On December 2, after 17 years of operation, venerable (to the extent such an adjective applies in Houston) EaDo concert venue Warehouse Live shut its doors. The place hosted all manner of musical genres, as well as comedians, burlesque shows, and outdoor festivals. It was also the site where, if you were lucky, you could catch acts both on the rise (Drake, Pink, Adele) and well-established (Prince, Gary Clark Jr., Duran Duran).

But rather than fade into memory like so many other venues, WHL will be moving into the space formerly occupied by Rise Rooftop on December 29. According to a press release from Big City Entertainment LP, the move will help fulfill a "vision to elevate the Warehouse Live experience." How, you may ask? With an "immersive audio-visual experience," for starters. The new location will also have things like VIP sections and private bars.

That's all a pretty fancy way to say, "We wanted to get out before the freeway expansion killed us," but whatever.

It therefore isn't correct to say we at the Press are "mourning" the end of Warehouse Live, except we kind of are. Built well before BVBA Compa...er, Shell Energy Stadium, WHL was for a long time one of the only entertainment options in that area (meaning you could easily find a place to park, among other things). Also: VIP sections? Private bars? How do you reconcile that with an ICP concert? Or Melvins? Or Toxic Holocaust?

Anyway, we asked our Houston Press music writers for their memories — good or ill — of the place. Warehouse Live is dead. Long live Warehouse Live.

JEFF BALKE
I’ve seen a lot of concerts in my life and more than my fair share of metal, but few were as interesting as Dying Fetus and Cattle Decaptitation at Warehouse Life (in the small room, natch). My niece, a diehard metalhead teen, wanted to go and my wife (her beloved aunt) felt it might be better if we went with her.

We did not enter the pit. We stayed in the back on a riser full of parents (and aunts and uncles) glued to our phones. I think my wife was playing Wordle.

It was very fast and very complicated, but surprisingly not very loud…not by standards set by bands I had seen in the past anyway. It probably wasn’t even in the top 10 loudest shows I’d ever been too. Several enthusiastic youngsters ready to poke fun at the old guy asked me if it was too loud for me. I chuckled, “Catch Judas Priest next time they are in town and get back to me."


TOM RICHARDS
My favorite Warehouse Live show was in 2019, when I saw Snarky Puppy for the first time. For the uninitiated, the band is a jazz fusion outfit which was formed at the University of North Texas about 20 years ago. At the time, I was not familiar with the Puppy but had been invited to go hear them by my bandmate and bassist extraordinaire Anthony Carvajal. The guys absolutely killed, playing challenging yet accessible music and, no doubt, winning over a bunch of new fans, including me. After the show, I was loitering around near the merch table and found myself standing beside Snarky Puppy leader Michael League. Not knowing anything about the band but feeling the need to say something, lest the encounter turn awkward, I borrowed a phrase from Miles Davis and blurted out, “You guys are some playin’ motherfuckers!” To his credit, League nodded and said, “Thanks, man.”


BOB RUGGIERO
If you ask me who the most underrated, undervalued, an underappreciated rock
band of the past few decades is—and even if you don’t, I’ll gladly tell you—my
answer comes firm and quickly (that’s what she said): Living Colour.

Ever since I first saw the video for “Cult of Personality” on MTV in the Summer of
1988 and literally went out the next day to buy their debut album Vivid on cassette, I
was hooked. Hooked by this incredible and inventive hard rock group that could turn
on a dime to soul, funk, and jazz. Then on November 8, 1989, I got to see them open
for the Rolling Stones at the Astrodome on the Steel Wheels tour. I’ve been fortunate
to attend several concerts over the ensuing years, and even interviewed all four
members for The Houston Press, some more than once.

In July 2013, Living Colour came to Warehouse Live to celebrate the 25th anniversary
of the Vivid release, playing the entire album in sequence along with a career-
spanning set (“Flying” is the best song about Sept. 11 you’ve never heard). Woe to
those who only know “Cult of Personality” and figured it would be the encore. It was
the second song performed. My friend “Metal” Manny Cruz and I got up close, and
the show was ferocious.

Vocalist Corey Glover pointedly entered the stage wearing a grey hoodie and stalked
around a bit, a nod to the shooting death of Trayvon Martin the previous year.

Glover also came out after the show to happily chat with fans and pose for pictures, one of
which I snagged (though why the hell was I wearing a friggin’ Grateful Dead T-shirt??).

Unfortunately, the floor was only about a third full, and I found myself personally apologizing to Glover for Houston’s poor turnout.

I was beyond excited to learn that they’d be back at Warehouse Live just over a year
later, October 12, 2014. The “Synesthesia” tour would also preview tracks from their
next studio record, Shade. And yes, it also bothered me that this band has
consistently continued to put out great new music since those first three records, all
of which are routinely and roundly ignored by all but the most diehard fans.

The surprise? This show was held not in the main room of Warehouse Live of the
prior year, but the smaller, more intimate side room usually reserved for up-and-
coming or local bands. On one hand, I was  appalled that Houston would again give
the band such a small turnout. On the other, I was thrilled to be in even closer
proximity to the group, and among others who clearly knew their music outside of
“Cult.” Once again, Metal Manny was my compadre, and I was not disappointed.

