May 26, 2003. Jared Grabb’s final show at the Meeting House is headlined by Against Me! from Gainesville, Florida. Located in the basement of Peoria’s Church of the Brethren, the Meeting House exposed both the tension and the overlap between punk rock and the church, like similar venues in Normal and East Peoria.

“The space was created to be a free-of-rent, positive youth venue where we could pay touring bands more. But, eventually it just started to feel like I was trying to put a square peg in a round hole,” Jared explains. “Oh, and Against Me! and Fifth Hour Hero were both amazing and played on the basement floor rather than the stage.”

From 2001 to 2003, Jared booked about two dozen Meeting House shows, hosting Minus the Bear, Hey Mercedes, Kind of Like Spitting and Ten Grand, among others.

Flyer from the collection of Adam Widener: https://victimsofthemodernage.blogspot.com/…/peoria-il…