On August 23, 2003, Saint Paul's venerable Eclipse Records closed its doors on Grand Avenue. Aside from being one of the finest new-and-used record stores in the Twin Cities—and one of only a handful of independents on the east side of the river—it was one of the last great havens in the Twin Cities for free, all ages concerts. High school bands got the exposure they craved, and more established local and regional acts found new fan bases in the under-21 set. The venue was lauded, by parents and councilmembers alike, as a safe space for the teens that came there in droves, who would otherwise be tempted by the vileness of drinking and drugs.

Then, at the behest of fifteen people living on Lincoln Avenue—which shares an alleyway with Grand—the city sent Eclipse a cease-and-desist order, rendering the venue silent. After a yearlong legal battle over ordinance and zoning, Eclipse resumed shows at the end of January 2003, with provisions from the City Council that no show go past 8:00 on weekdays or 10:00 on weekends, and that no musician or member of any band practice their instruments or change their pants behind the venue, lest they lose their conditional license. Seriously.

After a solid few months of shows and business stronger than ever, the last straw came when Joe Furth, who has run Eclipse since its inception nine years ago, was essentially strong-armed out of his lease by Lori Jo Krengle—proprietor of the building on Grand and operator of Kitchens by Krengle—his next door neighbor. Eclipse had a pair of last hurrah shows on August 22 and 23, with local acts Signal to Trust, Martin Devaney, Superhopper, Look Down, Hockey Night, and Malachi Constant all lending support. Since then, the all-ages scene in the Twin Cities has dwindled to all but nothing, leading surely in no small part to citations at basement shows throughout both cities, and innumerable arguments with parents over use of the garage.

Eclipse reopened quietly in December of 2006, with exactly the same record collection as the day they closed (it has since burgeoned to adequately huge). Furth and his business partner Jason Brazil now operate at 1922 University Avenue, on the west end of Midway, in a gigantic former auto repair near the Turf Club and Big V's. They have the City's support—some of it even monetary, in the form of a STAR grant, which has been used in part to make improvements to the site and bring it up to code.

Tonight, Eclipse Records will host its first show in nearly five years.

May 8: Martin Devaney, Kruddler, Ratt Poison
May 9: Superhopper, Togetherness, Red Life
May 10: The Angry Mothers, Baby Guts, EZ Bleeders
All shows start at 6PM and are always all ages.

–Todd Pitman