On Friday, Jan. 17, just hours before Paper Crane’s Local Legends Warehouse Dance Party, officers from the St. Petersburg Police Department walked through the narrow entrance of the DIY warehouse venue.
The officers wanted to make sure the space was adequate to host a high volume of concert-goers, after noticing the event’s Facebook page listed droves of dancers planning to attend. After pointing out a few broken exit signs and exposed extension cords, police casually stated that the show couldn’t happen. The officers then told Paper Crane’s caregivers and operators that they’d be back later that week, along with the fire marshal, to conduct a full inspection. That’s when the Paper Crane crew knew that it might be the beginning of the end for their DIY venue.
Freaklove II
w/A Place to Bury Strangers/Pleasures/
Chew/Fake Nudes/Jeremy & the Clones/Bl_ank/Timothy Eerie/Deaf Culture
Sun. Feb. 9, 5 p.m. $20.
Cage Brewing, 2001 1st Ave. S., St. Petersburg.
eventbrite.com
“We were operating under conditions that were approved the last time we got inspected… it seems like St. Pete is really cracking down with stuff like this,” Morgan Soltes, a Paper Crane caretaker and showrunner told CL. Alex Borst, another Crane-er, responded to Soltes, “Yeah, maybe to adhere with the tides of gentrification.”
Almost all of the fire marshal’s many comments on the warehouse had to do with the age and condition of the building itself, not so much the safety of the venue space. A fire escape needs to be added on the second floor and the sprinkler system needs an update, along with many other minor tweaks that must happen if Paper Crane is to continue as a venue.
According to Sec. 13-119 of St. Pete’s Fire Code, before an indoor public assembly permit can be issued, the fire marshal has to declare the venue safe, with updated sprinkler systems, exits, and proper measures for overcrowding. Updating the warehouse at 910 5th Ave. N, and get it fully up to code, would cost tens of thousands of dollars in renovations, according to Riley Morgan, another one of the six Paper Crane caretakers (Soltes and Borst ran Paper Crane shows about two years, Morgan for about a year.) After the visit from the fire marshal, it was clear that the warehouse venue could no longer host future shows—and it had a lot on its roster, including Sunday’s curated concert experience, Freaklove II.
Before the brains behind Paper Crane could even fully process the fire marshal visit—they had to immediately find a new venue for Freaklove. Not your typical Sunday night concert, Freaklove is yet another installment of Paper Crane’s unique, anti-holiday themed shows. Think of Freaklove as a mini-festival, fully equipped with its own art installations and decor. To the Paper Crane crew’s surprise, Cage Brewing in downtown St. Petersburg—a five-minute, 1.3-mile drive away from the DIY warehouse—almost immediately said yes to hosting Freaklove and all of its madness. It said yes to all of the bands, projectors and immersive art experiences—including an installation of hanging handcuffs.
“The benefit of having this at Cage is that now it’s an all-ages show, which is great,” Soltes told CL.
Cage Brewing’s partially-covered outdoor venue will be reshaped into a sultry anti-Valentine’s celebration for well, freaks. The bill consists of Paper Crane regulars, Atlanta-based psych-rock trio CHEW, and synth-lead group Pleasures (stylized “PLEASURES; in which Morgan, 29, and Soltes play in), alongside the newly formed Jasmine Deja project Fake Nudes and the not-so-new new kids on the block, Jeremy and the Clones (after Freaklove this weekend, The Clones embark on the second tour of its short five-month stint as a band.)
But perhaps the most standout act of them all is Freaklove headliner A Place to Bury Strangers—Brooklyn’s finest experimental rockers and, according to Morgan, one of the biggest bands to ever play a Paper Crane show.
“They’re known for drowning the place in fog and strobing out the audience out while their smashing guitars,” Morgan excitedly said about A Place to Bury Strangers. “We’re stoked to have them on this show.”
After this weekend’s Freak party is done, the Paper Crane brains will really have to figure out what they’re going to do. The six of them are unclear if they have to move out or not—but it seems that they will most likely have to.
This overwhelming and downright unfortunate situation has lit a fire under a few of the Paper Crane caretakers. Three of them— Morgan, Borst, 34, and Soltes —are ready to take their hosting and organizing skills to another venue; they want to go the professional route with their next venue venture—this time with a solid business plan and investors.
“We want our next space to focus on art installations, and bringing bigger bands—national bands—to St. Petersburg,” Morgan added. Perhaps the old warehouse was holding back the potential of these event organizers. But to the dismay of music fans across Tampa Bay, the building covered in colorful murals and filled with decades of debauched memories will no longer be host to some of the best live shows and niche art events in the area.
This ordeal has to beg the question, “Is someone trying to buy this warehouse?” In a city where art-oriented spaces are being transformed into grey condos in the blink of an eye, one has to wonder if there are ulterior motives lying in between the seams of this unfortunate ordeal. In playing devil’s advocate, CL asked Morgan, Borst and Soltes what they thought about that theory.
“There are a lot of rumors bouncing around—anything is possible. But we’re keeping our heads down and focusing on what’s in front of us.” Borst said quickly. Only time can determine the fate of this old St. Petersburg warehouse, but in the meantime, headbang your worries away at Freaklove II this weekend.
Follow @cl_music on Twitter to get the most up-to-date music news, concert announcements and local tunes. Subscribe to our newsletter, and listen to us on WMNF 88.5-FM’s “Radio Reverb” program every Saturday from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
