This Friday, at the Rex Bar in the Fitger’s Complex – roughly 60 hours from now, maybe more, depending on where SuddendEATH is – Bone Appetit will play its last show ever. Bone Appetit: Duluth’s Worst, then Sexiest, then Greatest Band, forever laid to rest after over a decade of service to you, the citizens of Duluth. As of last glance, there are 85 confirmed guests for this show, which [using mathematical extrapolation, as well as consulting my trick knee] means the room will be filled well beyond the fire marshal’s stated capacity.

As we all know, Homegrown is a festival designed to celebrate Bone Appetit. We’ve witnessed Bone Appetit winning every Homegrown Title they’ve contended, and even some contests which they’re not eligible for. Who can forget such musical luminaries as Alan Sparhawk, Scott “Starfire” Lunt, Mike Wilson and Frank Nichols … well, and a lot of real musicians … as they clamored onto RT Quinlan’s stage in 2006, anxious and hoping some of that “Bone Appetit magic” might rub off onto them? Need I remind you that Retribution Gospel Choir was a mere glimmer in Sparhawk’s eyes until after that fateful May night?

We’re all familiar with dramatic structure, aren’t we? [Bear with me here; this sort of makes sense.] If we look at Freytag’s analysis of dramatic structure, we begin with exposition – basically, there have been a lot of bands that have played since Sunday, and more still to play through Thursday night. Rising action will be represented Friday at Rex by Bradical Boombox, Hotel Coral Essex and Cars & Trucks – Bone Appetit-approved bands/friends/ “adversaries” who will vie for your attention and/or inspire you to get too drunk/deaf to fully experience such musical journeys as “Blood” and “Fight to Kill.” Dramatically, the climax is, of course, Bone Appetit actually taking stage at 12:45am and playing their last show ever. Falling action and dénouement – well, those will just be the rest of Homegrown/your life.

I’ve done some ridiculous things to get to Homegrown, from dropping out of college (2002) to skipping one-third of a highly-important work assignment and driving 680 miles at night (May 6-7, 2010). It takes a big, awesome show to get me to do something this stupid. [Reader’s note: please do not feel obligated to comment on this.] Remember the time Richie Gunns thought about buying you a beer? When Double-Barrel would have given you a ride home, had you asked/lived in Seattle? When SuddendEATH and Hot Rod didn’t destroy your house after crashing your after-bar? When Jizzy Young coached your soccer team? I think you owe them, and yourself, one. It’s on you.