Save Our Stages

COVID-19 and Boston’s Music Venues

BY JULIA BERNICKER

After 44 years on Commonwealth Ave, local music club Great Scott announced on May 1 that they would be closing due to the pandemic. For Tufts students and Boston locals alike, Great Scott was a mainstay of the Allston neighborhood—a place where communities came together to watch local and national acts perform on the same stage. In an interview with NPR, Great Scott’s General Manager, Tim Philbin, said, “I think we’ve also lost a space that was open to all, a space that was welcoming and genuine. This was a place for art and culture. Where does that go?”

Philbin isn’t the only one who is feeling Great Scott’s loss. Following the announcement, the club received over 25,000 signatures on a petition to “Save Great Scott” and $300,000 in crowdsourced investment dollars. Although Great Scott were still unable to reach an agreement with their landlord, the outpour of support from the community enabled the club to sign a letter of intent to relocate to a new location on Harvard Ave. But with the pandemic still raging, nothing is set in stone. shut their doors because of COVID-19 and who might not ever open them again. According to a survey by the recently founded National Independent Venues Association (NIVA), 90% of arts spaces are expected not to survive after COVID-19.

These spaces were the first to close and will be the last to reopen, even as restaurants and other indoor businesses are resuming operations at reduced capacity around the country. For context, indoors performance venues will only be allowed to reopen in Massachusetts during phase 3 and 4 of the state’s reopening plan, and will likely be forced to operate at reduced capacity. Should ticket sales not resume until 2021, an estimated $9 billion in losses are expected, according to the same survey.

While venues attached to large corporations like Live Nation or AEG might survive, it is the small, indie spots that are hit the hardest. These losses also hit closest to home, as Somerville spots Bull McCabe’s Pub and Thunder Road Music Club have also announced their closures. Bull McCabe’s Pub owner Brian Manning said to Wicked Local, “Legal battles, construction, an ever-changing neighborhood, and many other causes have made it increasingly difficult for us over the past few years.”

Manning highlights that these venues have been struggling for years, and that COVID-19 was simply the final straw. As Boston becomes more gentrified, not only are historic venues being priced out of neighborhoods, but the patrons who frequent them are too. For Bull McCabe’s Pub and Thunder Road Music Club, which are situated in the surrounding neighborhoods of Tufts, the university plays a big part in this process.

Tufts’ expansion, with the increase of their student body and construction of new buildings, inevitably drives surrounding prices up, pushing locals out of Somerville and Medford. And with the imminent arrival of the Green Line extension, even more changes are on the horizon. However, when these venues are forced out of their neighborhoods, the economic effects reverberate throughout the community. NIVA estimates that for every dollar spent at a local venue, $12 is generated in surrounding businesses such as restaurants and hotels.

But regardless if the closure of these venues is due to gentrification, COVID-19, or even both, the loss of local music venues is about more than just the money. These venues are what draw touring musicians to a city and without them, smaller artists who are unable to fill a large arena wouldn’t have a place to play. And for up-and-coming local artists, these spots are crucial for introducing their music to the community and building a fanbase, which provides a stepping stone to translate their success nationally. Independent venues are where a local music scene is crafted and encouraged: both defined by the fans in the audience and defining the neighborhoods they are situated in.

Local venues also provide space for marginalized communities to come together. Great Scott was home to the longest and largest queer dance party, “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”, started in 2011. Another queer nightlife spot, Machine, closed in July to make way for a new highrise, proving these spaces are becoming harder and harder to find.

In response to the loss of venues like Machine and Great Scott, NIVA has rallied together a coalition of more than 2,000 venues nationwide including The Middle East, Bull McCabe’s, and Once Somerville. Partnering with politicians, NIVA is calling for government action to provide the financial support independent venues desperately need.

The SOS (Save Our Stages) Act, which is sponsored by Sen. Amy Kloubuchar and other high profile musicians, along with the RESTART and ENCORE Acts, all work to provide loans and credits to independent music venues to help keep them afloat. As these spaces need more assistance to cover high operational costs instead of payroll, these bills would reach a hard-hit industry that other government loans don’t cover.

In addition to proposed government assistance, venues are taking it upon themselves to come up with creative solutions to stay open. To leverage the space they already have, some venues are turning into working spaces for local artists or hosting socially distanced community events during the day. This keeps their patrons engaged and strengthens these spaces as community landmarks.

Or, to get around local restrictions, smaller venues that serve food are capitalizing on the ability of some restaurants to reopen and petitioning to be reclassified as such. Venues are also utilizing technology to create virtual and hybrid options for fans. Despite sounding eerily familiar to the Tufts’ class modalities, subscription based or pay-per-view virtual concerts with limited attendees in person could be the new norm.

Despite the efforts of coalitions like NIVA and independent venue owners, it will likely be a while before live music can resume even if these venues bounce back. COVID-19 regulations and protocols change so rapidly that it is impossible to plan for the future. And even if Boston welcomes live music back, musicians are unlikely to tour until the whole country is safe enough to travel.

The outpouring of support after Great

Scott’s closure is a testament to one thing: fans are realizing more than ever how important local venues are to music, and to the communities that they serve. When these venues open their doors again it will no doubt look

“fans are realizing more than ever how important local venues are to music, and to the communities that they serve.”