Though the Triple Rock would carry the intimacy of a basement show-keeping the stage low, lacking a barricade, and holding around 300 people-it also attempted to subvert the idea of what punk clubs look like. “It was all based on my own personal experiences,” says Erik, “But it’s funny, because my experiences were all limited to what I had really done with my own band to that point which, mostly, was basements.” Having spent the past decade touring with Dillinger Four, Erik had a wealth of experience to pull from, allowing him to create the kind of room he’d like to play. But it was the goal from the very beginning.” In 2003, the Funks expanded into the vacant lot next to the Triple Rock, building a venue from the ground up. “We thought it would be smart to just do the bar first and, if we could manage that, and we could prove it, then it made more sense to reinvest and do the venue. “It was always part of the plan,” says Erik. Though people were already flocking to the Triple Rock, there was one part of the Funks’ vision that wasn’t completed when the bar first opened: There wasn’t a space for live music. “It’s like, you get to have junk food at a bar just like I do.” “Our whole point was to make food for vegans where they could go out and have an indulgent meal,” she says. And while it seems quaint now, the menu that Gretchen designed offered something most vegan and vegetarian people couldn’t find elsewhere. It was just that spot,” says P.O.S., a Minneapolis rapper who has long bled the lines between punk and hip-hop. “It was one of the first places I could go in the city where it felt like everybody in here is cool. The bar would quickly gain a reputation as the meeting place for people looking to toss back a few drinks, soak it up with a hearty meal, and listen to a jukebox that never disappointed, no matter if it was playing Motörhead, Atmosphere, or AVAIL. “In the morning, when she started talking about it, we realized we could do it,” says Erik. “They couldn’t eat, and it just felt like there was this inclusion that needed to happen where people needed something to enjoy no matter what they wanted or what their lifestyle was like.” While most ideas sparked during late-night outings dissolve the second the sun rises, this one was different. “We had friends who were vegan, we had friends who were straight edge, and they were bored out of their skulls when we went out,” says Gretchen. The couple was out to dinner with some friends one night when Gretchen realized there were no good vegan options on the menu. “It was pretty much Gretchen’s idea,” says Erik, who has been a vocalist-guitarist in Dillinger Four, a Minneapolis punk band that’s grown in esteem over the past two decades. So, on a lark, they decided to create the place they wanted to be there all along. Though there was a hearty selection of basements for bands to play in, the volunteer-run punk record store Extreme Noise (which Erik was an original owner of), and plenty of bars and restaurants, none of them merged all these interests, allowing friends to meet for drinks, vegan dinner, and a show without traversing all around town. In the mid-90s, the husband-and-wife pair of Erik and Gretchen Funk started to think about what their city and scene were missing.
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