Last year, I lamented the loss of nostalgia that came with the closing of Pulp 716. In an era where the concept of the Third Place is becoming increasingly hard to come by, the loss of Pulp was jarring.

It would have been worse for me if it wasn’t for the fact I had already found another Third Place: Daredevil Records.

Daredevil Records seemed too good to be true from the moment it opened. The concept of a record store and listening lounge on Niagara Street, right in the middle of the tourist district, was surreal.

Now, it’s true that vinyl is back in vogue. The idea of physically owning music in an era of streaming seems to be flipping all of the right switches in Gen Z and Millennials.

That doesn’t mean that opening a record store in a zone with zero non-souvenir stores made any sense to anybody in the entire area outside of Daredevil’s owner.

Then again, the record store was always a front.

Daredevil Records was never really a record store.

Jess, the Gen-X owner of this little record store on Niagara Street, is an interesting character. She drives a black and white Smart Car, worked some of the most insane concert stints the 90s could offer, and is the only person who will ever make a popped collar on a polo shirt look cool. She managed to snag a tavern license for her store, turning it into what I can only describe as a speakeasy in plain sight.

June of 2023 was where the spark really took off. Niagara Pride was hosting its first-ever Rainbow City event on Old Falls Street, and Daredevil decided to throw a drag show afterparty.

This was (surprisingly) the first drag show I ever saw. I’ve now probably seen about a half-dozen drag performances, and every single one was at Daredevil Records.

From this moment on, Daredevil became a community space. a true Third Place in Niagara Falls. The constant stream of events, which varied wildly from Jimmy Buffet memorial night to slam poetry sessions, kept people coming in. I even spent New Year’s Eve at Daredevil with my partner, where the entire crew walked to the Hyatt in the freezing cold to see the fireworks at midnight.

This little hole in the wall on Niagara Street was the only place I’ve ever seen overseas tourists, college students, city firemen, politicians, journalists, drag queens, realtors, and Dungeons & Dragons aficionados exist in the exact same space. Daredevil was the place the bar owners on Third Street snuck away to on their breaks, and tour guides ducked into between shifts. It was where the politics of the day and the gossip of the hour was hashed out. The entirety of Niagara, for a brief moment, was united.

But brief it was.

On June 26th, I received a text from a friend. It contained only a screenshot of Daredevil Record’s Facebook story. It was the usual jam-packed calendar of events, topped with a single caption:

THE CLOSING WEEK AT DAREDEVIL RECORDS

Daredevil’s last day would be June 30th, which poetically aligned with the second-annual Rainbow City Pride. Their last two events would be a drag show on Saturday, and an all-day concert Sunday. Jess and company would party until every last thing in the shop was sold.

For one last weekend, the whole of Niagara came out. Daredevil received the sendoff that, although premature, encapsulated every last memory made in its walls.

Then, it was July 1st.

The spectacular moment that was Daredevil Records was over.

The beginning of Daredevil came at a time when I needed it most. I had just moved to an apartment in North Tonawanda after having lived my entire life in Niagara Falls, and having a place to go after work that was so tied to Niagara helped make it easier.

The end of Daredevil, weirdly enough, came as I was closing on my forever home in Niagara Falls.

Jess seems to be doing alright. She took the time after closing Daredevil to visit the last five states on her list, and the Daredevil Records Instagram followed her along for the ride.

As for what her next move is, I guess we’ll wait and see.

-Sheepie ❤