Music Venues Go To Washington

College Street Music Hall and Space Ballroom, as well as Cafe Nine, are among more than 800 music venues and promoters across the country asking Congressional leadership for aid in getting through the shutdowns engendered by the Covid-19 outbreak.

The effort is organized by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), which sent a letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

NIVA is asking Congress for ​“specific funding programs to assist while we are completely shut down as the result of government mandates,” Premier Concerts explained in a press release. NIVA ​“members, employees, artists, and local communities are facing an existential crisis as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

“Our passionate and fiercely independent operators are not ones to ask for handouts,” said Dayna Frank, NIVA’s board president, who also owns and runs a club in Minneapolis called First Avenue. ​“But because of our unprecedented, tenuous position, for the first time in history, there is legitimate fear for our collective existence.”

“It is estimated that for every $1 spent on a ticket, a total of $12 in economic activity is generated within communities on restaurants, hotels, taxis, and retail establishment,” the press release continues. ​“While we are small businesses, the estimated direct annual economic impact we bring to local communities is nearly $10 billion.”

“It’s much easier to operate as an industry and to come together as a larger group,” said Keith Mahler, president of Premier Concerts, which, along with Manic Presents, promotes shows at College Street Music Hall and Space Ballroom. (College Street is a nonprofit owned and operated by New Haven Center for Performing Arts Inc. Space Ballroom is owned and operated by Backstage Hamden LLC.) ​“The independent venues are the lifeblood of the music business. We were the first to close and hopefully not the last to open.” He was referring to the way musicians and music venues saw their calendars evaporate at the beginning of March, a harbinger for the government mandates that imposed restrictions on all businesses in the weeks that followed. Mahler has lost count of the number of shows at College Street and Space Ballroom that have been disrupted by the pandemic-related shutdowns. ​“Virtually every show has been postponed and rescheduled,” he said. ​“We’ve lost very few shows.”

The rescheduled shows, however, are being pushed far into the future. ​“What we’re seeing is that everything has been rescheduled for late fall and early winter, into 2021,” Mahler said. ​“Fans have been holding onto tickets. It’s pretty much across the board, whether it’s a show at College Street or Space Ballroom.” He is ​“grateful” for the support.

Like many other venues, Mahler said, College Street and Space Ballroom are navigating the maze of relief aid set up under the federal Small Business Administration, which, as of this writing, initially ran out of funding but is expected to receive more. ​“We’ve applied for everything and we’re told that we’re approved,” Mahler said. ​“Which is good.” But he also said that ​“it’s only geared to short-term relief. Everyone’s assuming this’ll be over by June and we’ll be back to work. Who knows what’s going to happen?”

Mahler is intent on College Street and Space Ballroom returning to operations. He is also continuing progress on developing Westville Music Bowl into a large outdoor music venue. ​“The state has not shut down construction projects, so we’re out there making improvements that are needed,” Mahler said. The Westville Bowl project is proceeding according to schedule, Mahler said. Its first show — featuring Andrew Bird, Calexico, and Iron and Wine — was set for June 13. Tickets are still technically on sale for that show, though Mahler said that ​“we’re waiting for the governor’s order to outline how things are going to be opened.”

Reopening general-admission venues, from College Street to Cafe Nine, is going to be a trickier matter than simply allowing spaces to host a certain number of people if social distancing restrictions are still also in place. Restaurants, Mahler noted, could operate at a specific capacity because they could space tables apart to conform to distancing guidelines. General-admission music venues, with their open venues and tendency for audiences to gather close toward the front of the stage, won’t be able to control their spaces in quite the same way.

Until Mahler knows exactly what capacity will be allowed in the venues, and how that will be managed, ​“it’s less expensive staying closed than it is to open and lose,” Mahler said. Like many places in town, College Street furloughed its part-time workers but retained its full-time staff. ​“We’re doing refurbishments. We’re doing maintenance. The Space Ballroom is going to look as good as it did the day it opened,” Mahler said. At College Street, ​“we’re refurbishing and fine-tuning, keeping people occupied, while maintaining social distancing.” Rent, insurance payments, utilities, and these core salaries are expenses he can predict; the gamble on a show doing well or not is another story.

“We can’t make a decision until we see what the rules are,” Mahler said.

Mahler has decades of experience in the concert promotion and production business. Premier Concerts was formed in 2004. ​“In my career I’ve been through plenty of downturns and economic recessions,” he said. ​“This isn’t the same thing…. It’s a rough go for a lot of people.”

But, he added, ​“I think once the country can come back, businesses are gong to come back. People will be back at work and there’ll be plenty of things to do…. We’re all in it for the long haul and this is just a bump in the road. Depending on how long it’s going be, it’s going to be bumpier. We’ll be here.”

“Should we all be able to get back to basic operations, College Street will be the busiest it has ever been,” Mahler added. ​“Hopefully people will get back to work and want to go out. The tours obviously want to work. Everybody is concerned about the same things.”