With the federal government’s $900 billion COVID-19 relief package signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 27, the new year looks considerably brighter for independent music venues. The $15 billion Save Our Stages Act included in the bill will be a lifeline for the concert business, as well as independent movie theaters and other cultural institutions that have been forced to shutter during the pandemic.
As touring ground to a halt in March, clubs and music venues went dark, losing the revenue they had expected to come in, even as rent, insurance and other expenses kept piling up. Many survived by taking on debt or benefiting from state or local concert-business bailouts while waiting on long-stalled bills in Congress to provide more significant aid. At least 88 others, listed below, have closed. At some point this year, the concert business will return. But these venues have shut their doors forever.
While Save Our Stages’ passage is expected to help keep the majority of the 3,000 venues that comprise the National Independent Venue Association in business during the remainder of the pandemic, the effects of these permanent closures once concerts resume remain unclear. Steven Severin, co-owner of Neumos in Seattle, says music venues can not be easily replaced once they disappear due to the gentrification and the rising cost of rent in neighborhoods these venues have helped elevate to cultural epicenters.
“Music venues that are around started in the neighborhoods that were less than desirable, because you had to have cheap rent to be able to have that much space,” he told Billboard. “As time goes on, they become more desirable and now, Neumos for example, is in an entertainment district. It used to be Auto Row. It’s not going to be new music venues that come in, it’s going to be condos.”
Concert venues are not only cultural centers, but also considerable economic drivers for their local communities. In 2019, the local trade group Music Venue Alliance Nashville says its 16 members paid $576,000 in liquor taxes, $1.2 million in sales tax and $5.2 million to more than 46,000 local and visiting performers for 5,600 concerts that generated $6.1 million in ticket sales. And, as with Neumos, they’re well proven to help transform neighborhoods, attract new residents and contribute to tourism, while holding considerable accounts with food and beverage distributors and local lighting, sound and event contractors.
For instance, Severin claims Neumos sells the most Pabst Blue Ribbon in the entire state of Washington and has for the past decade. “The effect that I think of is the farmer that is making the hops isn’t going to be able to sell as much hops as they did at one point because of all the cases that we sell a year,” he says. “Then there is every step in between that, and that is just beer. If we go away, if music venues go away across the country, it is going to have a massive ripple effect. We are already seeing it. Everybody is touched by this disaster.”
To help document the endangerment of independent music venues across the country, Billboard has compiled a list of venues that have been forced to close during the pandemic that we will continue to update. Please reach out to touring@billboard.com with information about closed venues not yet listed.
Partial List of Permanently Closed Venues
Alabama
- Tangled String Studios in Huntsville
Arizona
- The Greenroom in Flagstaff
- Chicago Bar in Tucson
California
- The Satellite in Los Angeles
- Slim’s in San Francisco
- The Graduate in San Luis Obispo
- The Uptown in Oakland
- Starline Social Club in Oakland (up for sale)
Colorado
- The Henry Strater Theatre in Durango
- Intrinzik in Montrose
- 3 Kings Tavern in Denver
- Live @ Jack’s in Denver
- Le Cour Denver’s Art Bar in Denver
- Hodi’s Half Note in Fort Collins
- Local 46 in Denver
- El Chapultepec in Denver
- Zephyr Lounge in Aurora
Connecticut
- MAC650 in Middletown
Florida
- The Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton
Georgia
- The Vista Room in Decatur
- The Jinx 912 in Savannah
- The Music Room in Atlanta
- The Country Club Dancehall & Saloon in Augusta
Illinois
- IO Theater in Chicago
Iowa
- The Mill in Iowa City
- Vaudeville Mews in Des Moines
Kansas
- Kanza Hall in Kansas City
Kentucky
- Cosmic Charlie’s in Lexington
Maine
- Port City Music Hall in Portland
Maryland
- The Soundry in Columbia
Massachusetts
- Great Scott (AEG) in Boston
- The C Note in Hull
- Thunder Road Music Club in Somerville
- Bull McCabe’s in Somerville
- The Cantab Lounge in Cambridge (up for sale)
- Studio at 550 in Cambridge (relocating to unidentified location)
- ONCE Lounge and Ballroom in Somerville
- Gateway City Arts in Holyoke
Michigan
- Majestic Theatre in Detroit (up for sale)
- Magic Stick Music Venue in Detroit (up for sale)
Minnesota
- Honey in Minneapolis
Missouri
- The Ready Room in St. Louis
New York
- Upright Citizens Brigade in New York
- Burgundy Basin in Pittsford
- Shetler Studios in New York
- The Well in Bushwick
- Copacabana in New York
North Carolina
- The Mothlight in West Asheville
- THE BLOCK off biltmore in Asheville
Ohio
- Wolf Den in Cleveland
- Thursday’s Lounge in Akron
- Stella’s Music Club in Cleveland
Pennsylvania
- Brillobox in Pittsburgh
- Warmdaddy’s in Philadelphia
- Chameleon Club in Lancaster
- The Rex Theater in Pittsburgh
- Boot & Saddle in Philadelphia
Tennessee
- Douglas Corner Cafe in Nashville
- Songbirds in Chattanooga
- The Willow Tree in Johnson City
- Midtown Crossing Grill in Memphis
Texas
- Lizard Lounge in Dallas
- Threadgill’s in Austin
- Shady Grove in Austin
- Republic Country Club and BBQ in Houston
- The Blue Light in Dallas
- Gas Monkey Live in Dallas
- Barracuda in Austin
- Plush in Austin
- Scratchouse in Austin
- Tomcats West in Dallas
- Big Texas Dance Hall & Saloon in Spring
- The North Door in Austin
- The Townsend in Austin
- One-2-One Bar in Austin
Washington
- Re-bar in Seattle
- The Firefly Lounge in Bellingham
- Tony V’s Garage in Everett
- The Swiss in Tacoma
- Louie G’s in Fife
- The Pin in Spokane
Wisconsin
- Fire on Water in Milwaukee
- Underground Collaborative in Milwaukee
- Up & Under in Milwaukee
- The Riverwest Public House Cooperative in Milwaukee
Washington, D.C.
- Eighteenth Street Lounge
- Twins Jazz
- U Street Music Hall
