The swimming pool in the basement of the Rave / Eagle's Ballroom is a long-time curiosity for many, only a handful of whom have actually been able to experience it. Musician Laura Jane Grace, founder, lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the punk rock band Against Me!, got to check it out last year while gigging in the historic venue and the experience had such a creepy impression on her that she wrote a song about it.

"Swimming Pool" is the first song on Grace's surprise album, "Stay Alive," which she recorded with Steve Albini as a way to cope with the pandemic. Rolling Stone magazine recently picked up the story and writes, "That track specifically was inspired by an actual haunted swimming pool in the basement of a Wisconsin venue called the Rave." Read the whole article here.

I am a haunted swimming pool
I am emptied out and drained
My capacity remains unchanged

The wonderful, raw record in its entirety is available here. Grace recently released this video for "Swimming Pool," which unfortunately was not filmed in the Rave pool, but it's a wonderfully creepy slasher film short.

I had the opp a few years ago – with OnMilwaukee's Carolynn Buser – to check out this clandestine space that's been the source of rumors for decades. And if you want to read more about underground swimming pools, check this out.