Disclaimer: As many of you know, in addition to writing, I also spend a few nights a week inside the live music environment. I bartend and occasionally book events at Hollywood Alley in Mesa. Affectionately nicknamed "The Alley", it is a bar/restaurant that is open day and night. During the evening and mostly weekends, The Alley doubles as a 200-capacity 21 & over live music venue with a proper stage and sound system. Established in 1988, Hollywood Alley is one of the longest running Phoenix area music venues catering to local and baby-national entertainment. Before joining the Hollywood Alley family four years ago (after 14 years as a loyal customer), I worked at several live music venues while frequenting others. I have a sincere admiration for the small bars, clubs, and halls in the Phoenix area, both past and present. Over the past ten years I have seen many casualties. I was even on board for some of those casualties. My first four years was at the Bash on Ash, which ended when I was informed of a format change away from live rock music and more towards hip hop DJs. I was also among the very last bar staff at The Mason Jar, which closed in 2005. I was on the bartending staff when The Brickhouse closed the first time. With all that being said, my opinions represent myself ONLY and NOT the opinions of Hollywood Alley staff and management.


On the last day of November, word got out on the web that The Ruby Room in Phoenix would be closing. In fact, it was announced that the following night (Tuesday December 1st) would be it's last.

The Ruby Room was located in downtown Phoenix, a few blocks south from the concentrated area of art galleries and swank dive bars nicknamed CenPho (short for Central Phoenix). CenPho is also the location of the First Friday Art Walks held once a month. Historically, any business involved with the arts has benefited a great deal from the traffic that the Art Walk generates. This includes bars, coffee shops, and restaurants and can happen even if the business isn't located directly on the path of the Walk.

The Ruby Room opened in June of 2007 after Greg Riggins, who previously owned the memorable Emerald Lounge, purchased the spot formally known as Big Al's. A few weeks after opening, I asked Greg if I could book the initial "First Friday" event there. He agreed and set up a three band show, two of which had a history of doing well at Emerald Lounge. However this particular night was a "bust". The few people who did come out noticed during their drive that the parade of people who were attending the Art Walk seemed to walk and gather around a different path far off from where the Ruby Room was located rather than migrate to the Ruby Room after the galleries closed.

Noting my experience, I refuse to mislead an argument that the Ruby Room closed down because of location. Once you learned the back way (7th street to Lincoln or Grant to 1st Street, leading you into the back parking lot), The Ruby Room was a cinch to get to. The original concerns were quickly diffuse by the booking of several weekend events later that year, many that packed the house. Claiming that The Ruby Room was too far south on the one-way part of Central Avenue is an inconclusive argument. Location isn't everything. The arguably more centralized dance club Homme Lounge closed recently and that was right near one of the main light rail stops.

In an interview with Ed Masley of the Arizona Republic, Riggins admits the reason for closing was simply "lack of customers" but goes on to diffuse the theory of location as well, pointing out the recent closing of other venues located in more welcomed settings. However, I disagree with Riggins assessment on his club's own aesthetics. The vibe was right, because simply it was different. I don't think the Phoenix scene wanted The Ruby Room to be a CBGB's. From the Nile to The Blue Ox and, to an extent, Hollywood Alley, we have had too many trashy "posters glued on the walls" punk dives. I welcomed the Ruby Room atmosphere, even if my infrequent visits due to limited funds and a new Mesa address didn't support my admiration.

When discussing the local music scene I realize that there are several sectors involved here; the punk scene, the indie scene, the rockabilly/psychobilly scene, etc. So, for the sake of my arguments and this article, I would like to group them all together under one moniker: "The Phoenix New Music Scene".

So, as someone who has been active in the "The Phoenix New Music Scene" in one form or another since 1992, I would like to offer my insight on why some venues close. Most reasons surround business. Low foot traffic leads to less money earned at the door and in concessions. Low foot traffic has been the result of a poor economy and tough DUI laws. I wouldn't be shedding too much light discussing this any further. It's common logic. However there are some deeper beliefs involved here that leads to the New Music Scene pointing the finger at itself. The self accusation has it's own economic theory as well.

