New legend: The Statehouse

A limestone ranch house at 321 Wylie St. (at the corner of Wylie and Grant streets) could be any party house, but the joint known as The Statehouse has become that house, the house that makes students leave other parties at the drop of a text message.

Leah Rosenthal, a frequent Statehouse attendee, has walked out of other parties to head to The Statehouse before.

“It’s not close to Collins, where I live, by any means, but people still walk blocks to get there,” she said. “It’s all for the good music and friends.”

The Statehouse is a rented house-turned-basement-venue that has become a hip concert scene for local bands, touring artists and college students looking for a hangout.

Two years ago, three friends lived in the house and hosted about two shows per month for a year. A Facebook fan site lists more than 65 bands that have performed – and crashed after the party – at the house.

“It’s the excitement of a basement show where everyone is packed in and sweaty and you can’t get that in a bar,” Bryant Fox, former tenant and concert scheduler said. “People aren’t there to drink. They’re there for the music. That’s what we wanted.”

The layout, Fox said, is perfect for funneling concertgoers to the basement. The side doors lock, forming one entrance in the back for attendees to walk in and hand over a couple bucks cover. All donations go straight to the bands, funding gas money and sometimes noise violation charges.

One special concert raised money for Fox’s friend, sophomore Rob Funkhouser who needed help paying for a surgery.

“They had close to 200 people in that basement,” Funkhouser said. “People were so tightly packed that they moved in waves like water.”

Funkhouser added that he was touched by the more than $200 the concert raised that night for his surgery.

Josh Greenberg, current tenant and member of the band Slippertails, which played at Funkhouser’s benefit concert, said the show was testament to the Statehouse’s legacy.
“We have a loyal fan base in Bloomington so we knew that we would have a large turnout,” Greenberg said. “We knew how to run it, what times would work, and we knew how to organize it so the show wouldn’t get busted. It was organized by friends, played by friends for a friend.”

Other bands that played the venue have gone on to become big names in music. Titus Andronicus, a band from New Jersey that performed at The Statehouse last January, is now signed to the same label, XL Recordings, as recording artist M.I.A. Indie artists Deer Tick and BLK JKS have also played at the venue along with local acts Prizzy Prizzy Please, Alexander the Great and Husband&Wife.

Even the big names can’t get enough of The Statehouse, said Aaron Boroughs, who lived in the house and organized shows two years ago.

“Bands come back to Bloomington,” he said, “and the first thing they want to do is play The Statehouse.”

Though the concert bill overflowed last year, somewhat less-frequent weekend shows still keep the venue rocking. One hint at the venue’s success, tenants said, is that they don’t sell alcohol.

As Boroughs put it, “We focus on the party of the music.”