realityaddict: blog 
realityaddict's blog
longbranch july 2008
Published Jul. 9, 2008
July 2008
Well, here it is...a day we never thought would happen.
It brings us great sadness to close our doors. There are so many rumors about our situation, from mismanagement to shady business. People are going to believe what they want. We close our doors after giving The Longbranch all we had for so many years. It was our livelihood, our home and a great place for friends to gather.
Whether you had your first drink at the stroke of midnight when you turned 21, or you met the woman you're still married to, or you got hit in the head with a flying beer bottle, or thrown out for pinching a woman on the bottom, or hovered over the toilet while your friends danced the night away, you've got memories of The Longbranch.
You may have started your first job here, or worked here for 20 years, you may have caught your boyfriend red handed with a red head dancing on the countryside. You may have met the country music star of your dreams and got your picture taken with him, and back in the day you may have gotten on the bus with the band. Nobody brought the stars so close to you like The Longbranch.
So many people come to mind while we think about the past years. We laugh at some of the situations we've seen and remember the funerals we attended, saying good bye to dear friends.
We were here when you wanted to party to celebrate your life, we were here when life wasn't so good and a cold beer from a friendly bartender hit the spot. Hopefully, you had fun and you learned a little two step along the way.
We didn't just work here because we needed a job, we looked forward to seeing you every weekend.
It might be said that The Longbranch was run by a bunch of rednecks and we didn't know what we were doing and too many chiefs trying to run the show...that may be true to some degree but what needs to be added is that we loved holding the doors open for you, we loved our job and we loved The Longbranch.
Fred Wilburn gave us the best place to be and we can't thank him enough for that. We aren't perfect and we tried our best to stay open but in the end, we just couldn't and closing was the only answer.
Times are changing, a smaller venue would be better these days...and who knows, you just might see The Longbranch open doors somewhere else, but for now enjoy your memories. We sure will.
Thank you to our outstanding staff from DJ's to Barbacks, Mangement to Bartenders, Door Staff to Clean up crew, Local Bands to our Nashville Entertainers...and most of all, to all of you who supported us through the years.
We love you and miss you already.
The Longbranch
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July 12, 2008 8:27 a.m.
GOLO member since June 19, 2008
July 10, 2008 3:28 p.m.
LOL!
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
July 10, 2008 1:53 p.m.
GOLO member since October 2, 2007
July 10, 2008 11:43 a.m.
GOLO member since July 6, 2007
July 10, 2008 10:15 a.m.
GOLO member since December 25, 2007
July 10, 2008 9:52 a.m.
:-)
Beth
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
July 10, 2008 12:06 a.m.
I hate they closed, but I hadn't been in years. I feel sad, though.
Beth
GOLO member since July 2, 2007
July 10, 2008 12:05 a.m.
Well, blame the closing on building codes. The $300k they put into fixing things up to pass codes is what was the down fall. There are plenty of better places to go downtown Raleigh.
GOLO member since May 16, 2008
July 9, 2008 3:36 p.m.
1.) Diamond Rio 2.) David Lee Roth 3.) Fogat 4.) Black Hawk 5.) Blackfoot 6.) My old band (we played the Country and Rock sides)
I know there were many more, but my brain cells ain't what they used to be.
July 9, 2008 2:13 p.m.
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