ELEVEN YEARS AGO THIS WEEK~FRIENDS PAID THEIR LAST RESPECTS TO THE CRESCENT MOON

 

Henry Lee performing at the Crescent Moon

With all due respect to analog and digital, there's no substitute for live music, especially when that sound is made in a 150 year old building of Mexican brick with natural ventilation allowing Gulf breezes to flow through from East to West.

Ben Neece

Ben Neece's Crescent Moon, just a couple hundred yards from the border on 11th Street in downtown Brownsville was our go-to place for music for several years.  

It was just such a damn, welcoming place with Ben's assistant J.J. Strubelt setting that comfortable tone.  

J.J. Strubelt

Without fancy refurbishing, that old, small building on a side street had perfect acoustics, acting like a speaker that pushed the music through you and then out onto the street.

There was no air conditioning, but during Brownsville's hot sweaty nights, Ben would open both the front and back doors to allow the ocean breezes to cool the place.

I don't know how he did it but Neece brought in bands from all over the area and from as far away as Dallas, not just Tejano or conjunto, but rock and roll groups, blues and even a brilliant Mexican rapper on drums.

A few photos, some from June 23, 2011, the Crescent Moon's final night: