Los Angeles Music Scene: What Various Venues Are Doing to Stay Afloat

Photo of The Satellite

As all of us who are involved in the local Los Angeles music scene know that a number of venues have closed for good. But there are others still pushing onwards. I figured I'd take a look at what some of these remaining venues are doing to stay afloat.

Alex's Bar - Long Beach

From the Long Beach Post (Oct 25):

The bar, located on 2913 E. Anaheim St., announced its soft reopening Friday and its grander one Saturday over social media featuring a photo of their new 100 capacity parklet, which encompasses nearly 3,500 square feet of the venue’s parking lot.

After being closed for nearly eight months, owner Alex Hernandez was evidently in high-spirits during Saturday’s opening, saying “it feels like a thousand pound weight has been lifted from my shoulders.”

Like other bars, Alex’s operations are contingent on taking up the many aspects that restaurants do.

Zebulon - Atwater Village

Via their Instagram page on Oct 13th, Zebulon wrote:

We’re ready to welcome you back to the patio!! We’ll be opening Thursday, October 15th at 6pm!

Hours this week will be Thursday-Sunday 6pm-close.

Masks are required to enter the building.

We will have a limited capacity to respect social distancing guidelines and will serve on a first come first serve basis.

The venue did have to shut down for a few days due to a false positive COVID test, but they are back up and running. The venue is also still collecting donations via their GoFundMe page.

Both Alex's Bar and Zebulon have significant outdoor space. Perhaps nearly the same size as their indoor space, which gives them advantages over other music venues. Alex's Bar is having to work with a restaurant while Zebulon has their own café. 

Hotel Café - Hollywood

There is a parking lot near Hotel Café though I'm not sure if they own that space. I'll assume that they don't. Even without that Alex's Bar/Zebulon strategy available to them, they are most definitely pursuing two other options. They have to be one of the most aggressive when it comes to a music streaming strategy. For example, they had ARO (of the Osbourne family) and Suzanne Santo on livestream. And they have other artists scheduled to perform. 

Via Variety (Oct 28) we also know they've aggressively pursued grants:

A new philanthropic organization, the Live Music Society, has awarded grants of 20 small music clubs around the United States to help them weather the ongoing shutdown, in amounts ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 per venue.

. . . Among those marked to be awarded money in this first round include such renowned rooms as the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, a nightly showcase for upcoming singer-songwriters . . .

Lodge Room - Highland Park / Viper Room and Whisky a Go Go - Sunset Strip

They appear to have the occasional livestreams.

Bootleg Theater - Historic Filipinotown / Rampart Village

The did get some PPP funding and grants. LA Times (Sep 1):

They’re lucky in some respects, as the club did receive some PPP funding and nonprofit grants for its theater programming. But [Kyle Wilkerson of Sid the Cat] estimates that it will take “into six figures” for the club to survive the year and much more if COVID-19 shutdowns continue into next spring and summer.

So obviously what they got was not enough to keep them going financially pass 2020. Their GoFundMe campaign has been successful. Their Instagram page hasn't been updated since June. On the other hand, Sid The Cat has been promoting shows.

Troubadour - West Hollywood

They are doing some livestreams. Also, in-house talent buyer Amy Madrigali told Pollstar (Sep 16):

Are you working with NIVA? Yeah. I’m the southern California precinct captain for the lobby advocacy team.

Wow, precinct captain, do you get a badge or sash? I think I just get a lot of emails and make a lot of calls. I’m typically coordinating for the L.A.- and O.C.-area venues to get in touch with their representative.

So they're taking a leading role in getting Save Our Stages passed. 

The Echo / Echoplex - Echo Park

They're part of Live Nation. Live Nation expects tours to start back up in the Summer of 2021. I think that is wishful thinking. It'll be interesting to read their future quarterly earnings calls.

Moroccan Lounge / The Smell - DTLA

The Smell does the occasional food drive and helping out those in need. I haven't read any news on the Moroccan Lounge.