{"id":1688347,"date":"2021-04-05T16:26:52","date_gmt":"2021-04-05T13:26:52","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2021-04-05T16:26:52","modified_gmt":"2021-04-05T13:26:52","slug":"36-of-the-best-live-music-venues-on-surviving-and-whats-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1688347","title":{"rendered":"36 of the Best Live Music Venues on Surviving and What\u2019s Next"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Longform<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

36 of America\u2019s Best Independent Music Venues on Surviving and What\u2019s Next<\/h1>\n
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One year after their stages went dark, live music workers from across the country talk about what makes their spaces so important and how you can help them.<\/div>\n
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By <\/span>Pitchfork<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

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Graphics by Drew Litowitz, photos by Kirsten Thoen, Tom Farr, Elena de Soto, Mike White, Travis Trautt, Nathaniel Shannon, Tariq Aziz, John Shore, Christopher Collins, Rde Give, Sam Battaglieri, First Avenue, Pappy + Harriet\u2019s, and Songbyrd Music House<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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It\u2019s been so long since most of us have been to a live show that even the scuzziest black hole of a bathroom sounds inviting right now. Musicians, ever-resourceful, have found workarounds during the pandemic with livestreams and distanced outdoor concerts, but the spaces themselves are important. Maybe it\u2019s the community of listeners you find there, or the booker whose taste you trust enough to show up without even checking who\u2019s playing. Maybe it\u2019s the impeccable live sound, or the bartender\u2019s heavy pour, or the raggedly charming atmosphere that would send less dedicated patrons out the door.<\/p>\n

Live music as we know it would not exist without these weird, wonderful places and the tireless people who operate them. But as businesses that depend on being able to pack lots of people together into the same room, scrappy smaller venues have faced a particularly difficult path through the pandemic, and may have many more months of hardship ahead thanks to unpredictable reopening rules and unreliable government assistance. With all that in mind, we talked to the owners, bookers, and managers of 36 of America\u2019s greatest independent music venues\u2014from Brooklyn\u2019s inclusive dance destination House of Yes to Berkeley\u2019s DIY punk haven 924 Gilman\u2014to see how they\u2019ve coped over the past year, what they remember most fondly about pre-pandemic concerts, and what audiences can do to help.<\/p>\n

Check out more of Pitchfork\u2019s celebration of the past, present, and future of live music here.<\/p>\n

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TABLE OF CONTENTS<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Northeast<\/strong>|<\/strong>Southeast<\/strong>|<\/strong>Midwest<\/strong>|<\/strong>Southwest<\/strong>|<\/strong>West<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Northeast<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Jump to: Saint Vitus | House of Yes | Baby\u2019s All Right | S.O.B.\u2019s | Minton\u2019s Playhouse | 9:30 Club | Songbyrd Music House | Johnny Brenda\u2019s | Great Scott | The Crown<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Graphic by Drew Litowitz, photos by Kirsten Thoen, John Shore, Nathaniel Shannon, Christos Katsiaouni, and Scott Troyan<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Saint Vitus<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Brooklyn, New York<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 250
Established:<\/strong> 2011
Best Known For:<\/strong> All strands of dark and left-of-center music<\/p>\n

By Sam Sodomsky<\/em><\/p>\n

Arty Shepherd and George Souleidis, co-founders of the beloved Brooklyn metal venue Saint Vitus, became friends when they started singing along to an obscure song by Swedish guitar legend Yngwie Malmsteen at their day job. Along with third co-founder\u2014Shepherd\u2019s childhood friend and Primitive Weapons bandmate Justin Scurti\u2014they established Saint Vitus as a space where people could join together under the healing power of heavy music.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always used to say we live on the darker side of town,\u201d Shepherd says of their shared vision. And indeed, from its all-black design to the vintage memorabilia displayed behind the bar\u2014much of it from Shepherd\u2019s personal collection and childhood bedroom\u2014Saint Vitus has brought that vision to life. Over the past decade, they\u2019ve hosted the first New York shows by breakthrough acts like Deafheaven and Pallbearer while also seeing appearances from legends, including Black Sabbath\u2019s Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler, Megadeth, and, of course, their namesake band Saint Vitus. The legend spread fast: When Dave Grohl was looking for a New York stage for 2014\u2019s surprise Nirvana reunion show after their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, the choice seemed obvious.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shepherd says he\u2019s as excited as anyone for Saint Vitus\u2019s eventual comeback: \u201cWhen we got closed, I fucking cried. When we reopen, I\u2019m gonna be a fucking mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Samiam<\/span><\/div>\n
Samiam at Saint Vitus in 2012. Photo by Nathaniel Shannon.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
How would you characterize the vibe of Saint Vitus?<\/div>\n

Arty Shepherd:<\/strong> Something just clicked about the space itself. You walk in and there\u2019s a mood to it. It is a living, breathing thing. That created an emotional connection in a lot of people\u2019s brains. There\u2019s something cool about it\u2014right from us not having a sign outside\u2014you feel like it\u2019s yours, like you\u2019re discovering something. When you see a heavy band there, it just makes sense.<\/p>\n

What were some of your favorite Saint Vitus shows?<\/div>\n

Any time that Sannhet would play\u2014because we were friends and I saw them get better and better. But mostly, I have favorite shows of watching other<\/em> people have the best night of their life. When the Descendents played [a surprise set in 2012], the amount of people who came up and thanked me, saying it was the greatest night of their life, that\u2019s the thing I got addicted to: being a voyeur of people having a great time, knowing that we provided this space. We made it safe. We made it cool. Everybody is working together, and I\u2019m a more-the-merrier type person: Let\u2019s build a scene because we\u2019re all gonna benefit from it\u2014and the music\u2019s gonna benefit, which is the most important part.<\/p>\n

I always wondered about the mannequin with the corpse paint in the back of the venue. Where did he come from? And does he have a name?<\/div>\n

His name is Gunther. We figured Iron Maiden has Eddie, Megadeth has Vic, so we\u2019ll have Gunther! I bought him at the Thing, that junk store down the block, with the intention of displaying our shirt on him. George had the idea to put on the King Diamond makeup, and I put him in my old jeans and a Vitus shirt and eventually a Vitus sweatshirt\u2014which people always try to steal. We had to tie him up really tight! But he fit right in that little space. That thing creeps people out so bad. It\u2019s really dark in there, even during the day, because there are no windows. So if someone walks in while we\u2019re just hanging out, they think someone\u2019s standing there. I\u2019ve seen so many people jump out of their skin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Saint Vitus:<\/strong> Buy some killer merch<\/p>\n

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\"Gunter<\/span><\/div>\n
Gunter, the Saint Vitus Bar mascot. Photo by Nathaniel Shannon.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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House of Yes<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Brooklyn, New York<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 500
Established:<\/strong> 2016
Best Known For:<\/strong> Creative club nights and you-had-to-be-there performances<\/p>\n

By Eric Torres<\/em><\/p>\n

During this year\u2019s Super Bowl Halftime Show, the owners of House of Yes noticed that people were tagging the venue on Instagram. As clips of a bewildered Weeknd stumbling through a golden hall of mirrors went viral, New Yorkers had been reminded of something: trying to find a free stall in House of Yes\u2019s gender-neutral, selfie-magnet bathroom whose walls are adorned with similar gilded mirrors. \u201cEverybody was like, \u2018When I’m looking for my friends at House of Yes at 2 a.m.,\u2019\u201d says the club\u2019s marketing and cultural director Jacqui Rabkin.<\/p>\n

The detailed, handcrafted facilities are just one glittering part of what, before lockdown, brought locals and visitors alike to House of Yes. Since its founding as an artist collective in 2007, it\u2019s occupied three different buildings and today stands in a high-ceilinged warehouse in Bushwick. The venue\u2019s experiential, anything-goes approach to programming has made it a haven for artists and performers of every stripe: a drag event, circus variety show, and all-night dance party could all rub shoulders on one hectic evening. The inclusive vibe and legendary parties have established House of Yes as a fixture of Brooklyn nightlife.<\/p>\n

What sums up the essence of House of Yes in your mind?<\/div>\n

Jacqui Rabkin:<\/strong> House of Yes is such a powerful place because it really is a collective of ideas and experiences, even down to the ownership structure. It\u2019s all about the audience, it\u2019s all about dancing, it\u2019s all about the music\u2014and it\u2019s not even about who\u2019s on stage.<\/p>\n

David Kiss (Digital Event Producer):<\/strong> Honestly, the DJ is not the focal point\u2014the experience is. We\u2019ve had some pretty big DJs and performers, but I think a lot of people who come to House of Yes on a typical Saturday night may not even know who\u2019s DJing. They\u2019re just there because they want to go to House of Yes.<\/p>\n

Besides the bathroom mirrors, what\u2019s your favorite part of the design?<\/div>\n

Kae Burke (Co-owner):<\/strong> The real mascot is this polar bear, the Bear of Yes, that has always been in the venue and part of the party. It\u2019s a giant, life-size bear. It came from Materials for the Arts, where it probably came from some window display or corporate event from years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rabkin: There are also these giant eyeballs when you enter the front room that are definitely a fan favorite. They\u2019re these giant globes, and they light up on the inside and blink, but the blinking is never synchronized. They were a prop built for a fashion show that happened at House of Yes, and they were just gonna throw them out after. The designer happened to be connected to a staff member, and they asked if we\u2019d like it.<\/p>\n

What has the day-to-day been like at House of Yes since COVID-19?<\/div>\n

Burke: Inside the venue, we\u2019re doing whatever we can that\u2019s still creative and allowed, like film and photo shoots. We\u2019re doing a lot of digital programming. We have really grown our online presence into an interactive, creative engagement with people that are down for House of Yes. We do digital dance parties with aerialists and drag queens where there\u2019s an opportunity to donate, and all those donations go to the performers. People can have a slice of what House of Yes used to be in digital form.<\/p>\n

Rabkin: We also have a fully functioning kitchen that we\u2019ve been able to use, so we have a program where they make food in our kitchen, and we\u2019re giving food out. We\u2019ve done a few holiday markets as well. Markets are not lucrative, like, at all\u2014it\u2019s more about using our space for local creators and community members. We\u2019re really just using every space for whatever creative thing we can think of.<\/p>\n

How to support House of Yes:<\/strong> Attend virtual events or donate directly through Patreon<\/p>\n

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Baby\u2019s All Right<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Brooklyn, New York<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 280
Established:<\/strong> 2013
Best Known For:<\/strong> Small-space intimacy and cool-kid nightlife<\/p>\n

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\"Amyl<\/span><\/div>\n
Amyl & the Sniffers at Baby\u2019s All Right in 2018. Photo by Kirsten Thoen.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

By Quinn Moreland<\/em><\/p>\n

From the neon rooftop sign that proclaims \u201cALL RIGHT\u201d to its stage backdrop made of glass ashtrays, the booths topped with crocodile sconces, and funky 1970s wallpaper, Baby\u2019s All Right is stuffed with character. The Williamsburg venue is \u201cnot a nose-in-the-air kind of place. Anyone can feel comfortable there,\u201d says co-owner and music director Billy Jones. The programming reflects this attitude: over the past eight years, Baby\u2019s has hosted everyone from the Raconteurs to Vagabon, with plenty of Drake and Rihanna-themed dance parties in between. On a typical pre-pandemic Saturday, one could spend all day there, beginning with a boozy brunch and ending with a midnight DJ set fueled by the venue\u2019s signature Pink Baby mate slushies. Since shutting down, Baby\u2019s has helped local bands by allowing them to use the space for practice or photoshoots. Its biggest undertaking has been BABY TV, a sliding-scale streaming site that broadcasts live shows with proceeds going to artists, the venue and its staff, and Make the Road NY.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most popular part of Baby\u2019s All Right\u2019s decor?<\/div>\n

Billy Jones:<\/strong> It’s definitely the lights. Instagram was starting to become a thing around the time that we opened, and I don\u2019t think we realized how much of an impact images of that wall would have on social media. It\u2019s made out of ashtrays. Sonically it was just a terrible idea; it took a long time to make it sound good. I was sick of it right away, but it carried the message to the world pretty fast.<\/p>\n

A lot of TV shows have filmed at Baby\u2019s, right?<\/div>\n

The one with the firemen and Denis Leary [Rescue Me<\/em>] and Girls<\/em>. Master of None<\/em> shot an entire episode at Baby\u2019s, the whole episode was about how Aziz Ansari had a ticket to a Father John Misty secret show at Baby\u2019s All Right. They really nailed it, it\u2019s pitch-perfect for what goes on there, from the lighting to the music to the dialogue.<\/p>\n

Which shows have been most memorable?<\/div>\n

One concert that meant a lot to me was Hailu Mergia, the Ethiopian jazz pianist. It was the first time that The New York Times<\/em> came to do a review. Adrian Grenier and Heather Graham were there, dancing in the front. It was exactly what I had envisioned, recontextualizing this sort of older music in this young space. Then, out of nowhere, the fire alarm went off and the entire PA shut off. It was dark, and there was no sound, but the rhythm section just kept playing to the fire alarm. The review ended up playing into that, and it felt really special. Pharoah Sanders is another favorite. At one point he started chanting a call-and-response to the crowd: \u201cMy baby\u2019s all right, my baby\u2019s all right! All right! All right!\u201d It was on our answering machine for a while. He\u2019s played at B.B. King\u2019s a lot, but to have him at this space with all these heads being like \u201cThis is the coolest thing that\u2019s ever happened\u201d was a really special moment that was exactly what I wanted to try and do with Baby\u2019s in the first place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Baby\u2019s All Right:<\/strong> Donate here.<\/p>\n

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S.O.B.\u2019s<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

New York, New York<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 400
Established:<\/strong> 1982
Best Known For:<\/strong> Showcasing rap stars of tomorrow<\/p>\n

By Isabelia Herrera<\/em><\/p>\n

For decades, you knew you were having a good night in New York City if you landed at S.O.B.\u2019s. Maybe you hit up a GHE20GOTH1K party, sweating until 4 a.m. alongside club kids, hypebeasts, or someone from the House of LaBeija doing an effortless death drop. If you got lucky, you might have even caught a set from some baby-faced hip-hop star in the making, likely playing their first sold-out show in the city. A packed gig at the downtown Manhattan venue has become a career-defining milestone: Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, and dozens of other rappers have counted S.O.B.\u2019s shows as milestones on their ascents to fame.<\/p>\n

But long before it was a hip-hop mecca, S.O.B.\u2019s\u2014aka Sounds of Brazil\u2014was breaking ground in other ways: It was a catalyst for artists across the African diaspora. Founded in 1982 by owner Larry Gold, the venue was originally a Brazilian dance club, but later expanded its focus to showcase the sounds and styles coming out of Haiti, Cuba, Africa, Puerto Rico, and beyond, like bossa nova, salsa, zydeco, Afrobeat, and more. Legends like Celia Cruz and Tito Puente regularly graced the stage in the early \u201980s.<\/p>\n

Describing the locale\u2019s ongoing mission, Gold says, \u201cWe will always bring music from different cultures, different languages, different rhythms to a city that\u2019s known as the music capital of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

What were some of the venue\u2019s most historic shows?<\/div>\n

Larry Gold:<\/strong> One of the star concerts was Fela Kuti\u2019s last U.S. appearance. He brought in risers\u2014it was just a classic show. Fela represented a new genre of music that still lives on today. And the first time I brought artists like Gilberto Gil from Brazil to the U.S. was pretty amazing. The venue started as a Brazilian club, but we realized pretty early on we couldn\u2019t make it just on Brazilian music, so we did a series: Africa Meets Brazil. There was a time when all of these African artists were coming over to the States for the first time, too.<\/p>\n

What did you do when the pandemic first hit last year?<\/div>\n

I laid off my entire staff, including myself. That was a cold, hard decision, but it was the best decision I could have made, because everyone was able to collect unemployment immediately, before it became a tedious ride.<\/p>\n

What are your reopening plans?<\/div>\n

I\u2019m not going to open until we can do at least 75 percent capacity. It is impossible to do so financially; it doesn\u2019t make sense. I do not want to police 100 people to make sure that they\u2019re six feet apart. I\u2019ve taken as many loans as I can get and I\u2019m waiting for a federal grant. Assuming all of that does come through, I plan on doing a brand new opening with a new sound system, new lights, new d\u00e9cor. So S.O.B.\u2019s will be 39 years old, but it will be a new 39.<\/p>\n

After all that time, what do you think is still most special about S.O.B.\u2019s?<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve been doing hip-hop for 30-odd years. Most venues didn\u2019t touch it until the last decade, which I don\u2019t want to go into for different reasons\u2013more political than anything else. But that\u2019s who we are.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support S.O.B.\u2019s:<\/strong> Buy merch and check out their livestreams<\/p>\n

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Minton\u2019s Playhouse<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

New York, New York<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 120
Established:<\/strong> 1938
Best Known For:<\/strong> Arguably, bebop was invented here<\/p>\n

By Hubert Adjei-Kontoh<\/em><\/p>\n

Founded by saxophonist Henry Minton as a place for musicians to grab a meal and relax after shows\u2014at the time, they were allowed to perform clubs but not linger\u2014Minton\u2019s became a testing ground for jazz artists, a place where regulars Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker could put younger players\u2019 feet to the fire. In Miles Davis\u2019s autobiography Miles<\/em>, he calls Minton\u2019s \u201cthe music laboratory for bebop\u201d and says he learned more there than at Juilliard.<\/p>\n

Today, Minton\u2019s still remains a place where one can see both emerging artists and jazz\u2019s leading lights. That diversity can be seen in its pre-pandemic lineup which featured old favorites like Andy Bey and new ones like Vanisha Gould. While the pandemic has forced Minton\u2019s to make changes (shows continue but tickets aren\u2019t allowed to be sold), it seems to be weathering the storm gracefully.<\/p>\n

Who are the most famous artists that have come through this space?<\/div>\n

Raphael Benavides (Owner):<\/strong> Monty Alexander played here. Wynton Marsalis played, and what I like about him is the way that he told stories when he performed; he engaged the audience with stories about a song or a moment that he lived. Cassandra Wilson also performed an amazing concert here as well.<\/p>\n

What is most special about Minton\u2019s?<\/div>\n

The history; the legacy. When you walk into Minton\u2019s, the energy is such that you will get goosebumps\u2014it transports you. You feel as if you\u2019ve gone back in time.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic concert that\u2019s happened here?<\/div>\n

Teddy Hill and Henry Minton created a house band that consisted of Thelonious Monk and Dizzy Gillespie. In the \u201940s, Charlie Parker and Charlie Christian played in that band as well.<\/p>\n

What have you been doing to keep the venue alive since the pandemic?<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve been extremely creative in order to survive. For example, during the pandemic, there was no way to do music inside. So I decided to build a stage on the sidewalk, and so for a year we\u2019ve been doing all our activities outside. To keep it soundproof, we\u2019ve used silent disco headsets. We tweaked them in the way so that sound from the musicians would go from the mixer to the headsets.<\/p>\n

What local bands are you excited to feature onstage once shows are back?<\/div>\n

There is this kid who is up-and-coming who is amazing. His name is Benny Benack III, and Jenn Jade. Oh my god, she\u2019s a total entertainer! There is also this amazing blues guitar player, Solomon Hicks.<\/p>\n

How to support Milton\u2019s Playhouse:<\/strong> Donate to musicians<\/p>\n

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9:30 Club<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Washington, D.C.<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 1,200
Established:<\/strong> 1980
Best Known For:<\/strong> The best staff in the biz<\/p>\n

By Noah Yoo<\/em><\/p>\n

Originally located at 930 F Street, the old 9:30 was an intimate 200-capacity space. Those lucky enough to have caught a show or grabbed a beer there might remember the distinctive smell (some might call it a stench) that followed audiences home on their clothes. By 1996, when the owners upgraded to the current location on V Street\u2014a building that had once housed a club owned by Duke Ellington\u20149:30 had established itself as a hotspot for alternative music, a stepping stone for rock and punk legends like Nirvana, Bad Brains, and D.C. natives Fugazi.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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When the club is open, it hosts 400 shows a year, meaning on any given weekend, there are two concerts a night. Over the decades, it\u2019s become an artist favorite: When Radiohead got rained out at the Tibetan Freedom Festival in 1998, they chose the 9:30 Club to play a show for their faithful fans, with Michael Stipe\u2014who came up playing the original club with R.E.M.\u2014in tow.<\/p>\n

How did you first get involved with 9:30 Club?<\/div>\n

Donna Westmoreland (Club Operator):<\/strong> I was hired as the bar manager at the first venue; my interview was at 11:30 at night in the cavernous basement of the club. It was a time when music touring was ramping up and there was a lot of opportunity for growth. Nobody majored in \u201cmusic business\u201d back then\u2014if you had curiosity and some sort of acumen, you could figure it out.<\/p>\n

Do you have a favorite story from the early days?<\/div>\n

Audrey Schaefer (Communications Director):<\/strong> At the time, there was a local D.C. band called R.E.M., who were coming up at the same time as this other outfit out of Georgia called R.E.M. This led to confusion when they were selling tickets to both shows, so they decided to have a band playoff. Both acts came to the club to perform and the audience got to pick who got to keep the name. You already know which one won. But not only that, the winner got to rename the other band. And so the D.C. band was renamed Egoslavia.<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to most about the return of shows?<\/div>\n

Westmoreland: The best thing is when the lights come down and the band goes on stage\u2014no matter the band\u2014because that\u2019s the culmination of the efforts of everyone in the room. The show\u2019s been booked, tickets have been sold, production is finished, soundcheck is done. The artist is excited and ready to go, and the audience is, too. It\u2019s a magic moment.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve maintained since all of this happened that the future of live music is not in streaming\u2014and there\u2019s a lot of people who\u2019ve spent a lot of energy trying to convince us that it is. I believe that when this is over and people can experience that magic moment and bring all that pent-up energy, they\u2019ll see the future is live. It\u2019ll be okay.<\/p>\n

How to support 9:30 Club:<\/strong> Donate to support employees<\/p>\n

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\"Gogol<\/span><\/div>\n
Gogol Bordello at the 9:30 Club. Photo by John Shore.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Songbyrd Music House<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Washington, D.C.<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 200
Established:<\/strong> 2015
Best Known For:<\/strong> Records upstairs, parties downstairs<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Noah Yoo<\/em><\/p>\n

In just six years, Songbyrd Music House has proven itself as an incubator for up-and-coming bands looking to gain a foothold in Washington, D.C. When hooky New Zealand indie rockers the Beths were on their first U.S. tour in the fall of 2018, they impressed during a set at the venue\u2019s low-key, donation-based area situated next to the cafe and record store. Word got around town fast, and just a few months later, the band sold out the main room downstairs, dubbed the Byrd Cage. \u201cAll of a sudden, they\u2019ve captivated 200 people in a single city pretty quickly,\u201d attests Alisha Edmonson who owns the Songbyrd with her partner Joe Lapan. The venue has hosted plenty of local bands in addition to national touring acts including Daniel Caesar, Ryley Walker, and the late Lil Peep.<\/p>\n

Songbyrd earns its title as a full-fledged \u201cMusic House\u201d: Lapan and Edmonson wanted to build something all-encompassing, combining their love of records with the kind of community that can only form around live music. This versatility allowed them to adapt quickly last year, as they started hosting livestreams, outdoor shows, and even socially distanced movie nights. At this point, their record shop is open, and Edmonson and Lapan are itching to once again introduce D.C. music lovers to their favorite new acts.<\/p>\n

Who was the first big act to come through Songbyrd?<\/div>\n

Alisha Edmonson:<\/strong> Khalid, for sure. The contract came across my desk almost a year before the show, and the guarantee [fee for the artist] was pretty high. I looked him up, and he had like 20,000 views on YouTube. I went to our booker and said, \u201cThis artist is amazing, but this feels risky\u2014how are we going to sell this out and pay for the guarantee?\u201d But by the time he got to us in January 2017, people were in the venue crying. Soon after, he was on Fallon<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Joe Lapan:<\/strong> We\u2019ve had other situations where the artist blows up and they want to move it to a bigger venue, but Khalid kept his date. It was great.<\/p>\n

What have your internal conversations been like about reopening the venue?<\/div>\n

Lapan: In some ways we’ve all gotten used to being closed, in a way\u2014which sucks\u2014but then all of a sudden it actually feels like things are gonna start happening kind of quickly. Which is good, but also a challenge.<\/p>\n

Edmonson: As anyone in the business knows, venues aren\u2019t like bars or restaurants, in that you can\u2019t just flip the switch back on. Touring shows are the bread and butter of most venues, sprinkled in with local artists, but for that to happen effectively it takes every city being coordinated, and it also really takes being at full capacity. So the financial sense of having the venue open to get a touring band that can only play to 25 percent capacity is unclear.<\/p>\n

What are you looking forward to most about shows returning?<\/div>\n

Lapan: The moment when I\u2019m at the show and realize, \u201cOh, they just did half the set and I haven\u2019t thought about COVID once.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Songbyrd:<\/strong> Buy records and merch from their online store<\/p>\n

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\"Bbymutha<\/span><\/div>\n
Bbymutha at Songbyrd Music House, photo by Cina Nguyen \/ shot for Capitol Sound DC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Johnny Brenda\u2019s<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 250
Established:<\/strong> 2006
Best Known For:<\/strong> Indie rockers on the rise<\/p>\n

By Amy Phillips<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was first making music in my house, the dream wasn\u2019t to play in a huge arena,\u201d the War on Drugs\u2019 Adam Granduciel told The Philadelphia Inquirer<\/em> last year. \u201cIt was to play Johnny Brenda\u2019s.\u201d Indeed, Philly\u2019s rise as a white-hot indie rock epicenter over the past decade-and-a-half is due in no small part to the venue, located in the city\u2019s Fishtown neighborhood. The War on Drugs, Waxahatchee, Kurt Vile, Alex G, Spirit of the Beehive, Moor Mother, Hop Along (whose Frances Quinlan once worked in the restaurant): The list of Philly acts that have come up playing in front of the stage\u2019s signature beaded curtains is staggering. Locals cite JB\u2019s great sound and clean, cozy, musician-friendly atmosphere as what sets it apart from your average dive bar or DIY venue\u2014not to mention the signature burgers and a wide selection of local beers. Fortunately, the bar and restaurant have remained open during the pandemic, keeping Johnny Brenda\u2019s afloat until live music returns.<\/p>\n

What does an average day at Johnny Brenda\u2019s look like in normal times?<\/div>\n

Barrett Lindgren (Talent Buyer):<\/strong> I usually would go into the office around noon to start answering emails. Things don\u2019t really start rolling for the venue until four or five, and then we\u2019ll have load-in, have the showrunner and front of house come in. Before the show, we\u2019ll listen to the bands, talk about the show, see where they\u2019ve been, what other bands they\u2019ve been on tour with, if we have friends in common\u2014that\u2019s a really big part of the shows for us: making sure that bands feel welcomed, like someone at the venue actually cares that they\u2019re going to be there.<\/p>\n

What does an average day look like now?<\/div>\n

Very different. I pretty much don\u2019t leave the house. I watch documentaries and read a lot. I answer a couple of emails a day. Over the summer, things got really quiet, but it never fully stopped. I\u2019ve been in contact with a lot of the same agents that we\u2019ve worked with for years, just kicking shows down the road. We\u2019re now on round six or seven or eight. I worked at Johnny Brenda\u2019s for seven years as an assistant talent buyer, but I just took over as head booker at the beginning of 2020. And then pretty promptly started living in my house exclusively.<\/p>\n

What were some of your favorite Johnny Brenda\u2019s shows?<\/div>\n

Fontaines D.C. was a really wonderful one. Duster was another. Hop Along\u2019s record release show was a beautiful show. Screaming Females, New Year’s Eve 2013 into 2014. billy woods and Moor Mother was another really special one\u2014that was also right before lockdown.<\/p>\n

How are you keeping the venue alive?<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve been really fortunate in the realm of small, independent venues in that we have the bar and restaurant to keep us afloat. That\u2019s the only reason we\u2019ve been okay. The basic pitch for independent venues is that these rooms are increasingly unique. That makes them all the more worth saving and supporting. My hope is that we\u2019ll see a resurgence of interest in independent and like DIY venues and media on the other side of this as people seek out something that feels more personal or local or curated, just not algorithmically generated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Johnny Brenda\u2019s:<\/strong> Grab some take-out<\/p>\n

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Great Scott<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Boston, Massachusetts<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 275
Established:<\/strong> 2004
Best Known For:<\/strong> Being the home base for Allston Rock City<\/p>\n

By Maura Johnston<\/em><\/p>\n

Boston\u2019s Allston neighborhood has long been known as \u201cAllston Rock City,\u201d but it took Great Scott for the neighborhood to have a rock club it truly called home. The bar at the corner of Commonwealth Avenue and Harvard Avenue opened in 1976, but it began its life as Allston’s premiere rock venue in 2004, when Carl Lavin took over booking duties and began bringing in touring acts like the New Jersey indie lifers The Wrens. Since then, the club has served as a home base for Boston-beloved bands like Speedy Ortiz and Pile while also welcoming bigger names like MGMT, Hannibal Burress, and Charli XCX to its stage.<\/p>\n

Last spring, citing the pandemic, owner Frank Strenk rejected a long-term lease, and Great Scott shut down. Lavin took over the club\u2019s name, intellectual property, and liquor license, and began a hunt for a new space\u2014one that took him a few blocks away, to a former train depot that had housed a local pizza chain until last July. A crowdfunding campaign, facilitated by the investment intermediary MainVest, raised around $325,000 for Great Scott. With that money and some additional financing, Lavin is hoping to renovate the Allston Depot into a new home for Boston\u2019s music community. “I think that in the absence of a plague,\u201d Lavin says, \u201chad the owner just decided to retire last year and we tried to make this move, it would already be a done deal and we\u2019d probably already be having shows.”<\/p>\n

What made the Allston Depot space stand out for you?<\/div>\n

Carl Lavin:<\/strong> It\u2019s almost too perfect. The building is on the National Historic Register, so it can\u2019t be demolished for a six- or seven-story condo. There\u2019s good parking. It used to be a train station, and trains still go by all the time, so you\u2019re not going to get noise-sensitive neighbors. And it\u2019s still in Allston, which is super important. Allston was such a part of Great Scott\u2019s identity, and the idea of just packing it up and moving into [neighboring cities] Cambridge or Somerville just didn\u2019t seem right. If we\u2019re going to preserve Great Scott, it has to be in Allston.<\/p>\n

Great Scott\u2019s intimacy is a crucial part of the appeal for audience members, and for bands, as well.<\/div>\n

