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This is a site I discovered about 30 minutes ago as I write this "Review". To be honest, I don't know if this is allowed or if this counts as a review, but I do think the subject matter is appropriate for KAMP. It started with me looking up an obscure compilation album called Ultra-Lounge. I was previously familiar with the album, but I like to refresh my memory when listening to albums I may not have much info about. I type in Ultra-Lounge, and instead of going to the first result, the real album I was looking for, I look at the second, a one-star Yelp review for a place called G20 Ultra-Lounge. I look further down to see a lounge called the D'Lux Lounge which has less than welcoming photos.
(I just wanted to share this photo tbh, I think it simultaneously has immaculate vibes and the worst vibes ever)
All this talk about lounges brought to mind the Shelter Bar, a retro bar that I often drive by during work. The bar interests me, so I looked it up, and about 4 results down from the top, I see a review of the bar from the website that I aim to discuss, tucsonunderground.com
This site is beautiful. I love this site more than I love myself. As someone who has nostalgia for a time I did not experience, the 2000s, this site is heaven. It's a time capsule of every remotely underground thing from the 2000s. The music, the people, the places, it's all incredibly beautiful. As far as I can tell, the site has not been updated since around 2007. In the CDs and records section, ONLY bookmans and Zia records are still open. Only 3 of the places in the places section are open. Many of the stores in the fashion section have also closed since then. I weep for each business that has shut down since the last time the site was updated. It hits me that all the 20-somethings in the scenesters section are now somewhere around either my dad's or mom's age. They're old! Some of the people here have found acclaim, such as Marianne Dissard, who is famous enough to have a Wikipedia page made about her. The site stopped being updated almost two decades ago at this point, but it is still up, meaning somebody is paying for the site to this very day. We need more sites like this in my opinion. Sites that document the scenes of Tucson and support those within it. I'd like to think KAMP is carrying on the mission of this site in some small way. This is honestly a pretty terrible review written in about 20 minutes, but I just had to communicate how I feel about this site immediately. I love exploring old forgotten sites, but I am impressed that I didn't need the internet archive for this one. Maybe the site could be revived, but keep the glory of the old site's aesthetic. I recommend anyone reading this to check out the site, It's honestly an amazing piece of history showing Tucson's underground scene in the 2000s.
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