Outhouse, Underground music venue in Lawrence, United States
The Outhouse was a music venue in a plain concrete building with cinder block walls and concrete floors, located about 4 miles (6 km) east of Lawrence on 15th Street. The space had no frills: a basic stage, open floor, and bare walls that gave every show a raw, direct feel.
The venue started in 1985 when musicians from the local band The Micronotz built a stage inside an abandoned schoolhouse. It stayed open until 1998, shaping the regional punk and independent music scene during those years.
Bands like Nirvana, Green Day, and Tool played here before many of them became widely known. Crowds came from far away because the place was seen as an honest space for independent music.
Because the Outhouse sat outside the city limits, visitors needed to arrange their own transport well in advance, as public options in that area were limited. The venue no longer operates today, but the site along 15th Street east of Lawrence is still of interest to those curious about the local music history.
The concrete floor and bare walls meant there was almost nothing between the crowd and the performers, which made shows feel unusually direct. Some of the bands who played on that bare stage went on to fill the largest arenas in the world within just a few years.
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