T.T. the Bear’s Place

It is great to be a live music fan in Cambridge. Only one T-stop inbound to Central Square and the sounds of musicians at work abound. Music addicts roam the streets seven nights a week for a fix, and cozy T.T. the Bear’s Place is one of the best places to get it.

T.T. the Bear’s Place is one of the most unusual names for any establishment in Cambridge, and one of the cutest.

Named for the owner’s pet teddy bear hamster Tough Teddy, T.T.’s opened as a restaurant on Pearl Street in 1973. In 1985, the club became a music venue at its current location on Brookline Street.

TT’s was named as Boston Magazine’s Best Live Music Club (small) in 2001 and 2002, and it is easy to see why. The venue’s friendly atmosphere and close proximity to public transportation makes it an excellent spot to spend any night of the week, even if there is that midterm to study for and paper to write.

The club resides right next to fellow sonic haven the Middle East and shares a lot of the same clientele. Both are great places to hear local, national and international acts of varying genres, but T.T.’s is smaller and more comfortable than the Middle East Downstairs. And while the Middle East Upstairs is tinier than T.T.’s, the former venue’s poor acoustics make T.T.’s decent sound quality seem great.

“The thing that sets us apart from other venues is that we are so small and people can get up really close to the bands,” says Randi Millman, talent buyer for T.T.’s.

Capped at a capacity of only 300 people, the club offers guests the opportunity to rub elbows with musicians both unknown and renowned.

This intimacy renders performances unpretentious and quaint. It’s easy to chat with an impressive opening act between sets or offer congratulations to a headliner. That never-before-heard-of band might even become the next big thing.

“It’s always fun to get somebody just on the brink of making it big,” says Millman. “We got the Strokes before they got huge. They played three weeks in a row and by the third week it was crazy.”

Other groups to take T.T.’s stage before making it big include Jane’s Addiction and the Smashing Pumpkins. Some more recent performers include …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, the Black Keys, the Detroit Cobras, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Chicks on Speed.

T.T.’s has also acted as a starting place for many of Boston’s important acts like the Sheila Divine, Wheat and Evan Dando. Even Harvard’s own the States played T.T.’s in October.

Although the club is open to all kinds of musical genres, T.T.’s specializes in rock, folk, electronic and punk. Occasional hip-hop acts perform, but Millman says she tries to stay away from “kinds of music that don’t fit the venue, like reggae, jazz and extreme hardcore.”

“[When booking a band] I try to look for any talent at all and decent songs that give me a good idea of what the band is about,” said Millman.

If the music gets too intense or the wait between sets too long, visitors can retreat to the back room to play a game of pool or to chat with friends over a drink, provided they are over 21.

T.T.’s is open to all ID-carrying patrons over the age of 18, but attracts the bulk of its customers from the 21-35 crowd. With its purple walls, decorative gargoyles and city silhouette stage backdrop, the club is as nice to look at as it is snug.

“[TT’s] is not your typical dirty rock club with lots of stickers on the walls. It’s very pretty,” said Millman. “It’s funky.”

Recent renovations replaced an ugly gray ceiling with one that more aesthetically pleasing, as well as higher. Although Millman says the main motivation behind the renovation was to make the club look nicer, it has the added advantage of presenting less of a danger to wayward guitars.