Absolutely. One of the things I’ve been saying to the contractor and the architect is that we have the [physical] space to make it intimate, which almost sounds contradictory. We can keep what Great Scott was very much in mind as we do the design and the buildout. Having said that, it\u2019s hard to know when everyone might feel 100% comfortable being that intimate again with strangers. The idea is just to make sure that we continue to have that great sound, great sight lines, great staff. From a design standpoint, [the new space] is a little too wide to replicate the kind of tunnel effect that Great Scott had. But we can do our best to make sure that it feels full when it’s not, and it feels awesome when it is.<\/p>\n

Great Scott really did feel like a special place.<\/div>\n

You didn\u2019t need to make plans to see somebody you know; you probably would see someone you know, and even if you didn\u2019t, you\u2019re going to feel like you\u2019re hanging out with people. You\u2019re at your regular spot, even if it\u2019s the first time. That\u2019s definitely a credit to the staff and management and ownership, and it was in place when I first started booking shows there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Before it was called Great Scott, the bar was called Brandy\u2019s, and it had a sign that said, \u201cBrandy\u2019s: Where incredible friendships begin.\u201d Great Scott has had many different lives as far as the clientele and the programming goes. But that thread was constant throughout it. There are people who exist because their parents met at Great Scott, you know?<\/p>\n

How to support Great Scott:<\/strong> Donate to the staff GoFundMe<\/p>\n

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The Crown<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Baltimore, Maryland<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 385
Established:<\/strong> 2013
Best Known For:<\/strong> Rising local musicians and Korean-fusion snacks<\/p>\n

By Puja Patel<\/em><\/p>\n

Anchored in the purposefully eclectic and experimental spirit of the Station North neighborhood of Baltimore, The Crown has become an institution that thrives on cultural inclusivity. A replica of an ancient royal Korean headdress that adorns the venue\u2019s staircase explains the name and hints at its origin story. In the early to mid-2010s, as the city strictly policed smaller DIY venues and glossy development plans began to encroach on warehouse spaces, a couple of Korean restaurants and karaoke bars became new musical safe havens. \u201cThe building we\u2019re in now, Hyundai Plaza, was originally kind of a Korean mini-mall,\u201d says general manager Miki Young, noting that it\u2019s the building that sparked an informal \u201cKoreatown\u201d in Baltimore. (Now, however, the silver signage of Hyundai Plaza is probably more useful to college students trying to find the doors of The Crown.)<\/p>\n

During a normal run, the multi-roomed venue hosts sweaty dance parties, events curated by rising local artists, band showcases, poetry readings, karaoke nights, and a grab-bag of other festivities. They serve bulgogi nachos, Korean fries, and make soju cocktails by the batch, an extension of the venue\u2019s restaurant core. And when I ask Miki what overarching theme might unite The Crown\u2019s many moving parts, he says that the baseline principle is that guests are encouraged to be themselves. \u201cIt\u2019s a place where people can dress however they want, or be however they want. It\u2019s for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did The Crown come about?<\/div>\n

Miki Young:<\/strong> There was a Korean restaurant called San Soo Kab San that was in the area for a while. They had this little karaoke bar in the back run by a Korean man in his early 30s. I was going there around 2009 or 2010, and right before it closed a few years later, a bunch of [Johns] Hopkins and MICA [Maryland Institute College of Art] students started going because it was under the radar, and they served alcohol until late. At the time, I was an organizer and promoter for a bunch of underground shows\u2014house and warehouse shows\u2014and there was an event that was too large for the house that it was supposed to happen at. I had become friends with the owner and was like, \u201cHey, I have this event that needs to be moved. Would you be willing to let us use the back space of the restaurant?\u201d<\/p>\n

The capacity of that space was 60 and we had 100 people come out, so it was packed and the owners loved it. They were like, \u201cWould you want to do this again?\u201d And that kind of started how we got into business. Once that space became too small, like a year and a half later, they showed me the space in Hyundai Plaza that was recently vacated and also had a Korean karaoke bar upstairs. My boss at the time, the owner of San Soo Kab San, was like, \u201cHey, let\u2019s move this over there.\u201d At the time I was still helping her run the restaurant and the venue side of that one, and so I was just like, \u201cI can\u2019t take it on myself, but I can probably get some people to help.\u201d I reached out to people I knew from MICA who were running a gallery called Open Space, and that\u2019s kind of how The Crown came to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The person who started running it was Brendan Sullivan\u2014he set up all the early shows. It started off with more of the Dan Deacon and MICA kind of crowd. And at first he also had a few DJ nights, with DJ Mills or some of the vinyl DJs doing more experimental or house related sets. Once I came over and started to help Brendan with booking, we started introducing DJs more.<\/p>\n

What has the venue looked like in Covid?<\/div>\n

So my boss took out the PPP to get us back open in September because getting back open costs a lot. We have to get all new food, drink stuff\u2014getting containers and everything else. Then there’s paying the staff. Luckily, we got a lot of help from the community, Station North\u2014we partnered with them, and Red Bull also helped us a lot. We also reached out to some contacts who helped get us some grant money. But that really all went into the infrastructure for social distancing and a lot of the things we needed to get open. Abdu Ali, and Qu\u00e9 Peque\u00f1o, who throws 808, ended up having residencies at The Crown.<\/p>\n

What is your ideal first set of shows to book when you\u2019re back in full swing?<\/div>\n

I think for a lot of people in Baltimore it would feel pretty amazing for them to have Trillnatured do VERSION with Kotic Couture, maybe at the same time as Abdu Ali\u2019s party. Those two parties are the biggest parties that we’ve ever had, and have lines out the door most of the time. As far as residencies go, that would be it. A lot of people come to The Crown for comedy, too. There was a comedy festival that happened there for two years. I would love to have that back because it involved a lot of venues, which was really great. It would be cool to have an event like that as a comeback, so that it’s like we’re all celebrating together instead of just as a single space.<\/p>\n

How to support The Crown:<\/strong> Order from their menu online.<\/p>\n

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Return to top of page.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Southeast<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Jump to: The Pinhook | The Orange Peel | Cat\u2019s Cradle | Masquerade | Gramps | The 40 Watt | The Basement East | The 5 Spot | Tipitina\u2019s<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Image<\/span><\/div>\n
Graphic by Drew Litowitz, photos by Tom Farr, Paul Stebner, Elena de Soto, and Matthew Alexander<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Pinhook<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Durham, North Carolina<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 250
Established:<\/strong> 2008
Best Known For:<\/strong> Packed-out dance parties and boisterous drag shows<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Allison Hussey<\/em><\/p>\n

The Pinhook sits near the middle of downtown Durham with a panoramic back-patio view that collapses the city\u2019s past and present: a neon-bull billboard, luxuriously repurposed tobacco warehouses, a minor-league baseball stadium, a gleaming performing arts center, a long strip of train tracks, and the county jail. The midsize club is a crucial node of the same regional scene that launched Merge Records, whose present-day offices are a few blocks away. From the venue\u2019s founding, Kym Register has steered the Pinhook with a queer-friendly mandate\u2014the space had gender-neutral bathrooms by 2012, well before the topic had become a point of mainstream conversation. The Pinhook is, in the best of times, more than a rock club, equally likely to fill its calendar with drag shows, dance parties, and letter-writing nights for incarcerated people.<\/p>\n

At the front of the folk-rock outfit Loamlands, Register was on the road just a few weeks before the country shut down last March. \u201cI miss tour so<\/em> much,\u201d they say. They\u2019ve navigated the last year with a patchwork of creative solutions, including loans, grants, live-streamed performances, virtual karaoke, and online classes that have covered gear how-tos and drag makeup tutorials. A Patreon page goes a long way in covering rent, but a colleague\u2019s suggestion to get involved with the National Independent Venue Association has helped significantly, Register says. They\u2019ve worked closely with other local venues, like Carrboro\u2019s famed Cat\u2019s Cradle, as a way to keep the bigger community afloat.<\/p>\n

As protesters supporting the Movement for Black Lives gathered downtown and at the Durham County Jail last summer, Register offered the Pinhook to their organizer friends as a hub for medical supplies and a convenient place to store cumbersome sign-making materials. Despite the compounding stress of running a small venue, Register is already reimagining how they can continue expanding the Pinhook\u2019s ability to be a creative home for anyone who needs it.<\/p>\n

What kind of funding have you gotten, and what kind of difference will it make?<\/div>\n

Kym Register:<\/strong> We\u2019ve gotten some grants from [the City of] Durham. I got the PPP\u2014that was weird. It\u2019s a whole awkward process for venues or service industries to get. This NIVA grant is going to be extremely helpful. It gives me so much hope that I don\u2019t have to look to next month and wonder if we\u2019re going to close or not. If we get this grant, we have a cushion, and I don\u2019t have to pay it back. Instead of stressing all the time, I can spend my time making my venue safer and also considering what access and accessibility look like on shows for people in the future.<\/p>\n

How has it been going without dance parties, considering how they\u2019re such a part of the Pinhook\u2019s spirit?<\/div>\n

Friends are like, \u201cYou can\u2019t close because what\u2019s keeping me alive is thinking about how sweaty I\u2019m gonna get and how low I\u2019m gonna drop it on the dancefloor.\u201d Not being able to walk in that space and seeing a million sweaty badasses, queer weirdos, experimental musicians\u2014it\u2019s just been hard. I\u2019m excited for whatever that looks like for it to come back. I\u2019m also excited that, now that we understand what access looks like a little better, I feel good bringing a lot of that stuff into people\u2019s homes if they can\u2019t come.<\/p>\n

Why were gender-neutral bathrooms an important part of the space?<\/div>\n

I\u2019m non-binary, and the Pinhook, first and foremost, has tried to support queer folk. We have queer, non-binary, trans bartenders and employees. It\u2019s about prioritizing our people and making them feel safe. What you do, as a space, invites people in or tells them that they are not welcome there.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support The Pinhook:<\/strong> Subscribe to the venue\u2019s Patreon<\/p>\n

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The Orange Peel<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Asheville, North Carolina<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 1,100
Established:<\/strong> 2002
Best Known For:<\/strong> Shows by world-renowned artists in the heart of Asheville<\/p>\n

By Eric Torres<\/em><\/p>\n

The building that The Orange Peel occupies in downtown Asheville has lived many lives: It was a roller rink, a bowling alley, a series of R&B and soul clubs, a coffee shop, and in 1980, they even ran the federal census out of it. In 2000, its current owners leased and renovated the space with an eye toward its impressive music history (one of the soul clubs was also named The Orange Peel), and for the past two decades, it\u2019s been the city\u2019s premier independent music venue.<\/p>\n

Bob Dylan, Lauryn Hill, the Beastie Boys, and Lou Reed are just some of the talents whose posters and ticket stubs fill shadow boxes that climb up to the 14-foot ceilings in the venue\u2019s foyer. There\u2019s also a reserved seating section with walls shellacked in newspaper clippings, laminates, and more ticket stubs, a mini-history of the locale\u2019s development over the years into a cultural landmark. Since the pandemic, The Orange Peel has gone dark, but the owners have joined the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), where a new sense of community has blossomed. \u201cWe\u2019ve put together a big network of independent venue owners and promoters in the Carolinas, and we do advocacy efforts together,\u201d says marketing and special events director Liz Tallent. \u201cOur work has shifted to making sure we get the word out to all the independent venues and promoters and help people find resources.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do people in Asheville say is special about the Orange Peel?<\/div>\n

Liz Tallent:<\/strong> We\u2019re right downtown, so we\u2019re a fixture of life. Asheville is a city of about 100,000, and our county is more like 300,000 or so. It\u2019s not a huge city, but even before Asheville was on all the \u201cmust visit\u201d lists and blowing up as a tourist destination, the Orange Peel was bringing really big acts to town. I think that\u2019s always been really cool for people in Asheville to have a legitimate music club. We created quite a draw for bands to come and play what otherwise would be kind of an off-the-beaten-track city.<\/p>\n

What does an average day look like at the Orange Peel during COVID?<\/div>\n

Jeff Santiago (Operations Manager):<\/strong> The day to day is just trying to figure out what we need to do to take care of the building. We did some streaming shows at first, but now we\u2019re gearing up. We got a state mandate a couple weeks ago that said bars and venues could reopen at 30 percent capacity, which came much earlier than we anticipated. Towards the end of April we\u2019ll be doing some very, very limited cap shows, which won\u2019t be sustainable for the long haul, but hopefully they\u2019ll be stepping stones to getting back to something feasible for the future. It feels really good to be booking again and reaching out to artists. We\u2019re mainly looking locally and regionally, but we\u2019re lucky to have some national artists in the area who are agreeing to step up and perform with us too.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic concert that\u2019s happened at the Orange Peel?<\/div>\n

Tallent: Smashing Pumpkins did their East Coast residency at the Orange Peel in 2007, when the band had reunited after breaking up, and they did nine nights over two weeks. They decided to do it where all the tickets were 20 bucks flat, so people from all over the country were traveling to get them. Every night Billy Corgan would go around our downtown and give comp tickets to kids. He would be like, \u201cHere you go. You\u2019re on the list for tonight.\u201d And so I\u2019d sit at my press table, and there would be some skateboarder kid that would come up and be like \u201cUm, Billy Corgan said I\u2019m on the guestlist?\u201d That was really cool.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support The Orange Peel:<\/strong> Buy merch or donate directly through Paypal.<\/p>\n

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Cat\u2019s Cradle<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Carrboro, North Carolina<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 750
Established:<\/strong> 1969
Best Known For:<\/strong> Supportive and welcoming community<\/p>\n

By Quinn Moreland<\/em><\/p>\n

Cat\u2019s Cradle has hosted performances by everyone from Nirvana to John Mayer, Gillian Welch to Lizzo. Located in Carrboro, North Carolina, it\u2019s a place where locals and students from UNC-Chapel Hill come to enjoy a night of music and a pint or two from one of the area\u2019s many breweries. \u201cThe venue has been around for so long that our audience knows us and they feel comfortable \u2014 it\u2019s always a welcoming and supportive crowd,\u201d says Frank Heath, who has owned the venue since 1986. The Cradle community is so strong that last summer a group of artists including Superchunk and The Mountain Goats contributed to a compilation album to benefit the venue. While its doors have been closed to the public, it\u2019s presented livestream concerts for artists like H.C. McEntire and local School of Rock bands. Heath says that while he\u2019s excited to welcome back mainstays like Southern Culture on the Skids, he\u2019s just as excited to host all of the new bands that have been born over the past year.<\/p>\n

Who are the most famous bands or artists that have come through this space?<\/div>\n

Joan Baez, Warren Zevon, Todd Rundgren. And then there\u2019s people like Lizzo, Macklemore, and John Mayer, who played back in the early 2000s. We get a cross section, but in the indie world there\u2019s everyone from Pavement to Superchunk, Built to Spill, and Elliott Smith.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic concert that\u2019s happened here and why?<\/div>\n

The most historic one was probably Nirvana. We had a lot of shows in the early nineties that were bands that went on to fame and fortune, like Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Also, Bad Brains played a show and didn’t show up until 2:30 in the morning, and then they played for 20 minutes and left.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the bathroom situation like at the Cradle?<\/div>\n

I don’t think our bathrooms are a cut above. We tried to put as many toilets [as possible] in the women\u2019s room. I don’t want to put myself out on a limb and say that they’re okay<\/em>, because some people will not think that\u2019s accurate. But I think compared to some clubs they’re okay, let\u2019s put it that way.<\/p>\n

