AUGUSTA, Ga. — Local band Wall Socket officially announced their breakup today, moving into the next phase of their careers as full-time staff at The Cat Skull — the same local venue at which they performed most of their shows, management confirmed.
“Being in a band doesn’t really pay the bills, and I was already spending so much time at the venue, it was easy to start picking up shifts as a bartender: it was just the natural next step for me,” said now ex-frontman Neil Coleman. “Before too long, I was basically working full time there, and I didn’t have the energy to rehearse with the band anymore. So we called it quits, and then everyone else put in applications.”
Lisa Edelson, owner of The Cat Skull, was more than happy to welcome Coleman as an employee — especially since he did not come alone.
“When Neil started here, I suddenly had an entirely new staff who already knew the ins and outs of the place,” Edelson said from the broom closet that serves as her office. “As an added bonus, they know exactly how to handle other bands. I swear, the bands that play here now have never gotten in and out so quick and clean.”
However, not everyone is happy with the shift in direction.
“I’ve never seen a group of dudes so go mad with power so fucking quickly,” said James Barnes, vocalist of Psychic Baby, another venue regular. “It absolutely sucks having another band running a venue, because they know exactly how to fuck with you: they pretend not to hear you during sound check, they serve us drinks last… and, shit, their bassist is the security guy now. He ejected our guitarist in the middle of our own set for crowd surfing.”
Wall Socket already attempted to reunite for one last show, but couldn’t because there was no one at the venue to cover their shifts.