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L2Fairbanks Daily News-MinerLAT 65/TVThursday, May 7,2020Gone but always there, memories of The Marlin live onhe Marlin was the first bar in Fairbanks I stepped foot in. It was August 2006, just a few days afterI arrived in Alaska.Being new in Fairbanks for my job at the Daily News-Miner and not knowing one person, I hopped into a Fairbanks chat room (remember chat rooms?) and started asking w here to go to see what the citv was about. The firstWanswer was, “Go to TheMarlin.”Some guy — I don’t even remember who — said he’d pick me up and take me in that very Fairbanks way you treat a stranger, and he did. I remember walking in downstairs and being hit with that smell, that Marlin smell, a mixture of stale beer and cigarette smoke and underground basement life with a hint of dry cabin. It was great.Since then, almost 14 years ago, I can’t count how many times I’ve been to The Marlin. From punk shows and DJ sets, to rap and hip-hop nights and bluegrass and honky-tonk, to burlesque performances and drag shows, fundraisers and even filming a TV commercial there, The Marlin always has been aconstant.It closed last week, falling victim to the COVID-19 pandemic as mandated state shutdowns take a toll on local businesses. The Marlin might be closed, but it will not be forgotten.In this memorial, I wanted to capture Fairbanks’ thoughts on The Marlin, a retelling of your experiences and nights there, what you liked and loved and learned. This isn’t myPatrick Kezer, David Mollett, Adam Wool, Kate Wool and Nara Rosser have a drink and take in the music at The Marlin in the mid-1990s, courtesy adam woolstory but your story, a story of a bar that helped shape Fairbanks.Compiled by Features Editor Gary Black with the help ofa lot of AlaskansAdam Wool, former ownerNick (Boseck) and I opened The Marlin in 1995 I think.He left after six months, and I resumed sole proprietorship for about four years when I sold it to the manager at the time, Patrick Kezer. For a couple of years I had The Loon and The Marlin.The original name was The Blue Marlin when itwas a famous pizza joint. When I leased it from the building owner, she wouldn’t let me call it that so we settled on just The Marlin. When I opened The Loon, it was originally called The Crazy Loon before it went bankrupt.So when I took it over I wanted to change the name from The Crazy Loon and “took” the “Blue” from The Blue Marlin and brought it over to The BlueLoon.Nick and I were pioneers in that we had live music or entertainment almost every' night and were the first bar in Fairbanks to have a regular covercharge. A lot of bands got their start at The Marlin including Gangly Moose and Sweating Honey.There were many bars that had lots of live music, especially downtown during the pipeline days, but they faded away and The Marlin was a renaissance of live music in Fairbanks. Nick and I sold pizza for awhile that we bought prepared by Gam-bardella’s.Caleb Kuntz, former Fairbanksan and filmmaker now living in Austin, Texas The Marlin was one of those fabulous venues/bars that helped provide a pulse for community and connection in a small town like Fairbanks. Especially amidst the dark and cold winter nights, The Marlin was always a place to poke your head in and find a friendly face or make a new friend. Many, many friendships were gained and strengthened there. During the long days of summer it’d be impossible to not want to stop in as you biked or drove past and saw a local band you recognized.Like a good few spots in Fairbanks over the years, The Marlin was a potent support system for thearts, providing the priceless commodity of a venue to perform in (AND get paid!) as well as a space for people and ideas to convene and collaborate.I’ve been lucky enough to perform there countless times, do a million crawls down from The Pub, makeout with beautiful people, smoke all the weed (while also getting appropriately reprimanded for openly smoking from an absurd whale-shaped marijuana pipe in 2005 ... sorry Brad!!), and splitting my head open twice on the support beams that held everything together as I jumped in exuberance, dancing to some truly killer local band of which I certainly don’t remember the exact name... but that’s not the point!It was a bar, and communal heart, for Fairbanks’ drinking and music communities. It was vital and lush in its support of Fairbanks’ music scene, and I only hope that some people/places step up to fill in the void So FBX artists have a place to shine and celebrate.Clint Parnell, musicianI was in band Substance back in the day, we were played Marlin a lot. .We called ourselves “drunk rock” and smashed many instruments at The Marlin, including a guitar neck which now serves as the handle to the front door of The MarlinThe Marlin served as a platform for idiots like us to perform and be ourselves, no questions asked. Patrick and Chris were running the bar back then,MARLIN »L4c*-
Newspaper Details
Fairbanks Daily News Miner
Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Thu, May 07, 2020
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Adam W.
USA 01 Feb 2023
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