How to support Cat\u2019s Cradle:<\/strong> Buy merch.<\/p>\n

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Masquerade<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Atlanta, Georgia<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 2,300 across three stages
Established:<\/strong> 1989
Best Known For:<\/strong> Supporting both rising hip-hop and rock talent as well as national stars<\/p>\n

By Jewel Wicker<\/em><\/p>\n

Since Masquerade opened 32 years ago, its three stages\u2014dubbed Purgatory, Hell, and Heaven\u2014have hosted Atlanta locals including OutKast, Goodie Mob, Playboi Carti, and 21 Savage, along with alt-rock royalty like Nine Inch Nails, Sheryl Crow, Radiohead, and Nirvana. It was the venue\u2019s long-standing relationship with the city\u2019s music lovers that got it through a 2016 move from its original location inside a historic building on North Avenue, which is scheduled to be turned into high-end office spaces, to its current spot in the Underground Atlanta entertainment district. The new locale\u2019s versatility has allowed it to host concerts featuring rising Atlanta rappers such as Kenny Mason, and interview sessions with 2 Chainz, as well as outdoor events such as Everyday People, the traveling daytime dance party created to celebrate Black music and culture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At this point, like so many other venues, the Masquerade hasn’t hosted a live show in a year. Talent buyers Greg Green and Elena de Soto say the Masquerade had about 45 staff members at the beginning of the pandemic; today, it only employs about five people.<\/p>\n

Have you considered having any shows over the past year?<\/div>\n

Greg Green:<\/strong> We haven\u2019t felt comfortable or been able to figure out a scenario where it makes sense financially. We\u2019re hanging our hat on the vaccine becoming distributed widely, and music fans and touring artists becoming comfortable enough to get back out. We see the light at the end of the tunnel.<\/p>\n

What are some ways the venue has been able to make some money?<\/div>\n

We had two or three livestream shows per week over the course of the summer and fall, and those are generally set up so venues can get a portion of the proceeds for ticket sales that they drive. We\u2019ve also stepped up our merch game by coming up with a number of new items: shirts, socks, Christmas ornaments, shot glasses. Our fanbase has been super supportive in that regard.<\/p>\n

Do you have any memorabilia on display that showcases the Masquerade\u2019s history?<\/div>\n

The coolest thing that we have right now are handmade guitars that were made from wooden stairway boards salvaged from the old location. Someone made iconic guitar designs modeled after a Les Paul, a Stratocasters, and a Flying V.<\/p>\n

Are you hopeful that you\u2019ll be able to host shows soon?<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve got an extremely full calendar for late summer or fall. Most of the shows have not been announced or put on sale yet, but once the flag drops, you\u2019ll see hundreds go on sale. I don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll be able to keep up.<\/p>\n

How to support Masquerade:<\/strong> Buy merch and donate to the staff\u2019s GoFundMe<\/p>\n

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Memorabilia from a Nine Inch Nails concert in 1990 at Masquerade. Photo courtesy of Masquerade.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Gramps<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Miami, Florida<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 550
Established:<\/strong> 2012
Best Known For:<\/strong> Cocktails, pizza, and love<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Jessica Gentile<\/em><\/p>\n

Miami\u2019s Wynwood neighborhood now offers seemingly endless nightlife options \u2014 but outside of a few dance-focused clubs, like Bardot and the Electric Pickle (both now closed), there weren\u2019t many places to go hear music before Gramps arrived in 2012. \u201cThe first week we opened we had Araab Muzik and Kool Keith,\u201d owner Adam Gersten tells me. \u201cAt the time, the place was just a gravel lot.\u201d These days, Gramps is a bar during the day and hosts indie bands and underground DJs at night. It\u2019s the kind of place a tourist might come to from the airport looking for a margarita but leave having seen Otto Von Schirach, a random comedian, and a full drag show. \u201cIt\u2019s my subtropical way of doing things,\u201d says Gersten.<\/p>\n

Who are some of the biggest artists that have played Gramps?<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve had Sean Paul. We\u2019ve had a lot of comedy \u2014 Hannibal Burress and Michelle Buteau. There was like a week where Gallagher came and just wouldn\u2019t leave. He kept showing up. And then a lot of bands: Temples, the Drums, Boys Noize. We had !!! (Chk Chk Chk), and it had been a long time since they played, so it was packed. We just had Major Lazer do their live-stream for Save Our Stages. There were 10 people there, but it was a show.<\/p>\n

What’s the bathroom situation like at Gramps?<\/div>\n

We have great bathrooms. When we were designing the place, we designed it around the bathrooms. They\u2019re big. They don\u2019t look like dungeons with backed-up plumbing. Our bathrooms say, \u201cWe care about you as a customer. Thank you for coming. And feel free to use these fine facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Florida music venues are allowed to be open. How\u2019s business been?<\/div>\n

We\u2019re able to keep everyone employed, which is great, but we\u2019re down tremendously in sales. We\u2019re operating at less than 50 percent capacity. Outdoors only. We keep all our doors open and giant fans running. We aren\u2019t doing any nightclub activities. There\u2019s no dancing. It sucks. I think there are a lot of people who want something more, and they will maybe go to other places, and that\u2019s cool. I get it. But we also have our people who are always going to come here and support us. We have a built-in crowd.<\/p>\n

What is the first night going to look like when things fully come back?<\/div>\n

The dream coming back to life line up will be DJ Le Spam playing two back-to-back sets of 45s. One set of American RnB and Soul and one that\u2019s a Latin historical overview. All dance bangers. I would also get one or two up and coming awesome electronic guys that would play at Synth Battle to do some bassy electro-y kind of stuff and<\/em> I would get Soul Oddity to play live. Get the whole band back together!<\/p>\n

How to support Gramps:<\/strong> Buy some merch<\/p>\n

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A flier for a Halloween party at Gramps. Photo courtesy of Gramps.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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The 40 Watt<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Athens, Georgia<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 500
Established:<\/strong> 1979
Best Known For:<\/strong> Being a bastion of college rock<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Marc Hogan<\/em><\/p>\n

After starting out in a loft lit by the single bulb that gives this legendary indie launching pad its name, The 40 Watt is about to celebrate 30 years in its current location at the red-dirt heart of the University of Georgia\u2019s hometown of Athens. For all of those three decades, the venue has been steered by the two-woman team of owner Barrie Buck and talent buyer Velena Vego, who figures she has booked more than 6,000 shows. The 40 Watt has played host to Athens\u2019 famous homegrown talents\u2014from Pylon, the B-52s, and R.E.M. to the Drive-By Truckers, Of Montreal, and Neutral Milk Hotel\u2014as well as early performances from Pavement, Sufjan Stevens, M.I.A., the Strokes, and Kings of Leon. Heavyweight stars like Snoop Dogg have also sought out the 40 Watt\u2019s Southern hospitality for rare club appearances, too. In fact, before live music shut down due to the pandemic, rock titans Foo Fighters were set to play The 40 Watt last April amid their 25th-anniversary arena tour. \u201cWe\u2019d already booked it, advanced it, and bought the liquor for it,\u201d says Vego. \u201cHopefully they\u2019ll come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

How would you describe the look and feel of The 40 Watt Club?<\/div>\n

Velena Vego:<\/strong> It looks like a high-school gym and then inside it\u2019s Christmas lights and stars, so it always looks like a prom. If you’ve seen that horror movie Carrie<\/em>, when she gets the blood poured over her, that’s the vibe at our club all the time. You just walk in and nobody really even has to decorate it.<\/p>\n

What was your personal favorite concert at the venue?<\/div>\n

Nirvana in 1991. I got to kidnap them and take them over to Peter Buck\u2019s house. They were huge R.E.M. fans so they wanted to see Peter\u2019s record collection. It was right before Nevermind<\/em> broke, and I had seen the band about a year and a half before at the Masquerade in Atlanta, so I was a super fan. Kurt wrote something on our wall. Someone cut it out and stole it for many years, and then left it at Michael Stipe\u2019s house, and Michael gave it back to us.<\/p>\n

What local bands are you excited to feature onstage once shows are back?<\/div>\n

Lo Talker. They\u2019ve lived here for a few years now and have a new record coming out. I absolutely adore them. They\u2019re in the world of the Band of Horses or My Morning Jacket, but they\u2019re original. Just across the board, they have everything: great guitarist, great singer, great lyrics, great music.<\/p>\n

How to support The 40 Watt:<\/strong> Buy merch and donate to the staff\u2019s GoFundMe<\/p>\n

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\"R.E.M.<\/span><\/div>\n
R.E.M. at the 40 Watt Club in 2006. Photo by Chris McKay.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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The Basement East<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Nashville, Tennessee<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 575
Established:<\/strong> 2015
Best Known For:<\/strong> Being East Nashville\u2019s premiere room, run by two of the scene\u2019s most beloved figures<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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By Marissa R. Moss<\/em><\/p>\n

When the pandemic descended, The Basement East (aka \u201cThe Beast\u201d) in Nashville was already contending with another problem: a deadly tornado that hit the neighborhood just days before lockdown last March. The storm swept straight through the club, crumbling its white walls in a few terrifying seconds\u2014but leaving its famous \u201cI Believe In Nashville\u201d mural intact. Since opening in April 2015, the sibling venue to The Basement across town had become a mainstay played by everyone from Alice Cooper to Kris Kristofferson to John Prine, while still making room for smaller but beloved local acts (especially in the form of a tribute night). Owners Mike Grimes and Dave Brown have spent the past year vacillating between pandemic relief and rebuilding, which finally culminated in The Beast\u2019s (distanced, masked, limited-attendance) reopening at the beginning of March\u2014a cathartic, emotional cap to a painful 12 months. \u201cWe are not just hoping for a light at the end of the tunnel,\u201d says Brown. \u201cWe’re actually standing, looking into that light.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic concert that\u2019s happened at The Beast?<\/div>\n

Dave Brown:<\/strong> Probably the Bernie Sanders benefit the night the tornado tore the building down.<\/p>\n

Mike Grimes:<\/strong> That was pretty fucking historic. Honestly, so many things conspired for it to not be worse than it was. We’re lucky that show was over by 11:30 pm. By the time the tornado hit, the only people in the building were the six employees.<\/p>\n

Brown: As far as historic, maybe Cage the Elephant [in 2015]<\/p>\n

Grimes: Within six weeks or so of opening, we got calls from Matt and Brad [Shultz] saying, \u201cHey, what are you doing next Tuesday?\u201d They said they wanted to come play. Honestly, I think it helped put us on the map. People were like, \u201cThis new room is cool.\u201d It set a tone.<\/p>\n

Is there a pre-COVID memory that sticks out the most?<\/div>\n

Brown: The one that was really poignant was John Prine [in April of 2018]. Prine could sell out much bigger venues, but we worked out a scenario at Grimey\u2019s [the record store co-owned by Grimes], where if you bought his new record you could get a ticket to the show. It was a full-on 90-minute Prine show. It was phenomenal. I\u2019m getting choked up just thinking about it.<\/p>\n

What did an average day look like in normal times?<\/div>\n

Brown: Paradise!<\/p>\n

Grimes: Similar to other venues: well-orchestrated mayhem. Everyone doing their thing, booking stuff, the band showing up earlier than they are supposed to because they want to start using the green room. You take every little curveball as it comes.<\/p>\n

What local bands are you excited to book once shows are back?<\/div>\n

Grimes: We\u2019ll have to re-familiarize ourselves, as I\u2019m sure new bands have sprouted up, and probably some have broken up. But I\u2019m into Styrofoam Winos\u2014they did a stream from Grimey\u2019s, and it was so charming. A freshly new band.<\/p>\n

Is there something on display at the venue that you made sure to salvage after the tornado?<\/div>\n

Brown: The first thing I thought of was the clock that was on the wall when the tornado of 1998 hit [and destroyed the building]. The clock stopped at exactly the time it hit.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support The Basement East:<\/strong> Buy a T-shirt or hoodie\u2014including one with a cheeky tornado design<\/p>\n

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The 5 Spot<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Nashville, Tennessee<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 85
Established:<\/strong> 2003
Best Known For:<\/strong> Being an eclectic spot for breaking talent<\/p>\n

By Marissa R. Moss<\/em><\/p>\n

When The 5 Spot reopened last March after a tornado, co-owner Travis Collinsworth looked around at the crowd the first night back and felt a nagging sense of impending doom. \u201cI remember thinking, \u2018This isn\u2019t good,\u2019\u201d says Collinsworth, who runs the East Nashville club with Todd Sherwood and William Verheide. \u201cWe shut our doors prior to any mandates.\u201d That\u2019s the kind of neighborly gesture that comes easy to The 5 Spot, which has become symbiotic with the culture of the city over its nearly two-decade run. The club has hosted everything from infamously sweaty Motown Monday dance parties to Derek Hoke\u2019s Two Dollar Tuesdays, where a banjo-fronted country band might be followed by a punk trio. It\u2019s the sort of venue that draws patrons who are there not to see a favorite band, but rather, one they\u2019ve never heard of before. Says Collinsworth, who\u2019s been keeping the 5 Spot afloat with the help of live-streams that he hopes to continue post-COVID, \u201cI always refer to what we do as never-never-land.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have any favorite shows that stick in your mind?<\/div>\n

Travis Collinsworth:<\/strong> Lady Gaga [in October 2016, for her Dive Bar Tour]. We had a fourth partner, Mr. Verheide\u2019s wife Diane, who at the time had a few months to live. There was a kerfuffle as to whether Diane\u2019s wheelchair could be on the premises during rehearsal, because she couldn\u2019t be there during the show, and when Gaga got wind of this, she spent 25 minutes with Diane, just an incredible human being. Two or three days later, Todd says, \u201cLady Gaga is on her way back.\u201d She gets there, hugs all around, and the first thing she asked was, \u201cIs Diane here? I\u2019m writing a new song that is all about overcoming adversity, I\u2019d love to hear her input.\u201d I gave her Diane\u2019s email address, and they corresponded over the next couple months until Diane passed away, with a bouquet of roses and one of our napkins that Lady Gaga had kissed for her.<\/p>\n

What do people in town say is special about The 5 Spot?<\/div>\n

It\u2019s one of those very unique places that is just totally Nashville. We don\u2019t cater to any specific genre. If someone does a big show, they might pop up at our venue afterhours to jam a bit [like Margo Price or Hayes Carll have]. We have our normal local bands, but you never know what\u2019s going to happen. Our locals might be superstars.<\/p>\n

Is there something on display at the venue that means a lot to you?<\/div>\n

That\u2019s an easy one. A dear friend and a great drummer named Ben Eyestone fell ill, and it ended up being cancer. It was treatable and Ben was so optimistic, but an infection set in and he passed away. We have his favorite leather jacket framed and lit up on our wall. Above that, we have an American flag that his cousin, a pilot, flew on a mission in Afghanistan and sent us. Unless we have a power outage, that light never goes off.<\/p>\n

What local bands are you excited to book once shows are back?<\/div>\n

One of my favorite artists, Jason Eskridge. We have a Sunday circled on the calendar as a target for reopening, and he does an event called Sunday Night Soul. We are really hoping that by the end of the summer, we can ring it in with a Sunday Night Soul. That would be so redeeming\u2014that we made it through a year and a half being closed [at 85 capacity, the venue is too small to open reasonably at reduced numbers], and somehow here we are, just trying to navigate.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support The 5 Spot:<\/strong> Donate to the community fund for the venue and staff or catch one of the pay-what-you-will livestreams<\/p>\n