The theory is based on simple math - a ratio. Just like if your expenses in life grow, your income has to grow as well. Phoenix has grown considerably over the past 20 years. The population has grown. The area has grown. When it comes to the New Music Scene, the growth has triggered two things: more musicians (which thus leads to new bands/performing artists) and new venues for these musicians to get their start in. However, according to the simple ratio described above, there has to be a growing audience to support the growth in artists and venues, one that is growing at the same rate as the increase in musicians and venues. If, for example, there were 1500 people in 1999 in the Phoenix area going to any one of ten venues to support local live music on a regular basis, there would have to be 3000 people now to support 20 venues to keep the survival rate the same. If the audience doesn't grow at the same rate, the survival rate of these venues decrease. This is where cities like Seattle and Austin succeed and Phoenix fails or at best barely succeeds.

Right now there are just too many small venues for bands to play. I believe in competition and survival of the fittest. Sometimes a venue closes and the New Music Scene sings in unison "good riddance". However, I believe this time,like a few other times in the past, we lost a very special place with some good,caring people behind it. This time I feel one of the fittest didn't survive.

The thing is, you would think that whenever a venue closes or changes direction, that the email inbox of people like Hollywood Alley owner/E.C. Ross Wincek's would be flooded, but he barely experiences a bump in the wake of a venue shutdown.

Instead, in the wake of a live music venue closing, someone, somewhere is trying to fill some miscalculated "gap" by turning their local watering hole or favorite art gallery into the next hip spot. Although it has always been part of the DIY (punk) ethic to create new places to rock when other venues will not have you, I hope the Phoenix New Music Scene can come together and unanimously confess that  we do indeed now have the proper amount of small venues for our scene and there is no longer a need to turn anymore dive bars, art galleries, sports bars, and restaurants  - all with inadequate space and P.A. equipment - into new music venues. Not that I have a problem with any such business. I myself am a big sports fan and have found  myself chowing down on wings and drinking draft beer in a sports oriented establishment many times. And I am a dive bar fanatic, often following CM Reddings retired Booze Pig column in the Phoenix New Times and making lists of seedier places I want to visit  - places where the walls talk and the cocktails don't cost you $5.00 plus. Look around. Dive bars last forever, it seems. Art galleries and sports bars have a significant longevity factor as well. And while I am at it, lets throw in hotels. They will be fine. These establishments don't need live music and the New Music Scene doesn't need them...except when musicians need to find a cheap beer and good jukebox after band practice close to home.

I was at Rogue West last month and, while Automatic Erasers were playing inside, I heard punk rock music outside somewhere in the distance. I asked Xavier the bar manager and he said a bartender he recently fired was hired at a sports bar across the street called O'Brien's. Almost immediately upon her arrival, she started booking punk and rockabilly bands. I refuse to believe that the area of 35th & northern is such a cultural mecca that it requires two music venues showcasing punk rock, or any New Music for that matter. That experience alone is the epitome of what has gone wrong with the New Music Scene. What I found out working at Hollywood Alley (a place that serves as a daytime dive bar, restaurant, and live music venue) is that it is difficult to keep the place serving the needs of all clientèle. Happy hour drinkers may leave early if they hear music from the stage they don't appreciate, or if the music is disturbing the sports telecast they are trying to watch. Those dining may choose a quieter atmosphere. A true sports bar may experience the same conflicts. When the first New Music nights out draw the typical patronage, it's easy for bar management to make a hasty decision. What needs to be considered is that live music audiences are unstable. While a few bands may draw well, some bands have a less loyal following that has more to do with the proximity of their regular gigs (example: if you are drawing 100+ at the Yucca Tap Room and have been performing once a month, good luck getting a fraction of those folks to travel to Glendale or Scottsdale to see you play.) We must consider how bands get their followings as well. I have seen bands with extreme loyal followings have their following cut in half because of something simple like a single band member change or, even more ridiculous, a band member broke it off with a particular girl. When you consider all of this, would you sacrifice your long running and moderately successful karaoke night with live music if you were the manager of neighborhood bar?

