Local musician Rob Mahan unconsciously articulated the "third place" concept. Sure, it wasn't the cheapest place in town to buy CDs, but think about the atmosphere on in-store nights: Where else could you enjoy free music and bevies with dozens of your closest friends?īack when Cactus closed, we harvested a number of eulogies from Cactus employees and customers and prominent figures in the local industry, and the statements made for heartrending reading.īrad Turcotte, then president of Compadre Records, and now both the president of Compadre and an executive vice president with Music World Entertainment, called it "a huge blow to the music industry, not just in Houston, but for the nation." Ray Oldenburg, who coined the term, maintained that true third places have to be either free or inexpensive, should offer food and drink, be easy to arrive at (preferably walkable) and have a sturdy bulwark of regular customers.Įspecially when it hosted in-store concerts, Cactus functioned as a third place for a good portion of Houston's music scene, a convivial meeting spot that was neither home nor a bar. These places are neither home's first place nor work's second, but somewhere in the middle. Social scientists speak of "third places," by which they mean informal anchors to community life. Early last year, with good reason, we called March 31 "a day that will live in Houston music infamy." That was Cactus Music and Video's last day of operation.
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