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Tipitina\u2019s<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

New Orleans, Louisiana<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 800
Established:<\/strong> 1977
Best Known For:<\/strong> Keeping the funk alive<\/p>\n

By Anna Gaca<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing New Orleanians love more than a local institution, and one of the longest-running music venues in town is Tipitina\u2019s, the unassuming Uptown club known for its yellow banana logo and all-night funk jams on Halloween, New Year\u2019s Eve, and Mardi Gras. The venue was founded in 1977 as a place for local legend Professor Longhair to perform in his golden years, and you\u2019ll still find the Professor\u2019s bronze bust at the door and his portrait over the stage. Since then, it\u2019s hosted its fair share of historic gigs, including Nine Inch Nails on the Pretty Hate Machine<\/em> tour in 1990, rock\u2019n\u2019roll pioneer Fats Domino\u2019s final public performance in 2007, and annual reunions of local legends the Radiators. With its balconies, barn rafters, and checkered dancefloor, Tip\u2019s is spacious yet homey\u2014and if you\u2019ve had a little too much to drink, you can always lean against one of the big wooden columns and just let the music wash over you.<\/p>\n

As a member of local funk band Galactic, current co-owner Robert Mercurio has played at Tipitina\u2019s for years. The band purchased the venue in November 2018, and when Covid spiked in New Orleans a little over a year later, Mercurio says, \u201cIt seemed like it was possibly maybe the worst decision we\u2019ve ever made.\u201d But the club\u2019s loyal following both in the city and beyond\u2014along with some inventive new projects\u2014proved invaluable during the pandemic. Over the past year, Tipitina\u2019s hosted a Save Tip\u2019s benefit concert to raise much-needed donations, started a subscription vinyl club, filled the dancefloor with live-streaming equipment to power Tipitina\u2019s TV, and partnered with a local coffee shop for sidewalk service. Government small-business loans and assistance from the Save Our Stages Act are also helping to bridge the gap until it\u2019s safe to reopen. When that day finally comes, Mercurio is ready to pivot again: He\u2019s already planning socially distanced, lounge-style seated concerts.<\/p>\n

What do people in New Orleans say is special about Tipitina\u2019s?<\/div>\n

Robert Mercurio:<\/strong> It has a loose, juke-joint vibe that meshes well with the attitude of the Big Easy. It has a warm, welcoming feeling that I don\u2019t find in many other venues around the country. It also just has a deep, rich history that\u2019s palpable when you walk into the building.<\/p>\n

What about your personal favorite concert or best memory of a show?<\/div>\n

Seeing Bootsy Collins there when I first moved to town around 1980 was just awesome. It really overtook the room with all the speakers, and the groove was deep. It just seemed like everybody in the whole town was at that show.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s an average day during Covid been like?<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve partnered with a local coffee shop, so they serve coffee through a side window that leads out to the street and there\u2019s outside seating on the sidewalk\u2014there\u2019s actually a lot more energy there during the day than there has ever been. Inside, it\u2019s become more of a TV studio, in a way. Because it\u2019s such an iconic stage, we have gotten a lot of calls to film stuff, from Ivan Neville recording \u201cStar-Spangled Banner\u201d for NASCAR, or just a local band filming a livestream.<\/p>\n

Have you been able to work on any long-term projects during the shutdown?<\/div>\n

Oh yes, big time. The Record Club and Tip\u2019s TV were concepts that we thought about pre-pandemic, so it gave us time to actually concentrate on them. We always thought that Tip\u2019s could create an Austin City Limits or Grand Ole Opry kind of show that highlights the venue and the music that\u2019s created through the venue in New Orleans. And we definitely have done a lot of repairs, and the club is looking better than it has in decades.<\/p>\n

Is there a signature drink that\u2019s associated with the club?<\/div>\n

There is\u2014at the beginning, they had a drink called the Lil\u2019 Rum Boogie. It has Meyer\u2019s rum, some fruit juice, ice, and a squirt of fresh lime. We\u2019re thinking about bringing it back. Truthfully, we don\u2019t have a signature cocktail right now, but this time has given us moments to think about stuff like that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Tipitina\u2019s:<\/strong> Subscribe to Tipitina\u2019s Record Club, purchase livestream tickets at Tipitina\u2019s TV, shop the merch store, or donate directly<\/p>\n

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Outside of Tipitina\u2019s. Photo by Joshua McGowan.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Return to top of page.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Midwest<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Jump to: Trinosophes | Wooly\u2019s | Constellation | First Avenue | The Hideout | Slowdown | The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Graphic by Drew Litowitz, photos by Stacy Schwartz, Ryan Watanabe, Justin Sengly, Steve Cohen, and Meredith Kestel<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Trinosophes<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Detroit, Michigan<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 250
Established:<\/strong> 2011
Best Known For:<\/strong> Out-there sounds (and biscuits)<\/p>\n

By Evan Minsker<\/em><\/p>\n

A night at Trinosophes might mean you got tickets to see Colombian experimental sorceress Lucrecia Dalt or Tuareg guitar virtuoso Mdou Moctar or a legend like Hans-Joachim Roedelius, known for his work with krautrock pioneers Cluster and Harmonia. It might mean you\u2019re in a room watching a lesser-known jazz combo, an unpredictable noise act, or a local record release party. Unlike huge venues in Detroit that regularly host bigger names, the programming at Trinosophes feels more intimate, and curated to the owners\u2019 DIY ethos.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Located in a former spice processing warehouse, Trinosophes is a multipurpose creative hub run by musician\/composer Joel Peterson and curator\/publisher Rebecca Mazzei, who respectively run the label Two Rooms Records and the journal Three Fold Press<\/em> out of the space. Along with being a music venue, it\u2019s also an art gallery (they once displayed jazz great Yusef Lateef\u2019s illustrated works) and a cafe (their signature buttermilk biscuits are worth a trip alone). Sometimes there\u2019s a retail space set up in the gallery; I once bought a giant piece of furniture and a cup of coffee at the counter before popping into the adjacent Peoples Records. Another time I was supposed to interview local noise-rock linchpins Wolf Eyes at some normie bar, but instead, the band told me to drive them to Trinosophes because the vibe was better. There are almost always artists and musicians hanging around, and the team at Trinosophes actively works to help the city\u2019s creatives find opportunities and even grant money.<\/p>\n

While Trinosophes has been closed since Michigan\u2019s first state shutdown order went into place last March, it\u2019s remained a space where artists record music, publications are planned, and baked goods are served on weekends.<\/p>\n

What does an average day at Trinosophes look like during normal times?<\/div>\n

Joel Peterson:<\/strong> It’s really a range. If you walk in randomly, you could get a lot of different impressions depending on when you come and what the vibe is and who shows up. The typical day probably would be a composite that includes the water service being shut off for several hours, some crazy dude running in the building and screaming, and then a bunch of European musicians will show up. We\u2019ll have full tables for a lunch shift, and then it’ll be just crickets for four hours, and then some amazing concert will happen, and somewhere between nine and 300 people will show up.<\/p>\n

What do people in the city say is special about Trinosophes?<\/div>\n

Rebecca and I were talking with George Tysh, who was a founding member of [progressive collective] Detroit Artists Workshop in the \u201960s, and he was like, \u201cYou guys are exactly what Detroit Artists Workshop was trying to be, but we could never get it together like you guys.\u201d Just recently, I\u2019d been published in a MOCAD book about music where I identified Detroit Artists Workshop as being the root of all DIY culture, so it was funny to get that back from him a few weeks later.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic concert that\u2019s happened at the venue?<\/div>\n

We hosted the artist talk and educational portions of the Trip Metal Festivals that Wolf Eyes did, and that first year, they had [electronic music pioneer] Morton Subotnick. I didn’t even know Subotnick was alive until they told me they had booked him for it. Just hearing him talk about his history and his craft was amazing. We also hosted Rashida Tlaib\u2019s party before she went off to Congress, and that had a really historic recording of her addressing her peers. The Master Musicians of Joujouka was a big one because their tour in the States consisted of the Lincoln Center, Bonnaroo, and Trinosophes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Trinosophes:<\/strong> Donate to the space and support their in-house partners by visiting Warda P\u00e2tisserie on weekends and shopping for records on Peoples\u2019 Discogs page.<\/p>\n

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Les Filles de Illighadad at Trinosphes. Photo by Doug Shimmin.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Wooly\u2019s<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Des Moines, Iowa<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 700
Established:<\/strong> 2012
Best Known For:<\/strong> Eclectic booking, good sound, familiar faces<\/p>\n

By Marc Hogan<\/em><\/p>\n

When Wooly\u2019s first opened its doors nine years ago, it filled a gap in Des Moines\u2019 music scene and helped to anchor a fledgling neighborhood. Named for its building\u2019s former life as a Woolworth\u2019s grocery store, Wooly\u2019s gave the mid-sized city a space for mid-size shows, slotting comfortably between 200-capacity bars and 1,000-capacity theaters. Its presence has also driven a boom in the city\u2019s so-called East Village district, a quick bridge stroll across the Des Moines River from downtown. Over the years, Wooly\u2019s has hosted artists across genres, including Jimmy Eat World, Sam Hunt, Danny Brown, Girl Talk, Spoon, Future Islands, hometown antiheroes Stone Sour, Japanese noise-rock luminaries Melt-Banana, and many more.<\/p>\n

At Wooly\u2019s shows, more often than not, it seems like everyone I know is there\u2014definitely the case at the last concert I attended pre-COVID, a typically raucous Black Lips gig. Owner Sam Summers, whose First Fleet Concerts also books the outdoor Hinterland Music Festival in St. Charles, Iowa, argues that arts and entertainment venues are crucial economic hubs. \u201cI like to think that Wooly\u2019s has been a catalyst for a little bit of what goes on around us,\u201d he says, with more than a smidge of self-effacing Midwestern understatement.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic concert that\u2019s happened here?<\/div>\n

Sam Summers:<\/strong> Gorilla Biscuits with Modern Life Is War in 2018. I used to listen to Gorilla Biscuits\u2019 tape, Start Today<\/em>, while I was mowing lawns growing up. Then I met [guitarist Alex Brown, a Des Moines native, who passed in 2019] and got really into his art. They weren\u2019t really touring. They were playing big festivals in other countries. Alex moved back here, and he wanted to do it, and have his family there and everything. I\u2019d say Black Flag was a close second.<\/p>\n

Is there something on display at the venue, maybe memorabilia, that\u2019s been there forever and everyone knows about?<\/div>\n

A couple of things, actually. Right in front there\u2019s this massive pasta case. We use it for merch now, like where bands set up in the lobby, but it was in an Italian grocery store a while ago. I guess it just moved around the block.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Kirk Blunck, who owned the building and passed away in 2016, was an architect but also a collector of art. There\u2019s this massive glass piece, I don\u2019t know what it is even, but it\u2019s in a frame. It\u2019s too big to get out of our doors, so we hung it above our box office\u2014which is a little scary, because it\u2019s so massive. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s something the public knows about.<\/p>\n

What have you been doing to keep the venue alive since the pandemic?<\/div>\n

We have learned to become great grant writers. Really, it\u2019s just figuring out what\u2019s out there, because there\u2019s been a lot of help in different forms.<\/p>\n

How to support Wooly\u2019s:<\/strong> Buy tickets to upcoming shows<\/p>\n

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Constellation<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Chicago, Illinois<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 300 (standing), ~175 (seated)
Established:<\/strong> 2013
Best Known For:<\/strong> Experimental and improvised music<\/p>\n

By Liz Pesnel<\/em><\/p>\n

When Mike Reed opened the Constellation in Chicago, he joked that opening a music venue is the most foolish thing you can do, so it\u2019s only fitting that their anniversary is on April Fool\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

The venue, originally formed as a for-profit in 2013, evolved into a non-profit in 2018 that continues to give artists space to both perform and develop new work, with a focus on jazz and contemporary classical. It\u2019s not unusual to see local musicians Ben LaMar Gay and Macie Stewart or international artists like the Scandanavian band, Atomic, at Constellation, a small, black box-style space that\u2019s akin to literal stargazing. Every show feels intimate, and wherever you sit has a cool view. \u201cThis is exactly what I would do if I won the lottery,\u201d says Reed, who also happens to be our longtime production partner for Pitchfork Music Festival. \u201cHave a place where I can present and be inspired by things that do that for me. I think that really does come off to people.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are some of the most famous bands or artists to have performed at Constellation?<\/div>\n

Will Oldham, Roscoe Mitchell, Bill Callahan, Amy Schumer, Low, Cate Le Bon, Bonnie Prince Billy with Bitchin Bajas, and Sun Ra Arkestra.<\/p>\n

What does an average day at Constellation look like in normal times?<\/div>\n

It\u2019s unique because we share the space with [another organization], Links Hall. During the day there are usually performers [and] artists\u2014not musicians\u2014that are using the rooms to work on whatever, [whether it\u2019s] a show they\u2019re developing [or] a workshop. That\u2019s what\u2019s going on until about four almost every day. After four, it reverts to the venue part of it.<\/p>\n

What has an average day at this venue looked like during COVID?<\/div>\n

We\u2019ve been streaming one or two shows a week. People sort of pop in when they need to, to get the piano tuned or run cables. \u2026 We did a bunch of research, and then started to bring back a few of the tech folks to try and do it safely. And then Chicago Jazz Fest needed to go virtual. We filmed 18 performances in a weekend. So it\u2019s been really great for us, spiritually. We put all of our stuff on YouTube [because] for the audiences we\u2019re aiming at, I don\u2019t want to put up a barrier to entry. And these musicians are maybe making 30 percent more online on the streaming, donation-based concerts. And that\u2019s great.<\/p>\n

What artists are you excited to feature once shows are back?<\/div>\n

When we did the first show back right at the beginning of August, Jim Elkington played. And I hadn\u2019t seen live music in months. It was so miraculous to be in a room with somebody making music. I got to be there, and it was unreal. A couple of weeks after that, I played there and it was like, wow, I remember why I do this<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Is there something on display at the venue, maybe memorabilia, that\u2019s been there forever and everyone knows about?<\/div>\n

[There\u2019s] a photo of [saxophonist and club owner] Fred Anderson at The Velvet Lounge behind the bar\u2014he\u2019s got a saxophone out. We had a lot of conversations about business. I would go over there and help him out, especially when The Velvet Lounge moved; and we\u2019d talk in philosophical terms about business and trying to keep the music going. So I had that photo at home, and I was like, you know what, this is going right above the bar. From day one, I put it up there, and then the [photographer] came in, and he\u2019s like, \u2018No, you need a bigger one.\u2019 So he made a bigger print, and we put that up. Of course, not everybody knows who Fred is, but for the people that know, they know how important that is.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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(Fred passed away in 2010, prior to Constellation opening)<\/em><\/p>\n

How to support Constellation:<\/strong> Tune into a show, buy merch, or donate.<\/p>\n

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\"Vincent<\/span><\/div>\n
Vincent and Danny along with the Arkestra at Constellation. Photo Lauren Deutsch.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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First Avenue<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Minneapolis, Minnesota<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 1,550
Established:<\/strong> 1970
Best Known For:<\/strong> Launching local legends<\/p>\n