Some may argue that we need more heavily concentrated areas to showcase new music, much like what is offered in Austin or, at one time, the north end of Mill Avenue near ASU. I am talking about a strip of establishments that benefit from each other's foot traffic, some offering live music and others offering just food, drink, art, and atmosphere. I am not sure if this will happen but I have often visualized that it will happen on Indian School Road before it happens again on Mill or truly happens in CenPho. Admittedly this vision came before the demise of the Mason Jar . However the proposal of a concentrated area for the arts only works if the means and desire to travel to the strip is there. The public transportation system in the Phoenix area has barely encourage anyone in the New Music Scene to utilize it to it's maximum potential. Hollywood Alley and Yucca Tap Room are keeping east-siders in the East Valley while CenPho is offering enough for the downtowners to stay put on their side of town.  Unfortunately, DUI laws have stifled urges to drive and inspired many eager artistic folk to create new venues close to their homes in hopes that people will drive to them to see their band perform. Although I don't want to see that type of DIY ethic discouraged, with so many taking this route it is all working against each other and causing some bad casualties in the New Music Scene.

So, to summarize, here is bullet point on my suggestions  how to save The Phoenix New Music Scene from losing more venues.

• Understand that if you are in a band and are looking for a gig and none of the available venues will book you, realize that it is not because they don't understand your music. Every venue in town is booking punk and indie. It is because you are unproven and venues can't risk a money making weekend night on a band that may clear the room. I suggest rather than playing a dive bar that has never offered live music before, offer to open for a band on the weekend for free at a more established venue.


• From above, offer to prove yourself on a non-weekend night. Every band tells the same story "if you book us on a weekend, we can bring more people". That is obvious and applies to all bands. A special band is one that can pack the house on a weekday. And, if you didn't like my "play free" idea in point one, trust me, if you can pack the place on a weekday you will get paid. That is like a needle in the haystack for small venues. No E.C. in town wants to lose that.


• There are three ways for band to make an impact on a club's business while impressing the management. Number one, don't drive away the pre-existing clientèle (if you are playing a karaoke bar that rarely does live original music, this will probably be a difficult task). Number two, steal an existing audience from other venues (difficult, but can be done. However, if successful, you risk hurting a worthwhile venue). And number three, create a new audience (Reach out to friends, co-workers, family, etc. More importantly, survey the area and reach out to a new audience. Case in point, if you are booked at Hollywood Alley, it probably would be better to flier MCC than ASU. Inspiring more people to come out of the comfortable dwellings of their homes and experience live music in an intimate setting is truly the mark of a great band).


• Educate your potential audience of the many alternate ways to travel to your dig. Place public transportation routes on your fliers. Supply cab and local motel numbers.


• If you are a bar owner or manager, especially of one with a history of being in business for a long time without the need for live music, truly survey your clientèle and ask yourself if your bar needs it. Like I said, dive bars can stay open forever, it's the live music venues that are closing.


• If you are an owner or bar manager of a dive bar with a clientèle appreciative of new music, it doesn't mean you need to indulge. Our scene needs dive bars to just be bars too. Just ask Brad at TT Roadhouse and look how long his business have been around. Sometimes not offering live music makes your establishment a hot spot.


• And finally, if you are an inspiring promoter with a true passion for the Phoenix New Music Scene and the venues already in existence, ask yourself a few things before booking bands or starting a new weekly event at an irregular spot. "Where is my audience going to come from?""Am I really filling a void by promoting yet another night of New Music in the Phoenix area?" If you are an inspiring promoter who hates most of what Phoenix has to offer in venues and entertainment, well them knock yourself out.

I will close by saying this. Although it has become a headache to see so many bands and promoters flood the scene, it is a sign of a great scene to see so many people inspired to get involved past the act of patronage. It means to me that Phoenix is on it's way to something special. Unfortunately we just don't have the available clientèle here in Phoenix interested in live music to support each and every promoted event. I am hoping that changes real soon.

			Share on Facebook