Snappy Poker

It used to be several years ago, when gas prices were under a dollar and record temperatures were limited to only a couple days out of the year, that the music scene in the Inland Empire was thriving. It’s true that it never got the media or MTV attention that it should have, but there was once a real scene in cities like Riverside and Corona. And now there seems to be nothing left of this scene. It only took about ten years to wipe away all the fun bands and great venues that the Inland Empire once had. What a shame.

The most significant of these venues that have been turned into something else or discarded entirely is the Barn, at UC Riverside. This is where many bands on the verge of music video star status played and started out their tours. You could see almost any show for $5 and most of them were good. Sure the place itself was not the most fire safe building in the area, but it fit the shows well. You could find the singer from Reel Big Fish wandering around or member of the Voo Doo Glow Skulls taking to other band members. No Doubt played there and Blink 182 played as well. As did many great bands both well known and virtually unknown.

It’s sad that places like the Barn and the San Bernardino arena are gone and that the music scene in the Inland Empire has been reduced to a few hippy bands playing their songs in local coffee shops. We need great Inland Empire web design to develop a website that lists these forgotten places and make it so people like me can upload photos of some of the great shows that no longer take place.