Can Eclipse rise again?

Standing outside with the smokers between bands at Eclipse Records last Friday night, 24-year-old friends Laura Smith and Sheryl Posthumus remembered what the St. Paul record store meant to them when they were still underage.

"It was kind of a gateway into the music world for us," said Posthumus.

Smith had a less meaningful but no less important memory of those days: "It was just somewhere to go."

Four years since it last hosted a band, and a year since it reopened in its new home at 1922 W. University Av., Eclipse finally got back in the live music business last weekend. It has shows booked Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from here on out, bringing a much-needed all-ages music venue into the city(ies).

Hopefully, a whole new generation of younglings will be introduced to the joys of going out and seeing local bands -- or at least a few kids might stay out of trouble.

I say hopefully because, even as Eclipse had excellent bands and a new stage and even an actual sound engineer lined up last weekend (the old place never had a sound man!), the one thing the store didn't have much of was customers under age 21.

"We're going to have to reintroduce ourselves to a whole new audience of underage fans," admitted Eclipse co-owner Joe Furth, who was working the as-yet handle-less door to the still-under-construction venue inside his store.

The new location remedies the old problems. It's in a mostly residential-free business area. It has plenty of street parking. It has ample soundproofing (it's essentially a rock venue inside a record store, with twice the walls). And it even has the support of City Hall. The city of St. Paul gave Eclipse a STAR grant to get up and rocking again, and Mayor Chris Coleman has pledged his continued support.

"We're all really excited about Eclipse," said Joe Spencer, the mayor's arts and culture policy associate. "For young people, it's a place that's authentic -- the kind of place where I wanted to hang out when I was a kid, and I'd like my kids to hang out there."

St. Paul and Minneapolis need all-ages venues like Tom Cruise needs Oprah. Since Eclipse closed, Minneapolis lost TC Underground, the Toybox and the Quest's Ascot Room. The lack of underage venues spawned a boom in (illegal) basement shows, causing more problems with noise complaints and underage drinking.

"Most of the clubs would love to do more all-ages shows, but in these hard times it's hard to host them," said Triple Rock staffer Kermit Carter, whose band Superhopper rocked Eclipse last Friday. "We're excited as all get up that Eclipse is back. In theory, we can scare up some new fans here who can't see us anywhere else."

Carter and the other musicians seemed pleasantly surprised by Eclipse's new space. It's a long, 150-or-so-capacity room with a 400 Bar-sized stage, some curtains for sound cushioning and a color scheme that should feel comfortable to any First Ave patron (yep, all black).

Of course, they're doing all this while also running the record store, which hasn't exactly brought in riches to funnel into construction. I spent $20 on a couple of used CDs and two vinyl LPs between bands last weekend. Not bad, and Furth pointed out I probably would've spent that much on beer at another venue (thanks for regularly reading my column, Joe).

"Retail 101 says the best thing to do is to get people through the door," he said. "Hopefully, this will do that."

Hopefully, that and a lot more.

Thinking outside the box Besides all-ages venues, Minneapolis could use more outdoor music spaces. To that end, the Cabooze will erect a stage outside in its parking lot area for a couple upcoming gigs: The Built to Spill-led Finnegan's ShamRock fest June 7 and wild gypsy rockers Gogol Bordello's June 12 date.

"I'm tired of watching bands go to outstate festivals or the zoo in June, July and August because they can't find anywhere to play outdoors here in the city," said Cabooze booker James (Taco) Martin, who hopes to do more outdoor shows throughout the summer, if city regulators permit. Here's hoping they do. If nothing else, I can't wait to see what all those bikers next door at the Joint and Whiskey Junction think of Gogol.

Stellar solo debut The dissolution of his old band, Over/Under, apparently pushed singer/songwriter Nick Africano to do a little soul-searching -- as in blue-eyed, low-down, all-acoustic soul, which is all over his first solo CD, "I've Ever Desired." Recorded with his old bandmates at Flowers Studio before they went separate ways, the disc has an all-or-nothing spirit and an all-in-one-room sound that perfectly complements Africano's poetic, emotional style, whether it's the Ray LaMontagne-like "Meet Me Where It's Raining" or the haunting solo epic "Ha Ha Ha." His CD party is tonight at the 400 Bar (8 p.m., $5).

John Swardson also deserves more recognition for the second album by his country-ish rock band Get Gone, "Silver Dust," which they're touting Thursday at 7th Street Entry with Stook! and the Evening Rig (9 p.m., $6). Swardson's not much of a singer, but I'd rate him one of the best new Springsteen- and Westerberg-copping songwriters in town. He and fellow guitarist Layne Soderberg (ex-Houston, Spittin' Cobras) also pull off some blistering Crazy Horse jams.

Random mix Just as First Ave has lived on without longtime manager Steve McClellan, the Cedar Cultural Center will try to get along without Bill Kubeczko. The Cedar's executive director for 15-plus years turned in his resignation. Kubeczko had already taken a step back last year to become artistic director as a new boss, Rykodisc co-founder Rob Simonds, took over. Thanks for all the good work running the nonprofit venue, Bill. ...

Afrifest, which McClellan helped inaugurate last year, has been moved to a hopefully less rainy weekend for its second year, Aug. 12-14. Organizers are currently seeking sponsors (touting the 70,000 sub-Saharan immigrants in town). ...

Hibbing hosts its Dylan Days fest next weekend, culminating in a May 24 concert on Dylan's 67th birthday with Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Spider John Koerner and Tony Glover. More info at DylanDays.com. Here in Minneapolis, the 400 Bar will endure another Dylan Soundalike Contest next Friday. ...