Joe's Star Lounge

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ys Goodbye

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Joe displays a T-shirt given to him by his staff. The shirt jokingly refers to an Ann Arbor Observer article about Joe.

It finally happened.
The star-shaped neon 'Star Lounge-
Liquor' sign that hangs above the door
of 109 N. Main St. went out for the final
time last Saturday night. It has been
almost three years since Joe Tiboni
took over the old Star Bar and turned it
into the most glamourous dive this side
of Manhattan. Gone will be the familiar
names of the local band scene, as well
as a mind-boggling list of out of town
acts that have graced Joe's stage since
opening night, January 20, 1982.
It was packed.
And I mean packed. Moving in any
direction was, at best, very difficult.
The line for the women's bathroom was
inconceivably long-(so what else is
new). And just getting to that line in-
volved swimming through the dance
floor, which was filled with drunken
and drenched revelers rocking and
thrashing to the sounds of the
'Resurrected' Watusis.
He'll be back.
Although it was Joe's last night in its
present incarnation, there was a sur-
prising lack of pathos and melancholy
among those present. Tiboni insists
he'll return to a new Ann Arbor venue.
But where that may be is anyone's
guess-including Tiboni's. After all,
how can anyone imagine Ann Arbor
without Joe's? And for that matter,
how can anyone imagine Joe without a
bar? Whatever happens, a new round
of rumors is certain to follow.
Follow me to the new Joe's.
That's what the black Tee-shirts
commemorating the event said. But in
the meantime, we'll have to wait for a
new Joe's to follow someone to. Let's
hope its not a long wait. See you soon.
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