Salt Lake City music fans talk about the good old days of Bricks — aka In the Venue and Club Sound — before its planned demolition

Bricks was such a rundown, ramshackle joint that when a Hollywood movie was made there, they put a neon sign out front that said “Dive Bar” — and it seemed completely in character.

Music fans loved Bricks — later called In the Venue and Club Sound — as a dark, spacious place to see acts just before they hit the big time. For Salt Lake City’s LGBTQ community, Bricks was an 18-and-older gay dance club in a town that didn’t offer a lot of options for gay kids under 21.

The building will soon be demolished, making way for an apartment building in a downtown that everyone agrees needs affordable housing. That didn’t stop people — including two local politicians — from getting a little nostalgic about the old place.

Read their recollections, and enjoy the amazing photos of Bricks shows from Salt Lake Tribune photographers Rick Egan and Trent Nelson, at sltrib.com.