3 minute read
This Little Underground
NEW VENUE PEEK: CONDUIT
The sign outside still says “Haven Lounge,” as it has for ages. But inside, it’s now a completely new story. The longtime Winter Park heavy-metal institution known simply as “The Haven” has just reopened as Conduit in a possibly game-changing splash.
This isn’t simply your basic “under new management” situation. Conduit is an entirely new force that’s already a giant on paper with an ownership group of tantalizing possibilities. Prodigious promoter Pete Olen (Endoxa Booking) and club owners Will Walker (Will’s Pub, Lil Indie’s, Dirty Laundry) and Jerry Dufrain (The Orpheum in Tampa) are the titans behind the new venue. They’re a high-power trinity that packs a rare combination of experience, commitment and influence in the concert business. There hasn’t been this much in-house booking juice around here since perhaps when the Social was both owned and booked by Michael McRaney and Gerard Mitchell.
While there’s been a fair bit of insider excitement swirling, Conduit’s recent opening finally unveiled the hive behind all the hot buzz. The thing to know about the new place is that it’s all-in on being a live venue. In fact, rather than the Haven’s daily bar hours, Conduit will open only on show nights. That sole mission informs all the things they’ve done to the place so far.
Inside, the layout has been completely opened into a single voluminous space. The bar, while welcomingly wider to accommodate more people, now hugs the wall tighter. The pool tables are gone, and that entire section is now part of the main floor. In this new open configuration, there are clear sightlines to the stage from almost everywhere in the club. The net effect is that the place now looks, feels and works much more like a full-time concert room than the hybrid bar with a side-stage that The Haven was.
But headbangers, former regulars and the like need not fear. Apart from the newly retrofitted bar, this joint is still a gritty club with plenty of rock patina. The place is simply more purpose-driven and functional. While the event calendar will certainly — and thankfully — get more diverse, Pete Olen has already been booking most of the bigger shows in this room for several years now, so there’ll be some programming continuity.
In operation, it’s clear that there’s little learning curve here for a group so versed in all aspects of putting on concerts. Last weekend’s Goatwhore show that I checked in on was a well-attended, four-band national touring bill that ran like clockwork with a prompt start time, quick band changeovers and ample security.
Still, Conduit is a very fresh and fluid development. There’s not even any new signage yet, and the local partners tell me that there’s much more they want to do. Yet already this ambitious upstart immediately redraws the area’s concert map. In a current and impending phase of seismic sea change in Orlando nightlife, Conduit is a new instant contender. From all the talk around town, this is clearly one of the most exciting venue openings in years. So let’s see what you got, Conduit.
BY BAO LE-HUU
A loud opening weekend at Conduit | photo by Matt Keller Lehman
CONCERT PICK THIS WEEK
Sarah Shook & the Disarmers,
Mightmare: This exceptional bill will feature a captivating double dose of River Shook, the North Carolina artist that most of us know as Sarah Shook. As the head of the Disarmers, Shook has quickly emerged in recent years as one of the best Americana talents of this generation with a hard-twanging country-rock sound that’s both alternative and authentic. Now, Shook is also unveiling new act Mightmare, a solo project formed during the pandemic that just recently debuted in October with first album Cruel Liars on Kill Rock Stars. Perhaps even more notable than the fact that Mightmare is a more personal outing is that it’s an indie-rock vehicle that reveals Shook’s tasteful early influences. And while Sarah Shook & the Disarmers have wowed in Orlando several times already, this upcoming show is a not-to-be-missed opportunity to see both sides of the compelling Shook as a double-feature bill. (8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, Will’s Pub, $20)
baolehuu@orlandoweekly.com orlandoweekly.com ● JAN. 18-24, 2023 ● ORLANDO WEEKLY 29
