If you’re an up and coming musician in Philadelphia, you’ve got your work cut out for you. It’s hard enough to get discovered in any city, but it becomes more difficult when finding gigs is near impossible. Though Philadelphia has a wealth of venues which host music of all kinds, it’s hard to get your gear in the door of most. If you’re not already established, chances are you’ll need to be friends with one of the bands playing a show at the venue. Apart from that, you’ve got to make your way up by playing the bar scene. For many of the younger Philadelphia-area bands, this means your friends can’t come see you. It also means you’re unlikely to be consistently booked anywhere - unless your set is sprinkled with Zeppelin and Skynyrd covers.

This is where the Boiler Room came in. Discontent with the city’s lack of a “rugged, true underground DIY spot,” Northeast resident Joe Benzon decided to co-found the boiler room with his friend Pat Maren. (The two also had considerable help from friends Chris X, Werm, and Keith, Sean, and Paul from the band Left to Vanish.) The group looked at several warehouses around the city. Eventually, an ad was discovered on Craig’s List for the North Philly location which would become the Boiler Room.

Though starting up a venue takes considerable planning, and the place certainly had a philosophy behind it, Benzon seems to feel the Boiler Room was more about taking action than brainstorming. “It wasn't something I thought about for a long time,” he says. “I just had the idea, made the decision, and went from there.”

June 10, 2006. This night began what was to be a busy four months for the Boiler Room crew. It was the moment where all the hard work would pay off. In a tangible success for the crew, and an ideological success for the indie community, Left to Vanish headlined a show which also featured Destroying the Machine, Near Dark, and Hostile.

“We were pretty nervous as to how it would go over, but it was 100% problem free.” Benzon says. “It was so awesome seeing it happen.” Benzon and friends weren’t the only ones who felt this way. The enthusiasm spread to bands throughout the area and, soon after, to bands outside the area. The diversity of bands and styles of music made more and more fans aware of the place.

Most of the Boiler Room’s success should be attributed to the fairminded philosophy upon which it was founded. Shows were fair to the bands who played (with only enough money being charged to pay for the building’s upkeep) and, more importantly, fair to the fans who came to shows. The typical Boiler Room show would cost about $7 and would be stacked with bands - typically five, but sometimes as many as seven! To fans as well as to bands, it epitomized the DIY philosophy.

Shows at the Boiler Room became constant occurrences. In a move too daring for most venues, the crew even agreed to book matinee shows earlier in the day, if a show was already planned for that night. This was done because shows were in such high demand. Interest seemed to be so great that there almost weren’t enough spaces to go around. Of course, there were enough spaces, and shows continued to come.

In the months that followed its June debut, the Boiler Room would go on to host dozens of top notch local bands, becoming a hotbed for the area’s metal, punk, and indie scenes. NJ Bloodline played their first show in the city in quite some time, on June 30 at the Boiler Room. On September 2nd, the venue was home to an all straight-edge, all vegan show featuring Kingdom, 7 Generations, Gather, and Attrition. Local hardcore punk legends McRad performed on July 2nd. In addition, metal favorites Soilent Green and Merauder each made long-awaited appearances in Philadelphia, thanks to the Boiler Room.

October 15, 2006. The show was to be headlined by punk mainstays, Kill Your Idols, but supporting act, Cloak/Dagger, was the only band who were actually able to play that night. After a long series of maintenance issues, a nearly disastrous electrical incident made Joe Benzon realize that he needed to shut down the venue he’d worked so hard to make a reality. A few days later, Benzon left a message on the Boiler Room’s Myspace page, thanking everyone who helped to make it a success.

Though the Boiler Room’s run was too short, it was both significant and inspiring. In just over four months, the venue played host to 78 shows. It brought bands to Philadelphia who might not have been here otherwise. It gave an outlet to bands who couldn’t afford to pay the Troc’s Balcony to let them play or get their calls returned by other venues. It brought friends together and undoubtedly gave birth to friendships in the process. Non-profit, non-discriminatory, and always non-bullshit - in four months, the Boiler Room proved DIY music and venues do have a place in Philadelphia.

Joe Benzon continues to do important work for Philadelphia independent music. His production team, First Things First Productions, was founded to book shows at the Boiler Room, and it continues to book shows at various spots throughout the city. For instance, the highly-anticipated November 10, Boiler Room show, featuring Hirax and Anal Cunt, was successfully moved to The Barbary. For a list of upcoming First Things First Productions shows, visit their Myspace website at http://www.myspace.com/ftfproductions.