By Marc Hogan<\/em><\/p>\n

Immortalized in Prince\u2019s film Purple Rain<\/em>, First Avenue has been home to all of the brightest lights in the Twin Cities\u2019 overachieving music scene, from the Replacements and H\u00fcsker D\u00fc all the way up through Lizzo. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter your age or what style of music you listened to: If you live in the area, you\u2019ve probably been to a show at First Avenue,\u201d marketing director Ashley Ryan says. (My own experiences at the address\u2014seeing both indie rockers Chastity Belt and rap renegade JPEGMAFIA at the attached, 250-capacity 7th St Entry\u2014back ups Ryan\u2019s claims of eclecticism.) Initially known as the Depot, because it\u2019s located in a former Greyhound bus station, First Avenue is a local fixture with an influence on the community that extends beyond the walls of its performance space. During the pandemic, the venue has focused on boosting BIPOC-owned businesses in its newsletters and getting the word out about local COVID resources.<\/p>\n

As president of the National Independent Venue Association, First Avenue owner Dayna Frank led the national effort behind the Save Our Stages legislation, which has resulted in $15 billion in funding being dedicated to cultural institutions. The venue\u2019s 50th anniversary passed silently during the pandemic; its 51st will happen next month, and plans for a digital commemoration are underway.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your best memory of a show at First Avenue?<\/div>\n

Ashley Ryan:<\/strong> D\u2019Angelo has to be an all-time highlight for me. The energy in the room was out of control. It sold out immediately, and everyone wanted to be in that space. And he’s a disciple of Prince himself. He really is such an accomplished musician and it just all came together in this magical night.<\/p>\n

Is there anything you\u2019re excited to show off once the venue opens again?<\/div>\n

I don’t think anybody knows about this yet, but we actually received a Lego model of the building, full of Lego people and a Lego band and a Lego line at the door, that probably will be on display in the future.<\/p>\n

What is the bathroom situation like?<\/div>\n

Oh man. We definitely are on some [worst bathroom] lists out there. The bathrooms have been redone and actually they’ll be getting probably more upgrades as we\u2019re opening post-pandemic. Our sinks and paper towel dispensers are touchless, so it\u2019s a very sanitary situation\u2014but it’s this amazing old art deco building, and the bathrooms are still from the bus station.<\/p>\n

What local bands are you excited to feature on stage once shows are back?<\/div>\n

Every year, First Avenue does a January show called Best New Bands, and the ones that we had on our lineup last year didn\u2019t get a fair shake. They got to play in January, and then by March we were closed. I\u2019d like to give them a little bit of love: Under Violet, Nur-D, Muun Bato, Mae Simpson, Loki\u2019s Folly, and Green\/Blue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support First Avenue:<\/strong> Buy merch and donate to local nonprofit Twin Cities Music Community Trust to help gig workers<\/p>\n

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\"The<\/span><\/div>\n
Photo by Laura Buhman<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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The Hideout<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Chicago, Illinois<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 150
Established:<\/strong> 1934
Best Known For:<\/strong> Eclectic lineups and an activist heart<\/p>\n

By Seth Dodson<\/em><\/p>\n

The Hideout is one of Chicago\u2019s best-known venues, though it\u2019s not exactly a bar you can stumble upon. Tucked away in an industrial corridor along the Chicago River in a 100-year-old balloon-frame house, it\u2019s an unassuming spot with a big heart. Its co-owners\u2014married couple Tim and Katie Tuten, and twin brothers Mike and Jim Hinchsliff\u2014have run the venue since 1996, providing a hub for fans of indie rock, bluegrass, and comedy. It was here that Mavis Staples recorded her milestone 2008 live album Hope at the Hideout<\/em> (Jeff Tweedy came, marking the beginning of a prolific partnership).<\/p>\n

How has the Hideout changed over the last 25 years?<\/div>\n

Katie Tuten:<\/strong> We have [eras] of The Hideout where we might\u2019ve been more heavy on this or that type of music. But the thing that has never changed is that we are a community house. You can see the different types of music that have been brought to the table, but the underlying theme is community.<\/p>\n

From a musician\u2019s perspective, what is the emotional place that The Hideout has in Chicago and for your community?<\/div>\n

Morimoto (Program director):<\/strong> The Hideout is where artists come to see interesting shows. They meet people and foster new relationships, which leads to new projects that come back to play at The Hideout\u2014kind of a circle of events. It\u2019s a place where you can experiment and try new things. That was exciting to me, as an audience member and now as a booker, too.<\/p>\n

The Hideout was a founding member of Chicago Independent Venue League and National Independent Venue Association. Can you speak to the formation of those organizations?<\/div>\n

Katie:<\/strong> CIVL was formed in an effort to stop the corporatization of venues in Chicago. NIVA looked to us because we are one of the few cities in the country that already had a consortium of venue owners, collectively meeting to address any number of issues, whether that\u2019s boring things like HVAC systems or the Save Our Stages Act.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support the Hideout:<\/strong> The Hideout continues on with live-streaming programming, has a wonderful on-line shop with Chicago artist designed merch, and an active GoFundMe to support the staff.<\/p>\n

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Slowdown<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Omaha, Nebraska<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 588
Established:<\/strong> 2007
Best Known For:<\/strong> Modernizing live music in Omaha<\/p>\n

By Andy Cush<\/em><\/p>\n

In the early 2000s, as the success of bands like Bright Eyes and Cursive was turning Omaha into a significant way station on the national indie rock circuit, artists who came through town had few good venues to play. So Saddle Creek Records, the label that signed those groups, decided to solve the problem itself. Co-owners Rob Nansel and Jason Kulbel called the place Slowdown, in honor of the band that kickstarted the Saddle Creek scene.<\/p>\n

The pair spent seven years scouting locations, at first hoping to renovate a pre-existing theater. But after a few false starts, they decided to build something from the ground up. Planning everything to their specifications, they designed a room in which there\u2019s \u201ctruly not a bad spot to see a show,\u201d according to Kulbel, with a wraparound second-floor balcony and no giant support poles to block views. The venue itself anchors a larger mixed-use complex, also built by the Slowdown team, that includes a nonprofit movie theater, restaurants, a brewery, and Saddle Creek\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n

Before the pandemic, Kulbel had hoped 2020 would be one of the most successful years in Slowdown\u2019s history. Today, they\u2019re operating with a reduced staff and plan to resume limited-capacity shows with local bands in April. \u201cWe\u2019re still here. We\u2019re gonna open again,\u201d Kulbel says. \u201cSo it could be worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why did 2020 seem like it would be such a big year?<\/div>\n

Jason Kulbel:<\/strong> We had the best staff we\u2019ve ever had, the best upcoming calendar we\u2019ve ever had, the best January and February we\u2019ve ever had. Some years, those months are awful, but we were just crushing. It\u2019s almost like the bottom had to fall off, you know? It\u2019s just too good to be true.<\/p>\n

Reopening is going to be really hard, because everything that you had before is gone. The staff is gone, the shows are gone. We\u2019re opening with all local stuff, which is fine, but it\u2019s not going to bring people out, it\u2019s not what people really want to see as a whole. So you\u2019re going to be opening as a skeleton of yourself. It would almost be easier just to open a brand new place.<\/p>\n

Have you gotten guidance about reopening from local officials?<\/div>\n

We\u2019re in the middle of the country, so COVID isn\u2019t real over here. You would probably be shocked. This other venue in town, our peer venue, is open already. And the further you drive out to the suburbs, the less real the pandemic gets. It\u2019s weird, having the governor and the county telling you it\u2019s OK to do things, you don\u2019t need to have these restrictions anymore. It would be easier if they would just say, you can\u2019t open. Then I would know what to do. But instead we have not had a lot of guidance, and we\u2019re left to weave through this as we see fit. Which is a pretty dangerous place to be in, both in setting up your reopening plan and trying to enforce it. I had a lot of sleepless nights last March and April because of the business being closed, and now I feel like I\u2019m going to have those same sleepless nights, but for very different reasons.<\/p>\n

What do people in Omaha like about Slowdown?<\/div>\n

The luxury that we had in building this was that we truly started on paper and built it. Robb and I, we were literally traveling the world, going to club after club. Between that and talking to all of our bands, we had a good idea of what worked and didn\u2019t work in a venue, for both the band and the fan. So we drew out on paper what we thought was the perfect space to come and see a show of that size. There\u2019s a handful of things I\u2019d probably change, but not many. It\u2019s held up really well. It\u2019s built to have the hell beat out of it. It\u2019s an A-plus venue in a not-even-close-to-an-A-plus market.<\/p>\n

What are some of your favorite shows you\u2019ve hosted there?<\/div>\n

The pound-for-pound most kickass band has been Against Me! They\u2019ve been here five or six times over the years, and they have always been amazing. They\u2019re not my favorite band \u2014 nothing against them \u2014 but when it comes to playing a show in our room, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support the Slowdown:<\/strong> Buy merch and tickets to upcoming shows<\/p>\n

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The Beachland Ballroom & Tavern<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Cleveland, Ohio<\/strong>
Founded:<\/strong> 2000
Capacity:<\/strong> 648 across two stages
Best Known For:<\/strong> Revitalizing the North Collinwood neighborhood and giving the Black Keys their start<\/p>\n

By Jillian Mapes<\/em><\/p>\n

Beachland Ballroom co-owner Cindy Barber rattles off the names of artists tentatively scheduled to play the venue this fall: Waxahatchee, Yo La Tengo, Thee Oh Sees, Caroline Rose, Baths, Brand X, Moon Hooch. \u201cSomething\u2019s gonna happen, because they wouldn\u2019t be booking shows if there wasn\u2019t some hope,\u201d she says. In the meantime, Barber and fellow co-owner Mark Leddy have been making the most of it at the former Croatian social club, now a centerpiece of Cleveland\u2019s Waterloo Arts District. Though the space remains wonderfully retro, with a disco ball hanging and paintings of the Croatian countryside flanking the stage, they\u2019ve used the pandemic lull to renovate the main ballroom, upgrading from an old-school analog soundboard to a digital one that better facilitates live-streaming. They also improvised ways to throw the occasional (safe) show throughout the late summer and fall last year, either in the parking lot or with drastically reduced crowds. After having to shut things down in November, they recently reopened again at roughly an eighth of their usual capacity. Right now, the bookings consist mostly of smaller rescheduled tours, typically doing two shows a night, and homegrown acts. \u201cThis is a good time to help build audiences for local bands,\u201d says Barber. \u201cPeople are hungry for music.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do people in town say is special about your venue?<\/div>\n

Cindy Barber:<\/strong> I think they like the authenticity of the Beachland. We always set out to be diverse in our booking style. We started with Americana and garage rock, and we also did jazz and blues and Texas swing. We flew Hank Thompson up from Texas to play one of our anniversaries, and brought in Alex Chilton and the Ventures. At the same time, we\u2019ve always wanted to support the new young bands. We\u2019re known for giving the Black Keys their start, \u2019cause they played their first live show at the Beachland in March 2002. Drive-By Truckers, Josh Ritter, the Hold Steady, the National, Trampled by Turtles\u2014a lot of these people got their start on our small stage and we\u2019d work them up to the ballroom, and then oftentimes we could help promote them at larger venues in Cleveland, too.<\/p>\n

How is the larger arts community in Cleveland doing right now?<\/div>\n

Well, there\u2019s been a lot of money distributed through the county CARES Act. Cleveland has a big nonprofit funding structure [for the arts]: There\u2019s a cigarette tax in Cuyahoga County that allocates millions of dollars to support nonprofits, and places like the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are big benefactors of that arts funding. Because the venues have been really organized here, we were able to collectively be part of that conversation [during COVID] and go, \u201cWe are also<\/em> part of the arts community in this county. Even though the work\u2019s not officially a nonprofit, we\u2019re still in this together.\u201d We were able to get funding through the county CARES Act\u2014we kind of fought for that. What each performance venue was able to get depended on their size, but the Beachland was able to get $47,000.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re starting to put on indoor shows again. What does that look like, staff-wise and with the safety protocols?<\/div>\n

It\u2019s a completely different experience in the ballroom right now. We can only have 64 people at 16 tables, with barriers in between tables that are a little closer to each other. We\u2019re basically selling 16 tickets to every show\u2014you have to buy a four-top table so you\u2019re in your own little pod. We went from a staff of 23 people before COVID to a hands-on staff of five or six. Instead of a ticket taker, we have a greeter who seats people and tells them the rules. We have two servers now who go to the tables and take orders, so people aren\u2019t up and moving around. My little staff has this magic yellow piece of string that\u2019s exactly six feet [laughs<\/em>]. They measure it out and make sure everyone is six feet apart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support the Beachland Ballroom:<\/strong> Buy their new and improved merch<\/p>\n

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Return to top of page.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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Southwest<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Jump to: Mohawk | Meow Wolf\u2019s House of Eternal Return | Warehouse Live<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Graphic by Drew Litowitz, photos by Kate Russell, Jennifer Reister, and Chiddy<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Mohawk<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Austin, Texas<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 900
Established:<\/strong> 2006
Best Known For:<\/strong> Its beautiful multi-tiered outdoor setup<\/p>\n

By Cat Zhang<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAll are welcome.\u201d That\u2019s the proud motto of Austin\u2019s Mohawk, an indoor-outdoor venue situated next to a vegan queer bar and the German-Texan Historical Society. And if you don\u2019t believe it, the taxidermied bear in a pale blue Nudie suit that greets you on the way in should drive it home. The Mohawk opened its doors in 2006 and has embraced both local talent (like the cumbia-pop quartet Como Las Movies) and national favorites (Yo La Tengo, Rico Nasty). In non-pandemic times, it hosts between 10 and 12 shows a week in its multi-level amphitheater and on a smaller indoor stage.<\/p>\n

Mohawk assistant general manager Mikey Wheeler has been the venue\u2019s only employee while it weathers the pandemic with closed doors. He spends his days checking on grant opportunities and prepping for multiple possible reopening scenarios. He gets overwhelmed thinking of all of the local bands he wants to host when things return to normal. \u201cJust running it through my head, everyone\u2019s faces, brings tears to my eyes,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Have you been getting relief from the local or national government?<\/div>\n

Mikey Wheeler:<\/strong> We have. The City of Austin was a little slow at the start, but they’ve ramped up and recognized that it’s unrealistic for businesses to sustain themselves for so long with such dramatic revenue losses. Then we have multiple former employees, plus myself, who are members of the National Independent Venue Association. One of them, Austen Bailey, was extremely active in lobbying to get the Save Our Stages act passed.<\/p>\n

What were some of the Mohawk\u2019s most historic concerts?<\/div>\n

We had Iggy and the Stooges in 2013 for South by Southwest. In 2019, we did three nights with Black Pumas, who blew up. So I don’t know if we’ll be able to get them back into the venue again. But that was phenomenal.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your most memorable concert memory?<\/div>\n

MW: The Dillinger Escape Plan was one of the first shows that I was the manager on duty for. I was in the office, ready to settle up with the promoter and band. The general manager at the time came in and told me I had to come outside real quick and look at what’s going on. I thought that something horrible had happened, but I went out and all these fans were just up on the stage having a blast. It was amazing. It really sunk in that Mohawk was going to be my home for a while.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Mohawk:<\/strong> Donate to Banding Together to help the Austin music scene and give your bartender a good tip!<\/p>\n

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Meow Wolf\u2019s House of Eternal Return<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Santa Fe, New Mexico<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 400
Established:<\/strong> 2016
Best Known For:<\/strong> Immersive psychedelia<\/p>\n

