It’s the final pot of hot water for Rock Lobster.

All things (except Cher and cockroaches) must come to an end, but it’s still hard to say good bye to old, familiar things. And, for many people on the Hill and in Seattle in general, both gay and straight, it’s going to be tough tonight as Neighbour’s long running 80’s party night, “Rock Lobster” stages its final show. Created by DJ Trent Von and Mark “Mom” Finley over a hundred and fifty years ago, (uh, 17 years ago) to pay tribute to the New Wave decade, the economics of an aging Generation X have led to dwindling attendance to the perennial Thursday night event. Here’s DJ Trent’s final statement on the Facebook invite:

Yes, that’s right! After a VERY long 17 YEAR run we will be OFFICIALLY calling it QUITS on Seattle’s LONGEST RUNNING ’80s NIGHT, “ROCK LOBSTER”!

For this last night of ROCK LOBSTER I will be:

1. Starting at 8PM for those who want to say goodbye to the night they grew up with (and still be home before 11PM).

2. I will be playing ONLY be playing CLASSIC ’80s, NOTHING ELSE!!!!!

3. And as always, we will be going all the way to 3AM (and believe me… that’s still NOT ENOUGH time to play ALL the music or requests, but I’ll sure as hell TRY).

SO BRING YOUR PARTY (early if you can’t stay late) and DANCE TILL YOU DROP one last time @ ROCK LOBSTER!!!!!

DJTvon

PS, This is gonna be a hard gig to do. It’s been a big part of us for over 17 years. I knew this day was coming, and for now it’s TODAY!!! I know it will be like losing a dear friend when we’re finally faced with the moment.

Yes, it’s sad, but it was inevitable. Theme nights always fade away for the simple reason the people who lived THROUGH those periods of time, age out of going to night clubs and hanging out until midnight or later on a Thursday night. (It’s why you don’t see Seventies nights anymore.) There’s lots of wailing from long time fans of the event, but many of them admit it’s been a long time since they’ve attended…most of them are too busy with jobs, kids and even grandkids to hang out in Neighbours listening to Bananarama and ABC on a “school night”.

So farewell, “Rock Lobster”. It was a lovely run and we’ll all miss you. And, to quote Simple Minds seminal song from The Breakfast Club:

Don’t you forget about me
I’ll be alone, dancing you know it baby

A Toast To Rock Lobster!