[poll id=”16″]
People have talked about wanting one for years, and several attempts have failed. Could it work now? Tell us why in the comments! We’ll print the results in next week’s paper.
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The market can probably sustain a mid-sized venue of that caliber, but there would have to be some real, legitimate consideration put into the location. There was once what I would call a “mid-sized” venue in Greensboro – The Flying Anvil, on the corner of Lee St & Eugene (I think, it may have been Lee & Randleman, I can’t remember now). It was about the size of Ziggy’s, Cat’s Cradle, & the like… I’m guess that’s mid-sized. The biggest issue that venue had was location. Not only was there no parking worth mentioning, but due to the fact that it was in a terrible spot safety-wise, no one ever felt comfortable parking further away and walking to the place.
It would take the right location/people and a great deal community support, but yes, I think it’s feasible. The fact that this town bursts at the seams with artists hosting shows in non-traditional spots means that there’s a desire for it.
Perhaps the venue we’re looking for is not a traditional venue in the sense that it has other revenue streams. If it hasn’t worked so far, maybe that means it’s time to think outside of the box. I would love to see a spot with food and drink as well as music that makes music a solid priority by focusing heavily on quality booking and promotion.
Another key element might be an atmosphere that’s pleasant for folks of all ages and that features music of a variety of genres. There is wonderful generational and stylistic diversity in the local music community, but you don’t always see that reflected across the bills at one particular venue in town. Without this diversity, you often end up with a single venue relying on a single audience to come out every single night, which can be pretty unsustainable over the long haul.
We already have two mid-sized venues in the area: Ziggys and the Blind Tiger. The main complaint seems to be that they’re not booking the kind of music that some people like. That’s probably because they can’t make money with it. It’s not a shortage of talented musicians, it’s the shortage of audience wealthy or big enough to make it financially viable to book them.
Greensboro’s music scene is splintered. The indie rock crowd doesn’t have a lot of disposable income to spend to keep a mid-sized venue in business. Young professionals with money tend to like cover bands or shows at the Coliseum. The Cat’s Cradle and Ziggy’s also have a lockdown with certain booking agents. A venue like The Garage or Local 506 could do well in the right location and could grow in time. You have to love music to get into the business however, because even successful venues struggle to turn a profit.