By Jeremy D. Larson<\/em><\/p>\n

How it started: a ragtag group of artists turning a disused barbershop in Santa Fe into a DIY art space. How it\u2019s going: a multimedia conglomerate with its own film production company; massive psychedelic art installations in three cities, with more in the works; and a founder who went from shoplifting video games to make rent to raising millions of dollars in VC funding. At the heart of the Meow Wolf empire sits House of Eternal Return, located in a Santa Fe shopping mall and funded in part by George R. R. Martin, a complex which can be described only partially as a music venue. It also features an enormous walk-through art installation, a lysergic cornucopia of oddly satisfying or unsettling objects, like the midpoint between a cabinet of curiosities and a laser tag arena. There\u2019s a blacklight forest, a portal inside of a refrigerator, a cigarette machine that dispenses art, taxidermy covered in felt and sequins.<\/p>\n

We spoke with Susan Garbett, the General Manager of Meow Wolf\u2019s House of Eternal Return, who hopes that when live music returns to the stage, you\u2019ll come to Meow Wolf, buy the ticket, and take the ride.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like when you walk through the doors at House of Eternal Return?<\/div>\n

Susan Garbett:<\/strong> When you walk into the art exhibit, you’re walking into a front yard of a Victorian home. You see a two-story house, and you walk into the house, and the house seems normal. But as you head into the kitchen, there’s a refrigerator, and you open it, and you can walk through the fridge into a portal to a different universe.<\/p>\n

You’re not showing up and having this traditional experience of going to the bar first and smoking a cigarette outside and chatting with your friends. You’re entering this headspace of creativity as you’re heading to the venue. We call the venue itself “Fancy Town,” and it’s like a psychedelic ghost town. We’ve got a fairly small stage, but we have really amazing neon projection mapping all throughout the space. Right off the venue, there’s a lighthouse that doubles as a photo booth. There’s a hollowed-out ice machine that you can walk through and it’s like an infinity mirror space.<\/p>\n

This sounds very Flaming Lips-y.<\/div>\n

Oh my god, yes. Wayne Coyne\u2019s a big fan of Meow Wolf. We have hilarious stories from our staff of all of the crazy psychedelics that people come and do when they visit, even without shows.<\/p>\n

Can you please describe the \u201cMeowgarita\u201d?<\/div>\n

It’s a color-changing margarita. It has blue pea flower tea and it\u2019s topped with a salt rim and a big puff of cotton candy.<\/p>\n

How can people support Meow Wolf during this time?<\/div>\n

Meow Wolf is in a unique situation because we have a different business model than other venues. We’re gonna be able to open soon, in a different capacity. And while it will take a while for us to have concerts coming back, we’re very fortunate that we’ll still be able to operate and keep people working.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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I think the biggest thing that Meow Wolf would tell you to do is to support artists within your community and people that you love and care about: the visual artists, musicians, or venues and venue staff. A thriving arts community and a thriving music scene is good for everyone. So find your local DIY art space or music space and support that, because that’s what will make a great community, and that’s what Meow Wolf wants to be a part of.<\/p>\n

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\"Dressedup<\/span><\/div>\n
A Halloween party at Meow Wolf\u2019s House of Eternal Return. Photo by Kate Russell.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Warehouse Live<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Houston, Texas<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 1,300
Established:<\/strong> 2006
Best Known For:<\/strong> Eclectic lineups and rap mainstays<\/p>\n

By Brandon Caldwell<\/em><\/p>\n

Warehouse Live\u2019s huge marquee has made it a visible landmark in Houston\u2019s East Downtown neighborhood for the past 15 years. The club is the only place in town where you can hear rock, country, and Screw music all on the same night, and catch both rising hopefuls and chart-topping icons. (Drake has performed there, and Prince made an appearance on NBA All-Star Weekend in 2006.)<\/p>\n

For local artists, graduating from one of Warehouse\u2019s three spaces \u2014 the intimate Green Room, the Studio, and the Ballroom \u2014 to the next is an important mile marker in their careers. And selling out a show could put them a step closer to being the next Megan Thee Stallion or Travis Scott, both of whom came up through the venue. \u201cWarehouse is special,\u201d says longtime venue marketing director Ashly Montgomery. \u201cAnything can happen, and you can dream big.\u201d<\/p>\n

How is the venue dealing with Texas Governor Greg Abbott\u2019s announcement to end the mask mandate?<\/div>\n

I felt like I was going to rip my hair out. I don\u2019t understand the timing of the announcement, but there\u2019s so much mystery and shade and suspicion to everything. When we were having these little tribute band shows, it was only so the bartenders could make money and make their rent. We\u2019re going to have to have an in-depth conversation about this, \u201cDo we want to be open?\u201d Now with people not having to really wear masks, it\u2019s become a more difficult conversation.<\/p>\n

Who are the biggest artists to come through Warehouse?<\/div>\n

Drake came twice. Kendrick Lamar once did two shows in one night. We\u2019ve had Megan Thee Stallion, Prince, Devo, Duran Duran, Adele when she was just breaking out with 19<\/em>. We even had Nine Inch Nails. Oh my God, Travis Scott. I got horrible pictures but I remember he jumped from the racks in the ceiling onto the crowd below. But the biggest? Easily the Drake show in \u201809, which kind of set him up for the rest of his career and then the Houston Appreciation Weekend show years later. You had this guy, who wasn\u2019t really from Houston, but he\u2019s adopted now, and it was fuckin\u2019 cool.<\/p>\n

How special was Duran Duran?<\/div>\n

I remember everyone<\/em> being hammered. Everyone. People that work at the venue that don\u2019t even drink. Even our accountant! She doesn\u2019t drink but her husband had to get her and take her back home in their minivan. We felt like we were all on MTV that night.<\/p>\n

What would be your dream first show back?<\/div>\n

Give me all the Houston legends. Screwed Up Click, Swishahouse. Hell, Megan or even Beyonc\u00e9. I can\u2019t do any more arena rock! If you want to support us, just buy a ticket! That\u2019s how you can support us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Warehouse Live:<\/strong> Buy a ticket.<\/p>\n

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\"Audience<\/span><\/div>\n
Photo by Jennifer Reister<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Return to top of page.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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West<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Jump to: Holocene | Neurolux | Chilkoot Charlie\u2019s | 924 Gilman | Neumos | Catch One | Pappy and Harriet\u2019s<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Graphic by Drew Litowitz, photos by Pappy + Harriet\u2019s, Daniel Hager, Major Arcana Photography, Katie Hall, Gretchen Fitzgibbon, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Catch One, and Gus Rojas<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Holocene<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Portland, Oregon<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 325
Established:<\/strong> 2003
Best Known For:<\/strong> Bringing the community together<\/p>\n

By Philip Sherburne<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite its small size, Portland\u2019s Holocene has hosted a number of marquee names over the last 18 years, many of them early in their careers: Fleet Foxes, Justice, Vampire Weekend\u2014even Billie Eilish came through before her big break. Bon Iver was so struck by the place that he named a song after it. But these brushes with indie celebrity belie the Eastside club\u2019s primary focus on its immediate community, as a home base for local bands and DJs, an outpost for niche sounds, and a platform for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC events. It has remained a unifying presence over the last year, despite the pandemic\u2019s enforced shift from IRL to URL, hosting livestreamed DJ nights and fundraising events for BIPOC nonprofits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In normal times, says co-owner Scott McLean, \u201cIt\u2019s a place where different facets of the community can come together in a unique space that isn\u2019t old-school Portland. It\u2019s not like that bar from Portlandia<\/em> where everyone\u2019s got suspenders on. We do hip-hop nights, tropical nights, techno nights. One of the reasons we\u2019ve stayed around for 18 years is that we offer so many things to so many different people.\u201d<\/p>\n

How have you adapted to the pandemic?<\/div>\n

Scott McLean:<\/strong> Right after the lockdown, we invested money in cameras and gear and had our lead audio tech and lighting guy get up to speed on streaming. We just learned on the fly, and some of those streams were pretty successful. Some nights we raised $6,000, $7,000 in gross. It was all donation based. After the techs were paid, we basically split the money 50\/50 with the DJs.<\/p>\n

With the social unrest in the summer, we pivoted to events where all the money was going to BIPOC-aligned nonprofits, and we didn\u2019t take any cut. A local group called the Black Music Expo contacted us, and we helped them develop a streaming program and shot a lot of stuff at Holocene. We did a couple of things for organizations raising money around the election. So we\u2019ve been doing more pro bono work. Obviously it\u2019s not a moneymaker, but it\u2019s been really fulfilling.<\/p>\n

Can you recall a favorite night in the club?<\/div>\n

We had an epic dance party in 2008, when Obama was elected, celebrating the end of the Bush era. It was one of those joyous nights, pure ecstasy. I look back on it with a weird nostalgia.<\/p>\n

What does an average day at the venue look like during COVID?<\/div>\n

Oregon was unique: We formed the Independent Venue Coalition, which is like Oregon\u2019s version of the NIVA, and lobbied our state representatives to give grant money to all the venues in Oregon. We got about eight months of money, which was supposed to be portioned for March through December 2020. That really helped. It was nowhere near what we would make regularly, but because our operations were so minimal, we were able to hire staff to work on things like painting and repairs. But we haven\u2019t been open to the public at all. If we could pay our staff to not work, then we were going to do that, rather than try to figure out some way to make a very minimal amount of money and put people at risk in the process.<\/p>\n

What are your predictions for the coming year?<\/div>\n

It\u2019s going to be 2022 before major tours happen. Local stuff will be the meat and potatoes of entertainment and income. Tours will be regional, because of states having different restrictions, different vaccination rates. We are well situated in that we can do local dance parties. We might not be doing the same numbers on the weekend, but I think there will be an opportunity to spread things across the week. The weekend warrior situation where you\u2019re in a room with 300 people on a Saturday night is less appealing and less essential. But a Monday or Tuesday night with 50 people dancing to reggaet\u00f3n or whatever will be amazing for people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Holocene:<\/strong> Buy merch and tickets to upcoming shows and livestreams<\/p>\n

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\"Maarquii<\/span><\/div>\n
Maarquii, Chanti Darling, and William Ylvisaker at Holocene. Photo by Major Arcana Photography.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Neurolux<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Boise, Idaho<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 300
Established:<\/strong> 1993
Best Known For:<\/strong> The all-in-one music venue, bar, and dance club in downtown Boise<\/p>\n

By Sam Sodomsky<\/em><\/p>\n

In former lives, the space that now houses Neurolux was a blacksmith shop, a radio repair center, and a pizza parlor. But when Allen Ireland opened it in 1993, next to the independent music store Record Exchange, it became a fixture in a flourishing music scene, hosting pivotal shows from Boise\u2019s own Built to Spill and Youth Lagoon along with Pacific Northwest artists like Modest Mouse and Elliott Smith. Patrons know Neurolux for its tight barroom feel and the giant neon crown behind the stage. \u201cAllen collects a bunch of antiques,\u201d says booker Eric Gilbert. \u201cI think that\u2019s from some breakfast restaurant, or a casino.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gilbert, who also runs the production company Duck Club Presents and helped found Boise\u2019s annual Treefort Music Fest in 2012, notes that the city\u2019s communal atmosphere is crucial to the success of Neurolux. \u201cWith Radio Boise and Record Exchange in the neighborhood too,\u201d he says, \u201cthere\u2019s a hub that makes it easy for bands to go to the studio, then do an in-store, and play a show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neurolux\u2019s outdoor patio has been a COVID-safe hangout for the past year, but Gilbert is eager for the venue to resume more normal, which also includes karaoke and raucous late-night DJ sets. \u201cIt’s almost like a European club,\u201d Gilbert says. \u201cSome of my favorite times are just when everyone’s on the stage and it\u2019s a wild dance party.\u201d<\/p>\n

What was the scene like in Boise around the time Neurolux opened?<\/div>\n

There was a lot of optimism on the scene. Built to Spill were coming up then and there were a handful of other bands that were kind of getting the Seattle treatment: Everyone was starting to pay attention. It was an exciting moment. I know Doug Martsch bartended at Neurolux when it first opened, and he would play a bunch of shows back then. In fact, I\u2019ve been helping him with some Zoom charity performances, and one of them was for Neurolux.<\/p>\n

How did that community evolve to the point when something like Treefort Music Fest, which represents Boise bands and venues, could become an institution?<\/div>\n

In the \u201990s, there was the initial optimism but it kind of went away. There was a little bit of entrenched cynicism. It became hard for bands in Boise to get any attention unless they left. I was in a band of my own, on a label out of Portland, and I was touring a lot. But I loved living in Idaho. We played CMJ and South by Southwest, and I thought it’d be cool to have some sort of festival to help shine a light on the local scene, which was actually more vibrant than even the locals knew. That was the impetus in doing a multi-venue festival. A lot of the showcase festivals are pretty industry facing, so we wanted to do it a little more DIY. The first show our very first year was at Neurolux. Nobody knew if it was going to work, but then Lux was packed at like 6 p.m. on a Thursday. It felt like a big, collaborative, community project.<\/p>\n

What do bands like about playing Neurolux?<\/div>\n

There’s just an intimacy. When a lot of bands are on the road and staying in town, they\u2019ll come here, like the Flaming Lips. There was one night when Wayne [Coyne] was just hanging out. One of the cool things\u2014and one of the bad things\u2014about Neurolux is that there is no green room. Artists don’t love that all the time, but it is cool because they can just hang out. Another thing about Neurolux is that it\u2019s also open as a bar, so we don’t do closed soundchecks. Sometimes artists don’t love that either! But they also embrace it: \u201cOh yeah, this is where we came from.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Neurolux:<\/strong> Venmo the staff @Neurolux.<\/p>\n

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Chilkoot Charlie\u2019s<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Anchorage, Alaska<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 999
Established:<\/strong> 1970
Best Known For:<\/strong> A space big enough to hold something for everybody<\/p>\n

By Zachariah Hughes<\/em><\/p>\n

Chilkoot Charlie\u2019s (known by Alaskans as simply \u201cKoot\u2019s\u201d) is more than your typical music venue\u2014it\u2019s a rambling entertainment compound that takes up almost a full city block. There are multiple stages and bars, plus an arcade, much of which are decorated in an impressive collection of Russian memorabilia, including a lifesize model of the Sputnik satellite. One of the bars is an exact replica of a notorious Alaska saloon that burned down, meticulously recreated down to the crooked bar top and wall plastered with bras and underwear.<\/p>\n

But everything inside centers around music. Even in more normal times, Anchorage isn\u2019t exactly a hotbed of live music. So Koot\u2019s is one of the few places to see famous artists, or local metal acts, or cover bands playing 80s rock ballads.<\/p>\n

For decades, Koot\u2019s was open every single day, through holidays, storms and earthquakes. Mandatory closures during the pandemic have forced the venue to shutter for the first time since its founding. Regular customers have provided a small trickle of business since the city allowed bars and restaurants to re-open with capacity limits. But live music and dancing are still off the table, and likely to remain so for months.<\/p>\n

Who are the most famous bands or artists that have come through this space?<\/div>\n

Sarah Pederson (co-owner):<\/strong> 36 Crazyfists. August Burns Red. Whitesnake and Ted Nugent back in the day. The Scorpions. Pantera hung out at Koot\u2019s when they played [Alaskan arena] the Sullivan Arena, so there\u2019s been a lot of that as well. Portugal. The Man actually played a really cool show after they got big. Sublime played outside [in the parking lot], and that was a pretty big deal at the time. So did Papa Roach, I believe.<\/p>\n