Living Colour will be back in Houston on February 20, 2024, this time supporting a
reformed Extreme at the House of Blues. Metal Manny already has the date marked.
In Classic Rock Bob’s World, Living Colour should headline this night—and every
night. And while I’ll be stoked to see Mssrs. Glover, Wimbish, Calhoun, and Reid yet
again, it will be tough match the heat, fury, and emotional heft of those two
Warehouse Live shows a decade ago.


JESSE SENDEJAS
“When it’s time to party, we will party hard,…hey!”

So many great shows at Warehouse Live and so many diverse acts. In the end, that’s gotta be the legacy of Warehouse Live in EaDo, right? I’m sure the mix will carry on in Midtown, but when I think of shows at the old place, I’ll think of seeing Regina Spektor on a rare Houston stop and singing along to “On the Radio,” or becoming part of the “fam-uh-lee!” at an ICP show. Being enchanted by Sia’s vocal prowess before she started playing arenas, or whipping it with DEVO. Asylum Street Spankers, the Interrupters, listening to Gogol Bordello live and then jumping onstage with Eugene Hutz for a DJ set, crowd surfing (not me, but my kids) during an over-the-top Flogging Molly set.

My own son’s band doing a New Year’s Day gig there and filming a video in the venue for posterity. If you ever start to miss the place, jump over to the band’s page to check out the video for “Post Party Depression,” which has so far shown off Warehouse Live to more than four million viewers.

The shows I’ll remember most from Warehouse Live are a couple of Whatever Fests I attended. Those outings really captured the essence of the venue because they used every inch of the space, indoor rooms and surrounding outdoor areas, to showcase music and comedy. They were genre-blending, too.

Over the course of those fests the family and I were blood-splattered by GWAR, Liquid Sword-ed by the GZA, entertained by Metric, The Front Bottoms, the late Shock G, comics T.J. Miller, Bobcat Goldthwait, Iliza Shlesinger and a bunch more touring and local bands. They were great days to cherish music and Houston’s music people, the audiences who kept coming and keeping those EaDo doors open. The first set we ever saw at Whatever Fest was an afternoon jump-off from the greatest party-starter of all, Andrew W.K. When he shouted to the crowd “We want fun and you better believe it!” he was singing the Warehouse Live anthem.


MARCO TORRES
When I say that Warehouse Live kick started my photography career, that's not hyperbole or understatement. My very first assignment for the Houston Press was a Bun B & Friends show at Warehouse in late June 2009. Over the years I've photographed hundreds of shows at that historic venue east of downtown, including Drake, Nas, Mac Miller, J. Cole, Travis Scott, Big KRIT, Wiz Khalifa, Nipsey Hustle, and so many more.

I was still a newbie photographer at that Bun B show, so as I fumbled through my settings in the photo pit, suddenly I looked up and saw Bun looking directly at me. He smiled and shot the "H-Town" hand gesture towards me. Later that night, after I downloaded the images to my computer, I stared at that photo for what seemed like hours. All I could think was.... "I can do this photography thing for the rest of my life!".

One night I photographed two Kendrick Lamar concerts, the first at Warehouse Live and the second at House of Blues. Most of these shows were promoted and produced by Scoremore Shows, who later on inked a deal with Live Nation. And the crew of Warehouse was always top notch: LA (RIP), Jorge (RIP), Chris, Hunter, Miguel, Bryan and Psycho, just to name a few. Much respect to them for keeping me safe, and helping me capture so many iconic images that cemented the photographer I am today.

"I was birthed there in my first year
Man, I know that place like I come from it
Backstage at Warehouse in '09 like, "Is Bun coming?
- lyrics from Drake on his track "Too Much"


PETE VONDER HAAR
I've been going to shows at Warehouse Live since the act of leaving your car on the street demanded more faith in humanity than I was usually comfortable with. And when I pitched a piece about memorable shows at WHL to my fellow writers, I said it was perfectly acceptable to use whatever definition of "memorable" they felt comfortable with.

For example, I thought about that 2016 Ted Nugent show where he played essentially the same set he has for the last 30 years. But really the only things notable about that night were that he didn't call for the assassination of any politicians and I caught a Bulbasaur in Pokémon GO.

But one show I almost missed (and just about everyone else did, too) was Agent Orange in 2012. "Bloodstains" wasn't just one of my entry points into punk, it showed there was a way for howling outrage and melody to coexist. Mike Palm's lyrics showcase alienation, but the music, influenced by the surf bands he grew up listening to, challenged you to — dare I say — have fun at a show?

At the time, I was vaguely pissed off at the sparse crowd (seek no further proof than the fact the above clip is from the Scout Bar and not WHL), but I've come to appreciate the opportunity that afforded. They played the small room, but everyone was still able to get close without pissing each other off, and Palm was more than happy to hang out and shoot the shit after the show.

I'm sure I'll find my way to the new location eventually, but a place with a VIP area probably isn't going to be the most amenable for that kind of intimacy. It'll probably have valet parking, too.