. Have a story idea for him? Email branberry100@gmail.com.
MORE INFO
Blind Rage Records is now located at 508 E. 5th St., Dayton. It’s open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday.
About the Author