The Rat — Kenmore Square Boston’s Famous Rock n’ Roll House

Michael Weddle
3 min readSep 3, 2019

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— The early days saw Punk Rock vs. Disco Music!

[NOTE: Credit for the photos of Linda and Mitch go to rock n’ roll photographer extraordinaire Wayne Valdez.]

Boston Musical Artist Linda Veins

From Wikipedia:

The Rathskeller (known as The Rat for short) was a legendary[1][2][3] live music venue in Boston, Massachusetts that was open from 1974 to 1997. A dimly-lit, gritty establishment, the Rathskeller was considered the “granddaddy” of Boston rock venues.[4][5]

The Talking Heads at The Rat

During its heyday, the Rat hosted such acts as The Cars, Pixies, Metallica, Powerman 5000, Dead Kennedys, The Ramones, Talking Heads, R.E.M., The Motels, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, The Queers, and The Police. From 1980 to 1987, The Hoodoo BBQ — which Esquire called one of the “100 Best Restaurants in America” — was located at The Rat.[6]

Mitch, The Rat Doorman — Loved and Respected by All!

Notable Acts That Performed The Rat:

… to name just a few!

The Rat was located a a few hops, skips or jumps to and back from Fenway Park!

The Annual Rat Beach Party (scroll a little ways down the article to where you see The C-Note in the photos):

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Michael Weddle
Michael Weddle

Written by Michael Weddle

Founder of Boston’s Climate Change Band; former NH State Representative; Created Internet’s 1st Anti-War Debate; Supporter of Bernie Sanders & Standing Rock!