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(Written and submitted by Projekt D)
On August 24th, The Myth nightclub in Maplewood closed its doors, having been pummeled by lawsuits, conflicting ownership, and having finally bled to death,… to the sound of 11.5 million dollars, with tens of thousands of it owed to a casino in Las Vegas. It was perhaps the most sudden and unexpected closing of a respected local venue that will stick to memory for months and perhaps years to come. While the closing of The Myth is not entirely the fault of recession, its absence, along with the eventual closing of another, more historic local venue, The Uptown Bar, seems to cause a feeling of concern to local music enthusiasts.
Just where are all of our music venues going anyhow?
The answer: It’s tough to say really. … While some are saying that the recession is coming to a close, many local firms are still shaking under the weight of debt, and the loss of customers to their ‘tight-budget’ spending. What better industry for evidence of this to bear its ugly face than the music/entertainment industry?
Many former venues have felt the sting of death in the past few years. The Dinkytowner, one of the most iconic hip-hop venues in the area, closed its doors after experiencing severe debt, and being in violation of city building codes that they attempted to cover up from the public. Foundation Nightclub, once located at the Lumber Exchange Building in downtown Minneapolis, closed its doors for remodeling initially, but then due to a disagreement between board members on the profitability of the venue, never reopened its doors. Even The Quest, a bar once owned by Prince during the ‘Purple Rain’ era, was evicted from its own building because owners were unable to pay the expense for rent. It has since then been replaced by The Epic, which, compared to the unique design of its predecessor, looks like an abandoned warehouse from the moment you step inside of it.
Not all of these closings happened in the span of the immediate recession. However, their absence leaves a trail of nostalgia amongst much of Generations X and Y.
Not all concert places have faced downfalls like the ones listed above however. Venues such as Station 4, The Rock, and Club Underground have been alive and kicking despite, though experiencing a lesser number of concert-goers in recent trends.
While the closing of specific locations may have not made a heavy dent on the rock/metal crowd, it has begun to batter the hip-hop scene, leaving fans and artists to flock to other venues. For example, the recent increase of hip-hop shows at The Rock (hosted by Streetsound Ent.), while it is a beneficial, but requiring advancement for upcoming artists, can be considered an indication of the hip-hop enthusiasts need to expand and migrate.
Confusion seems to lie in the question,… “With the closing of many ‘Twin Cities’ venues, where will their concert-goers and their artists and promoters go? Will existing venues make room for their music?”
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Yet, isn’t this casual in the entertainment business? Don’t nightclubs and bars open and close no matter what kind of economic or social environment we live in? A close market analysis would tell you ‘Yes’, considering all of the maintenance, marketing, funding, and careful calculation it requires to run a successful nightclub. Study of the entertainment business would also tell you that, in times of ‘economic recession’, existing firms (‘nightclubs’ in this case) will always begin to disappear, but once the amount of live music venues falls to an amount when the demand for live music is overwhelming enough, new nightclubs will begin to pop up in order to tap into that demand.
Still, the rate of which our favorite hotspots for live music are downsizing or disappearing is a cause for concern. On top of that, there have been very few newer venues rising to the occasion, and those that have are not oriented for live music, but rather are up-scale, tight dress-code dance clubs, (ex. Club New York) that would rather play the same old dance tunes you can hear on the radio for free.
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The future of our once un-paralleled music scene is uncertain to say the least. We can only assume that from the ashes of our beloved venues will arise new places to perform, promote, socialize, and see our favorite bands.
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