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O’Brien’s Pub to re-open next week
Posted by Michael Marotta at 3:19 pm

After about $300,000 in renovations and more than seven months of shutdown time, O’Brien’s Pub is Allston is finally re-opening next week.

City and state inspections for the Harvard Avenue live music venue were completed a few days ago, according to booking agent Carl Lavin, and the venue’s employees are currently restocking the bar and connecting the sound equipment.

Lavin said O’Brien’s will be open for business “no latter than Wednesday,” and the first show goes down Friday night.

Junius and Irrepress will headline the first live show at O’Brien’s since it shut down Nov. 15.

The new O’Brien’s is a far cry from the famed dive bar that was home to much of the city’s underground punk and metal shows. And as urban legend would have it, at one point in the club’s smelly history one patron even dropped a deuce on the floor in front of the stage.

But the recent renovations brought a new bar, stage, restrooms and vastly improved sound system, not to mention improved sightlines to the stage and bar stools with backs.

The brand spankin’ new interior, cast in copper and plum and complete with two 37-inch plasma televisions, may suggest a new era for O’Brien’s. But Lavin said the club will continue to house the underground and alternative music formats that made the venue infamous.

“Everyone loved O’Brien’s and respected what went on inside it, so we just wanted to create a more comfortable atmosphere,” he said. “We’re going to continue to serve the community.”

With that, Lavin isn’t worried that some of O’Brien’s patrons might be turned off by the new look.

“It doesn’t have that same gritty charm, but on the whole it doesn’t smell like a bathroom,” Lavin said. “If the punk community wanted to embrace the old O’Brien’s, they would host more shows in port-o-potties.”

Check www.obrienspubboston.com next week for live schedules and other updates.