Video: 84 NASH -LIVE AT BERNIE'S, COLUMBUS, OH MAY 1998 PART 4.mp4

NBC4: Bernies closing after 40 years on High Street

When Bernie's closed in 2015, it marked the closing a chapter of in Columbus music. The last bar that catered to original music and helped foster the indie/underground music scene directly across from campus closed, and NBC4 covered it. Here's the a bit, and clicking this link takes you to video.

Bars come and go all the time, but this one is different. 

It is a definitive local bar in the basement of a building on North High Street--it was this block's local bar, and had been for years. 

Bernies started as a bagel shop and deli and transformed into a night spot gradually over the last four decades. 

It is one of the last of the non-corporate pubs on campus. 

"We've been here 21 years. Bernies has been here 40 total," said Roma Painter, owner of Bernies. "And it's going to be changing completely not just here but on campus in general." 

Bernie's is closing on this New Year's Eve. 

It is making room for more upscale development on High Street.

Columbus Guardian: Route 66 (1994)

Not much out there on the interwebs about Miss May '66, but I did find this over at Anne Spurgeon's page from the 1994 Columbus Guardian:

A mesmerizing quartet, Miss May 66, is turning brains on the campus circuit. Four women-drummer Tera Stockdale, bassist Kari Murphy, singer Yalan Weasner and Anne Spurgeon (sister of the Greenhorn Spurgeons) have filled their calendars with a pocket of good gigs. Wednesday, June 22 , Miss May opens for the Laughing Hyenas at Stache's. They play Bernie's (with Econothugs and the Lovin' Mouthful) on the 24th and, also that weekend, Comfest. Miss May-an outfit with rhythm, distortion and aggression-has been together only a few months. Stockdale and Murphy just started fooling around on the Econothugs gear. Neither knew what they were doing. 'When we go back and listen to our first tapes,' says Stockdale, 'that's when we realize we actually have come a really long way...We had no idea how to write a song or how to play.' Catch them soon. Murphy leaves for San Francisco later this summer; Stockdale promises the band will forge on after they locate a replacement.

Video: Necropolis at Bernie's in Columbus, OH August 2004

Website: Columbus Watering Holes

Little bit off regular posting schedule, I recently found this website: Columbus Watering Holes. It's an ode to bars gone by and current places to bend an elbow. In the "defunct" section, you can get shirts featuring Bernie's, Mean Mr. Mustard's, Larry's and more.

Video: The Hairy Patt Band at Bernie's 1993

Towncraft Movie - National Scene Stories (2007)

Back in 2007, indie music documentary Towncraft was released about the Little Rock, AR punk scene of the 70s and 80s. Part of the website was dedicated to people telling stories about their own hometown scenes, and Columbus was included thanks to a contributor named Skullface. Here's some of that they provided:

The punk scene in Columbus, Ohio from 1999-2006 was slightly reminiscent of the early American hardcore scenes in Southern California, if only coincidently. Upon first glance, it would seem that all the shows were focused around the college town's dive bar, Bernie's Distillery, but kids were making something of their own outside of the nationally-known bands who played there. By 2002, a good percentage of the shows, including benefits and birthday parties, were being held at houses around the area, usually rented by college-aged punks (and those sympathetic to the kids).