Somerville saves Starlab!

It was a scene out of... well, out of somewhere else.

The day before most of us got caught up in patriotic Fourth of July revelry, the folks at the Starlab practice space and recording studio in Union Square, Somerville had a few friends over, hosted some bands and cooked some food. It was an outdoor rock n’ roll show and flea market all in the name of fixing up Starlab, which needed funds to repair water damage in its basement and bang out some unpaid back rent the new managers inherited from the old regime.

The result of three of its tenants — Movers & Shakers, Drug Rug and Sleepy Very Sleepy — attempting to keep Starlab running after getting hit with the bill, the Save Starlab BBQ this past Saturday not only raised enough coin to offset the debt, but went down without incident. The three aforementioned bands — as well as Doomstar — gloriously played live under the sun in the Starlab parking lot, and A Bad Ox A Good Ox lent its silk-screening talents inside the space.

About $1,500 was raised through donations at the door and jars placed around the food and indoor area, which featured an Out Run arcade game (quarters for charity!) and refreshments.

“It was a complete success!,” said Matt Price of Movers & Shakers, one of the bands who now run Starlab. “We were able to raise almost exactly what we needed to and the show went off without a hitch. We had done our homework in securing a permit from the city and getting local businesses to sponsor the event, but ... this sort of thing just doesn't happen much around here so I was pleasantly surprised when nobody stopped by to give us a hard time.”

And because of all the good times on Saturday, an end-of-summer BBQ and outdoor show is in the works for next month. Well played, Somerville. Here’s a few (crappy) iPhone pics of Drug Rug and Doomstar, and more images can be found here.