Downtown Living - Here's hoping new Ziggy's will rock again

"I love you," she said before hanging up. "But you'd better not be at Ziggy's."

During my freshman year at Wake Forest University, my mother spent more time talking to my answering machine than she did to me, probably because I spent more time standing on the sticky floor of that Baity Street club than I did in my microwave-sized dorm room. On more than one evening — or, if we're being honest — for more than one semester, I abandoned my half-hearted attempts at conjugating Italian verbs in favor of seeing an endless lineup of bands whose songs are now featured on those "HITZ OF THE NINETIES" CD collections.

I couldn't believe that there was a club like Ziggy's within a couple of stoplights from the campus. I grew up in an unincorporated town two states away, one where the radio stations considered decade-old Def Leppard records to be cutting edge music. "Love Bites"? Yeah, so does your playlist, Mister DJ. After a late-to-arrive cable update finally brought us MTV, I realized everything my ears had been missing. (Kids, kiss your Internet before you go to bed tonight and realize that Middle School Me would've hated you so much.)

When I walked onto Wake's Quad and saw posters for an upcoming Squirrel Nut Zippers concert, I just about dropped my complimentary "Thanks for Opening an On-Campus Checking Account" soft sided cooler. That was my first show, followed immediately by Smashmouth, OMC (you know, they did "How Bizarre." And "How Bizarre (Extended Mix)." And "How Bizarre (Abercrombie Dressing Room Dance Version"). That year I collected paper ticket stubs more than I collected anything other than acne cream and "No, but you have a great personality"-style dating failures.

My parents — who lived on, like, Grade-Z beef and Puppy Chow so I could have a private school education — would be horrified to know that the majority of my favorite college memories started with a bouncer inking both of my hands with an X-for-Underage and end with me shouting "WHAT? WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU" into the ear of whichever classmate had a car big enough to drive half of Johnson Hall to hear the Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

I had one of my first (legal) beers standing at the worn wooden bar. I did shots with a now-forgotten lead guitarist in the upper level lounge. And I learned how to conjugate A LOT of English verbs by reading the stalls in the ladies' room. (Who know you could use that word as an adverb? I applaud you, poet laureate of profanity).

I was well out of school by the time Ziggy's closed in 2007. Even though I hadn't been there in several years, it still stung like a splinter from one of their railings. Rumors of their reopening came and went often enough that I started ignoring them, but now, after almost four years, they're back, they're back, they're finally back!

The All New Ziggy's will open on Friday, barring any last-minute complications. Their original re-opening date had been scheduled for July 29, but was pushed back because of a co-owner's illness and construction delays, which means that the always-riveting Gillian Welch will be performing at the Millennium Center tonight instead of on Ziggy's brand new stage.

As for the weekend, Friday's opening show will feature the reunion of local band Codeseven, who haven't played in Winston-Salem in almost six years. They were a hot ticket in the late '90s, though, trust me. On Saturday the club will host a battle of the bands before closing on Sunday so workers can finish the floors. BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! They'll re-re-open on Wednesday for a show by up-and-comers Dawes, whose music sounds like it was mailed from Laurel Canyon, Calif., circa 1974.

Beyond that, their schedule includes shows by Shawn "Sunny Came Home" Colvin (Aug. 14), hard livin' country singer (and eight-time Grammy nominee) Jamey Johnson (next Thursday) and Cowboy Mouth (Sept. 11), the eternally overworked Nawlins band whose songs grabbed me by the soul on Baity Street almost 15 years ago.

I do hope there's still room for Ziggy's downtown. I hope that it works. And I hope that it's the kind of place that could be as important to some other fledgling music nerds as it was for me.

I may have to become a regular again.

Please don't tell my mother.