Local Location in Review: Muse Music Café

For a while now I’ve wanted to write up a review of Muse Music.  As a member of Electron Deception now, as well as previous bands in the past, I’ve spent a handful of nights on the stage at Muse.  More importantly, however, I keep going back as an audience member and café patron.  The atmosphere is gritty and rock and roll, and the people who work there are among the coolest members of the local music scene.  There’s also really good food and innovative community events.  In other words, Muse Music is one of Provo’s most valuable treasures. 

 

Food: Muse Music has been a staple of Provo’s music scene for a long time, but in recent years owners Jake and Melissa Haws converted the front half of the space from a record store to a full fledged café.  The menu fluctuates somewhat: there used to be soups and other assorted items, but today they mostly just serve sandwiches and snacks.  Still, the current offerings illustrate well the old cliché “only the strong will survive.”  I’d recommend the Ultimate Grilled Cheese.  I know, you can make a grilled cheese sandwich at your house, but you can’t make this sandwich at your house.  I was skeptical at first too but now I’m hooked.  The Turkey Pesto is a close second.  There’s also a wide array of Italian Sodas. I’m not actually a huge fan of Italian Soda generally, but these ones are as good as any I’ve tried elsewhere, so if that’s your thing, go for it. 

 

Atmosphere: One of the best parts about Muse Music is the way they’ve partitioned their space.  You can treat it as a restaurant, a music venue, or some combination of both.  If you’re not into local bands go pick up some food in the early evening and there’ll be a quiet cafe ambiance; if you want to feel like your in the thick of things, go later (they’re usually open late because of shows).  One of my favorite things to do is to go see a band I like but when it gets too loud move to the café where I can still hear the music but it’s quiet enough to have a conversation.  Also, check the calendar for special events.  All summer they’ve been doing movie screenings on Monday nights and there are frequently acoustic nights, jazz nights, and free open mic nights.  (Keep in mind that if you go to something free at Muse Music, it doesn’t hurt to buy a drink or something.  That’s how they stay in business and pay the rent.  Don’t mooch, it’s lame and if people don’t buy stuff obviously businesses go away.) 

 

Service: The service at Muse Music is what I’d call “local.”  That means that you might have to wait for the person taking concert admission money to finish and come make your sandwich, and that nothing operates with the slick efficiency of a franchise business.  I think these things actually make the place more personable and charming, but if you’re expecting generic fast food (or if you’re just a jerk), you might be let down.  In the end, the up side of “local” service is that if you go in a bunch, you’ll be remembered; if your friendly, you might have an interesting conversation with the person on the other side of the counter; if you hang out for a bit you might see some cool art or discover a new local band.  Ultimately, Jake and Melissa are among the nicest, coolest people I’ve met and it seems like they hire people who take after them.

 

Whether you’re into local music or not, Muse Music is a great place to hang out, eat, and participate in local culture.  It provides (much needed) continuity to the rapidly changing downtown area and, if you aren’t careful, it might make you start to fall in love with Provo.

Local Location in Review: State Street in Orem

State Street in Orem is probably one of the ugliest places on Earth.  Or at least in Utah.  Despite recent efforts in many Utah cities to revitalize, Orem seems to be using State Street as a way to actively drive people away. 

 

State Street is lined with a lethal cocktail of seedy businesses, rundown buildings, and baffling congestion—all of which continue mile after mile.  Things like second-hand car stereo venders, a run down used vacuum store, nameless motels, unfinished construction, and seemingly innumerable used car dealerships would probably be bad enough.  Compounding the problem, however, is a massive seven lane road (including the center turn lane) with lights that have apparently been synchronized to ensure that people hit every red.  It’s almost as if the city was trying to flaunt their lack of interest in beautification. 

 

I’ve seen many ugly streets before, but what’s most troubling about State Street is the fact that it just keeps getting worse.  For years I’d been surprised at the random mix of dilapidated businesses.  Then, a few years ago two enormous buildings began construction.  At first I was excited by this development; if the buildings were oddly out of place, they at least represented an effort to bring something new and interesting to Orem.  Their mix of residential and commercial space also hinted at an exciting experiment in New Urban-esque development.  Of course, however, construction stalled and nothing has happened for well over a year.  Though there is an excellent pizzeria in one of them, neither of these buildings look finished and there seems to be no sign that they ever will be.  Just when I thought State Street couldn’t get any worse, it became home to two monolithic trash heaps. 

 

While State Street actually includes a surprising number of excellent businesses (like the nationally recognized Scooter Lounge and the Orem Library) many of these places are hard to find or lost altogether in the mix of nefarious-looking stores and flashing lights.  Seriously, things like huge jumbo-trons look tasteless in most places but in Orem they’re just plain trashy. 

 

If the recent financial meltdown wasn’t enough to show us the dangers of unregulated business, State Street in Orem should provide conclusive evidence.  Whatever or whoever allowed anyone to do anything they wanted on the street should be subjected to a rapid and relentless referendum (I don’t expect that to happen, but it should and I hope it does).  If Orem wants to live up to its self-declaired title of “Family City U.S.A.” something needs to change.  Otherwise it might be time to consider a more accurate name, like “Meth Lab City U.S.A.”