Don’t cry, little punk

The Colonial Complex is closing in November, and when it happens, Sacramento won’t have an all-ages punk rock venue for a while.

Not like Café Colonial and The Colony, anyway, which acted as a first stage for young bands trying to get their chops, and which held weekend marathons like Noise- and Ladyfest. After six years, owner Matthew Marrujo announced the Stockton Boulevard venue’s closure on Facebook September 13.

“This was not an easy choice to make, this place is my home and the people here are my family,” he wrote. “With constant change and lack of funds it has been almost impossible to make the kind of money we need to keep going.”

If you haven’t been there for a show, the two spaces are their own. At Café Colonial, old video game consoles and tube televisions sprawl across a round bar and tables, a space inviting to kids, nerds and everyone else. At the smaller Colony next door, the walls are vibrant with tags and interstellar artwork. On both stages and in both pits, a lot of Sacramentans made formative memories.

From artists and promoters I’ve asked, there are a million theories why this stuff happens: that in Sacramento, there are too many small venues for too small of a local music crowd. That people have unlimited alternatives to attending live shows, often digital ones.

Here’s my favorite, from Marrujo’s post: That DIY venues inevitably come and go, and that we’ll see another sometime soon. Until November, you’ve got this one.