Just because it doesn't have a liquor license, an advertising budget or an air conditioner doesn't mean the Pistol Social Club isn't a great place to see a band (except in the summer, when that lack of air conditioning shuts it down). Not so much a club as a loft, the Pistol started booking acts a few years ago, when someone asked the renters, Joe Hammers and Laura Frank, if a visiting band without a gig could use the space. Since then, they've welcomed local bands, musicians on national tours and a few plays. "We try to have any band in that fits the aesthetic," Frank says, though she finds it difficult to express exactly what that aesthetic is. "I think we do have some bands a lot of clubs wouldn't have. We just want someone that sounds good, and we've had some beautiful music here." There's usually a $5 cover — money that goes to the band and the Pistol to cover costs. The stage is just a section of the hardwood floor, a few microphones and a couch under a wooden arch painted with two guns. "I've played in clubs where you're on stage 5 feet above the three people who came, and that's not as much fun as playing here is," one musician told us. "It's like, wow, welcome to the big world of rock."
