but this is a 10-billion-dollar problem and the only way to save the industry and [music] ecosystem as a whole is through the federal government.” West Hollywood’s historic Troubadour nightclub is run by Christine Karayan, and has been in her family since the early 1980s. She admits that because of the market they’re in—and because of the club’s visibility and prominence—they’re not in as bad of shape as some others. Nevertheless, she says, “We’re going through the nest egg. I’ve shut off everything I can but I’m still cranking out X amount of dollars a month in rent and insurance. We’re probably OK ’til the end of the year. We’re not glitzy and shiny. We’re smelly and kind of old, what you see is what you get, and a lot of people appreciate it for the familiarity of it. “If [one of the bills] gets through, then, yes, it will be beyond a sense of relief,” she continues. “You could, at that point, start to breathe. But I don’t know what day I can open the doors or when I can get up and running. Can I take on more debt than I have in place and drown myself?” Parks, the owner of xBk, has sunk her life savings into her club. “If there’s not some kind of package, RESTART or S.O.S., or some combination, we will not survive,” she says. “The other proposals out there [in front of Congress] don’t work for our industry. We’re not like restaurants that pop up and reopen. This [pandemic] could be years. We are the only industry that literally has zero revenue. I have to pay my mortgage, and the electric bill comes every month.” ““Live Nation and AEG have the money to wait it out, and all we’re gonna have is Live Nation and AEG,” muses J.J. Gonson, self-described “proprietrix” of the Somerville, Massachusetts club ONCE. “The world
turned upside down and everything got many of those bands to play. handed to the bad guys. We’ve been in- “Not being able to put on a show is clusive and cooperative and caring of our death,” says Michael Dorf, founder and community. Are we going to end up with CEO of the small City Winery chain. “And nothing but corporate, hands-off booking?” the live industry is one of the only avenues for musicians to earn a living, an incredibly As the industry remains in a static, anxi- valuable aspect that is at risk of extinction. ety-fraught phase, Dayna Frank says some The world goes nuts when a bald eagle’s positives have surfaced. For one, the indi- nest is disrupted during a construction vidual club owners feel less alone: “We’ve project, and I agree that’s important, but never been so connected and so commu- we’re talking about live music culture and nicative and had as much support among it isn’t getting the attention.” Dorf’s right. If you’re a musician, unless ourselves as we do right now.” And, more generally, she adds, “The you’re Taylor Swift or JAY-Z, you’re most broader music industries are acknowl- likely making your living by touring. “Touredging what independent clubs mean ing is a huge part of my livelihood,” says to the industry as a whole. We’ve never Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast. “Not only seen that kind of tacit or overt support is it how I make a large portion of my infrom Spotify, YouTube, BMI, ASCAP, Ama- come, but it is also how I pay my employzon Music. The whole industry is saying ees. I don’t think people realize that bands the independents are the root and the are a business. We have a whole team of pillar of the music industry, and without people around us who depend on us for our rooms the artists don’t discover their their own livelihood, so losing the ability to voice, don’t connect with their communi- tour in 2020 has impacted not just me, but ties, can’t grow their fan base, can’t de- the entirety of my business.” velop into global acts. When you create in In June, more than 600 artists—includthe studio it’s an insular environment, but ing Dave Grohl, Billie Eilish, Brittany Howin a club, you get that crowd reaction, see ard, Willie Nelson, Lady Gaga, Neil Young, what works. You need both the studio and and Leon Bridges—signed a letter sent to Congress which read in part, “Independent the live environment.” But the openings of clubs and the- venues give artists their start, often as aters won’t occur until deep into Phase 4 the first stage most of us have played on. of the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions. Even These venues were the first to close and will if there is an effective and widespread be the last to reopen… If these indepenvaccine available early next year—and dent venues close forever, cities and towns audiences feel comfortable enough to across America will not only lose their culmix and mingle in public again—tours will tural and entertainment hearts, but they still have to be planned and those artists will lose the engine that would otherwise will still need places to play. Yes, the clubs be a driver of economic renewal for all the owned and/or booked by deep-pocketed businesses that surround them.” In early August, David Byrne joined the promoting giants Live Nation and AEG may survive; but for the myriad clubs and fight with an op-ed for the industry trade theaters that aren’t part of those chains, if magazine Pollstar, in which he advocated they’re out of business, there’s no place for for the passage of RESTART and Save Our