What do people in the city say is special about this venue?<\/div>\n

I think we\u2019re the only venue in town with multiple stages and dance floors. It\u2019s so big, and there are so many different rooms, that if you don\u2019t like what\u2019s happening in one room, you can walk into the next one and find something completely different.<\/p>\n

Does Koot\u2019s have a signature dish or cocktail?<\/div>\n

A shot called The T-bone. It started in Koot\u2019s. It was invented by the drummer of 36 Crazyfists, and his name is Thomas, hence the name. It\u2019s Southern Comfort, Amaretto, 7-Up, sweet-and-sour, and a splash of lime juice. If it\u2019s made right it tastes just like the Smarties candy.<\/p>\n

How to support Chilkoot Charlie\u2019s:<\/strong> Stop by and have a socially distanced drink.<\/p>\n

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924 Gilman<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Berkeley, California<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 225
Established:<\/strong> 1986
Best Known For:<\/strong> Being the launchpad for the \u201990s punk revival<\/p>\n

By Vivian Host<\/em><\/p>\n

There\u2019s no better embodiment of DIY punk than 924 Gilman. For 35 years, this former auto-detailing warehouse in an unassuming corner of West Berkeley has been volunteer-run, non-profit, all-ages safe space for punks and weirdos, upholding a \u201cno racism, no sexism, no homophobia, no alcohol, no drugs\u201d policy while hosting some of the wildest shows and moshpits on the planet. Gilman is famous for being the place where Operation Ivy, Rancid, The Offspring, A.F.I. and Green Day got their start; in tandem with local labels like Lookout! Records and Alternative Tentacles and zines such as Cometbus<\/em> and Maximumrocknroll<\/em>\u2014whose creator, Tim Yohannon (RIP), co-founded Gilman\u2014this squat brick building has helped establish the East Bay as a mecca for punk, metal, industrial and hardcore. Punk may have sold out but Gilman never did: major label bands are still banned, all decisions are voted on by volunteers, and generations of local bands have been able to hone their craft inside this dark, sweaty box, whether \u201990s Bay staples Blatz, Crimpshrine and Link 80 or current house favorites like Sarchasm, Grumpster and Get Married. Sarchasm guitarist Mateo Campos has been volunteering at Gilman since he was 12 years old\u201414 years later, he is one of the venue\u2019s head bookers and social media managers.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic concert that\u2019s happened at Gilman?<\/div>\n

Mateo Campos:<\/strong> Operation Ivy’s last show is up there, because that was also Green Day’s first show as Green Day (and not Sweet Children). The show that Fugazi played at Gilman with The Beatnigs, Yeastie Girlz, and Crimpshrine is one that people still hail as the coolest, weirdest show they saw.<\/p>\n

What was your personal favorite concert at the venue?<\/div>\n

Seeing Green Day at Gilman in 2015. It was a one-off benefit show that they played after the AK Press fire. We voted it in; it was a really special technicality because we don’t allow major label bands. It was so cool seeing Green Day in such a small space. Oh my god! I totally forgot that we hosted Jawbreaker in January 2020. My bassist booked the show and my band Sarchasm got to open for them at their first show at Gilman in like 25 years!<\/p>\n

Is there something on display at Gilman that\u2019s been there forever and everyone knows about?<\/div>\n

There\u2019s a painting of a giant pair of bolt cutters over the entrance to the main room that’s been there forever, and super satirical McDonald’s art in one of the corners that\u2019s a social commentary on starvation. The \u201cNo Stagediving\u201d sign. Classic. I think the smells are the most interesting part of the venue ’cause it sure smells like something<\/em>. It smells like punks, it smells like teenagers, it smells like 20-somethings. It smells like concrete, it smells like Whole Foods, it smells like pizza, it smells like electricity. It smells like sweat. It smells like paint. It smells like whatever monstrosity a volunteer just put in the microwave.<\/p>\n

What have you been doing to keep the venue alive since the pandemic?<\/div>\n

Before lockdown, we were gearing up to have a pretty successful summer\/fall 2020. We had a bunch of cool bands coming down the pike and were really getting our act together in terms of staffing, volunteer outreach and upgrades. Financially, we were in an okay position when lockdown first happened. We have a separate financial board that deals with fundraising for Gilman as a nonprofit. They immediately started applying for grants and pushing our merch store. We threw a fundraiser with CLIF Bar and Epitaph Records back in May\u2026 and we used that experience to start throwing our own livestream shows. We try to do one every four to six weeks \u2013 we stream those on Twitch, YouTube and Facebook and ask for donations. I think our next one is in early March.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support 924 Gilman:<\/strong> Donate, buy merch, email to get involved with the space, and support Bay Area bands<\/p>\n

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Neumos<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Seattle, Washington<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 650
Established:<\/strong> 2003
Best Known For:<\/strong> Booking bands before they blow up<\/p>\n

By Madison Bloom<\/em><\/p>\n

Few detailed memories remain from the night in 2004 that my high school best friend and I saw Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Neumos, soon after the club\u2019s current iteration opened in Seattle\u2019s artsy Capitol Hill neighborhood. I recall sweat, fierce energy, and the realization that this was the last time we\u2019d see this band play in a room so small. We aren\u2019t the only ones who have this sort of story about the place. \u201cI think a lot of people have been able to say, \u2018I saw so-and-so at Neumos before they were big,\u2019\u201d says Neumos talent buyer Evan Johnson.<\/p>\n

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs gig was so early in the club\u2019s run that the green rooms were still under construction, according to co-owner Jason Lajeunesse. The amenities for the band were so appealing that one crew member decided to help themselves. \u201cLoad-in was probably at 2 p.m., and the guys were still working on getting the green room set, and some construction worker started snacking on their food,\u201d he says. A pre-nibbled rider didn\u2019t stop Karen O and company from putting on a remarkable show.<\/p>\n

Neumos has become central to the Seattle music scene in the years since, extending the same welcome to Pacific Northwest icons like Ben Gibbard and Fleet Foxes and to visitors from further afield. But Lajeunesse likes to extend the sense of local warmth to all of their acts. \u201cWhen they return to Seattle and they come to Neumos,\u201d Lajeunesse says, \u201cIt\u2019s like returning home.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who are the most famous artists that have played Neumos?<\/div>\n

Evan Johnson:<\/strong> Adele, Childish Gambino. Fleet Foxes, Diplo, Vampire Weekend. Ben Gibbard has played here a handful of times. We did two nights with Odesza as they were really getting big. There was such a sense of pride because it was like, \u201cOh, these guys are from here. They lived down the street.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are your favorite shows you\u2019ve seen here?<\/div>\n

Jason Lajeunesse:<\/strong> The Arcade Fire show and the Animal Collective shows were personal favorites that felt like the beginning of a musical movement, a genre explosion. After Arcade Fire\u2019s Neumos show, the next show I did for them was at Thunderbird Stadium in Vancouver, like 4,500 people. That was an incredible trajectory to see.<\/p>\n

What do people in the city say is special about this venue?<\/div>\n

Johnson: It\u2019s in the heart of Capitol Hill, which historically is a neighborhood known for the arts and musicians, and has a very big LGBTQ population. This neighborhood has always been cool, if you really understand it. It\u2019s so much of what Seattle is known for: being deeply involved in the arts, and always having that pride in its music.<\/p>\n

Is there any memorabilia on display at the venue?<\/div>\n

Lajeunesse: We have a smashed guitar from [Capitol Hill] Block Party performance by Car Seat Headrest. I have an old guitar from a Trail of Dead tour that we ended up putting up in the venue.<\/p>\n

What local bands are you excited to feature onstage once shows are back?<\/div>\n

Lajeunesse: Tacocat, Parisalexa, Stas THEE Boss, Thunderpussy, Travis Thompson, The Dip, and Starfucker, to name a few.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Johnson: The Black Tones. Chong the Nomad, and Spirit Award, which a few Neumos employees play in.<\/p>\n

How to support Neumos:<\/strong> Buy tickets to upcoming shows.<\/p>\n

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\"Audience<\/span><\/div>\n
A dance party at Neumos. Photo by Sunny Martini.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Catch One<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Los Angeles, California<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 2,000
Established:<\/strong> 1973
Best Known For:<\/strong> A long history of queer, Black dance parties<\/p>\n

By Paul A. Thompson<\/em><\/p>\n

In 1973, when Jewel Thais-Williams purchased a two-story, Mediterranean-style building on W. Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, queer Black women like her simply did not own nightclubs. And the LAPD would not let the Thais-Williams forget this: Her club, which she dubbed Jewel\u2019s Catch One, was subject to constant intimidation, arrests, and intrusions\u2013\u2013which slowed only when the beat cops were made skittish by the AIDS epidemic. Despite these challenges, the Catch earned a reputation as one of America\u2019s premier spaces for dance music and queer Black club culture, hosting such illustrious performers as Donna Summer, Janet Jackson, Rick James, and Patti LaBelle inside a multi-room layout that, on its best nights, feels like a gleefully haunted house.<\/p>\n

Six years ago, Thais-Williams\u2013\u2013who still operates the holistic clinic next door\u2013\u2013sold the space to father-son club promoters Steve and Mitch Edelson. Speaking from his family\u2019s farm in Ojai, about an hour and a half drive from the club, the younger Edelson concedes that the past year has been trying: \u201cThe state still wants its money for my liquor license, the county still wants its money for my health permit, and the city still wants its money for my live-entertainment permits\u2014even though I\u2019m not allowed to use any of them.” Under new ownership, the Catch has continued its tradition of booking acts that might not appear on other stages in L.A.\u2013\u2013including many performers who are queer, young, and Black. Edelson hopes that a coming series of livestream events will buoy the club in the short term as he eyes a proper reopening this summer. \u201cI have incredible confidence that people will want to go out again,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be like the end-of-prohibition-level debauchery.\u201d<\/p>\n

In general, what is it like to be an independent venue owner in L.A.?<\/div>\n

Mitch Edelson:<\/strong> L.A. is the most competitive market in the country, because you\u2019re on the big players\u2019 home turf. We\u2019re the largest independent venue owners in Los Angeles, and when you\u2019re going up against AEG and Live Nation, it\u2019s always very hard to compete, especially when you\u2019re booking your own talent.<\/p>\n

Thinking back to the start of the pandemic, what were those initial shutdown conversations like?<\/div>\n

The weekend before the stay-at-home order, we had a band that had normally done really well for us\u2014but we saw the capacity go down to 25 percent of what we expected. We knew that, very soon, we would either get shut down by the government, or people just wouldn\u2019t come. My huge concern at the time was my staff. Luckily, the government did step up with unemployment benefits and relief packages.<\/p>\n

Was the venue itself able to receive any federal financial relief?<\/div>\n

Yeah, we were able to get a [Paycheck Protection Program] loan. But PPP is not built for a business that\u2019s not allowed to open, because you have to use it on payroll. So it wasn\u2019t as much of a benefit to us as it was to other businesses. Now they have this Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, but we\u2019re coming up on two months after that passed, and they still haven\u2019t released the application. It\u2019s kind of disgusting. Every day that goes by, venues are less and less likely to be able to reopen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Catch One:<\/strong> Order from its kitchen, and donate or purchase tickets to livestreams through Sustain the Scene<\/p>\n

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\"Paul<\/span><\/div>\n
Paul McCartney at Pappy and Harriet\u2019s in 2016. Photo by MJ Kim.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Pappy and Harriet\u2019s<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Pioneertown, California<\/strong>
Capacity:<\/strong> 850
Established:<\/strong> 1982
Best Known For:<\/strong> Desert location, Sunday jam sessions<\/p>\n

By Jenn Pelly<\/em><\/p>\n

Pappy & Harriet\u2019s is in Pioneertown, a desert community just outside Joshua Tree National Park founded as a movie set for Westerns. It\u2019s a restaurant by day\u2014currently open for takeout and outdoor dining\u2014and music club by night, with both an outdoor stage and an indoor one operating out of an old roadhouse.<\/p>\n

The current owners are ex-New Yorkers Robyn Celia and Linda Krantz, who bought Pappy\u2019s in 2003 after Krantz, a prop master, worked on a film in Pioneertown. Pappy and Harriet, the married couple who took over in early 1980s, were musicians themselves, but ran the business primarily as a restaurant. Celia and Krantz shifted the focus to music \u2014 hosting shows from the likes of Angel Olsen, Peaches, Lizzo, and a surprise 350-capacity gig for Paul McCartney \u2014 while keeping the kitchen busy. The indoor shows feel like you\u2019re in a cowboy movie, and the outdoor ones, under silhouetted mountains and Joshua trees, feel even more surreal.<\/p>\n

Was that the first show you booked at Pappy and Harriet\u2019s?<\/div>\n

Robyn Celia:<\/strong> When we bought Pappy\u2019s, we just did it\u2014we bought it with credit cards. Our adrenaline was so high. I was obsessed with Lucinda Williams\u2019 Car Wheels on a Gravel Road<\/em>, and on a whim I was like, \u201cI wonder if I could book her.\u201d It was the first show ever and it was one of the greatest nights of my life.<\/p>\n

In 2003, it was a different time out here. You really felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. It was outlaw bikers and cowboys. When we first came here, there was a Statue of Liberty lawn ornament in front of the building. We asked this guy, \u201cYou know anything about the Statue of Liberty?\u201d And he said, \u201cOh, yeah, the Hells Angels brought it to welcome you to the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

How did you handle the transition from the identity of Pappy\u2019s under its original ownership to its current incarnation as a venue?<\/div>\n

It\u2019s been this delicate balance of music venue and restaurant. You\u2019d have a band like Deafheaven playing outside and then somebody having their 40-year wedding anniversary inside, and they\u2019re like, \u201cExcuse me, the music is really loud.\u201d And I\u2019d be like, \u201cI know, I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d But the food saved our asses. Being a restaurant is what has saved us completely. I do all the social media, and before the shutdown I never talked about the food. In fact, we played it down. All of a sudden, it went from promoting shows to being like, \u201cWe have salmon tonight! Come get a steak for takeout.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most historic show you\u2019ve booked?<\/div>\n

It has to be Paul McCartney. They announced the show that day, and it was just complete Beatlemania insanity. We couldn\u2019t serve meat, and two hours before he was going to take the stage, they\u2019re like, \u201cOh, Robyn, do me a favor. Can you get rid of all the taxidermy on the walls?\u201d And I was like, \u201cWhat? Okay!\u201d The next day I opened up the shed and screamed. There were all these dead animals.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s an average day been like since the pandemic?<\/div>\n

The day of the first shutdown, we opened the next day for takeout. I was sitting at the phone here, like, \u201cPlease ring. Please have somebody order takeout.\u201d But after this, I never want to hear the word \u201ctakeout\u201d again for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

Do you guys do delivery in the desert?<\/div>\n

I tried doing it. I was getting lost trying to find people, like, \u201cWhere are you?\u201d And they\u2019re like, \u201cWe\u2019ll send you a pin!\u201d And I\u2019m like, \u201cThere are coyotes surrounding my car, this is not gonna work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How to support Pappy & Harriet\u2019s:<\/strong> Buy merch and stop by for lunch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

Source URL: https:\/\/pitchfork.com\/features\/article\/independent-music-venues-live-music-forever\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Longform 36 of America\u2019s Best Independent Music Venues on Surviving and What\u2019s Next One year after their stages went dark, live music workers from across the country talk about what makes their spaces so important and how you can help them. By Pitchfork April 5, 2021 Graphics by Drew Litowitz, photos by Kirsten Thoen, Tom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1688347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1688347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1688347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1688347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1688347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1688347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1688347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}