The Berkley Front

I wouldn't say the city of Berkley, Michigan is known for much. To me, they seem to have not quite what I'd want from the place where I live. It seems more of a residential community with a little-bit-of-most-everything feel. Emphasis on "little-bit". The Berkley Front is the only bar in the city I've been to (the others don't look appealing), and aside from an upscale pizza place (Amici's) and a pretty cool book/art store (Mayflower) there's nothing drawing me there.

I've been to the Berkley Front probably close to a dozen times. My first experience was on a weeknight for a Dead Bodies show. Someone from my work is in the band, so I arrived early, expecting to run into a bunch of coworkers. I took a seat at the downstairs bar and ordered a chicken sandwich. In front of me, on a huge white board was a list of over forty beers on draught, most of them locally brewed. This was around the time when I was first discovering the different varieties of beer, and I'm sure I went with something that had an interesting name, though I can't remember what it was. I learned that the second floor is where the stage was located, and when I decided to make my way upstairs it was like walking into an entirely different world. The bar is tucked in the back of the room with nothing on tap. They do have a nice assortment of Bell's beers in bottles, though the atmosphere almost begs you to order a can of PBR at two dollars a pop. And maybe a shot of whiskey.

The room is small, with a corner stage at the far end and an adjacent area for equipment storage. A couple tables are scattered in front, which incite a little bit of poking your head around when you first arrive, because if you don't see a table you can join you would think twice before claiming one. Almost everyone I've talked to has one complaint or another about the sound quality there. Personally, I find that to be part of the Berkley Front's charm as a venue. If you stand too close to the stage, the sound can be piercing and shrill, whereas at the back of the room the low sounds overwhelm the rest of the instruments. In the past couple years I have seen a number of great shows, including Javelins, The Friendly Foes, Serenity Court and a record release show for my friend Sunil Sawani. The quality of the sound aside, all of the performances were memorable. Atmosphere counts for a lot and this is one venue with a lot of character. The band Forget frequently has shows here and their abstract, unstructured sets seem right at home in the dirty, imperfect upstairs of the Berkley Front. For a night it becomes the equivalent of a basement hangout where a group of friends gather to celebrate their similar interests in music.

For her birthday, my friend and I went to the Berkley Front for a couple drinks. We sat downstairs in a booth nestled comfortably among the din of a Wednesday night crowd - just busy enough that we didn't feel like the only ones there. Our booth was lit by an incredibly bright bulb that we promptly covered with napkins once our beers arrived. Our waitress was really nice, and casually asked us to order our second round before she left for the day. Their bathroom was amusingly adorned with lots of humorous graffiti. Next time I'm bringing my camera and submitting something to notesfromthestall.com. I can't say I've ever had a bad time at the Berkley Front. For a while I was starting to see it as more of a venue than a neighborhood bar, but it serves as an out-of-the-way hangout spot just as well. Regardless of my feelings about Berkley as a city, the Berkley Front is up there on my list of places outside of Ferndale for a good beer.