Another venue goes bye bye - Paradise Lounge

[davepeck]

http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1083092

Hotline: Paradise Lounge axes live music

Michael Marotta
Thursday, March 27, 2008

Another day, another sale, and one less stage for musicians in Boston.

With the Lyons Group’s sale of the Paradise Rock Club completed, sources say the new owners, Live Nation and pub owner Joe Dunne, are preparing to pull the plug on live music and dance parties in the Paradise Lounge, which will be converted into a restaurant.

Promoters and musicians who had shows scheduled in mid-April and beyond were informed of the decision this week.

Dunne, who also owns Lir on Boylston Street and McGann’s Pub at North Station, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

The Paradise Lounge currently features live performances, dance parties and art shows seven nights a week. It opened in its current bar/restaurant/club format around 2002, taking the place of the dance club M80. Since the switch to live music, the lounge has featured shows by the Wallflowers, Flaming Lips and Jack Johnson, and currently hosts the monthly Happy Endings dance party and Boston Babydolls burlesque show.

Live Nation declined to comment on the Paradise Lounge changes. But a source within the company said it will be “business as usual” in the adjacent and larger Paradise Rock Club, and that it is unlikely the legendary local venue would be converted into an outpost of Live Nation’s rapidly-expanding Fillmore concert hall chain.

The Paradise, which holds 650 people and has recently hosted shows by the Raveonettes, Justice and Dropkick Murphys, has gobbled up an increased share of touring acts with the closing of Avalon and Axis on Lansdowne Street. Those clubs were also sold by the Lyons Group earlier this year and will reopen as a House of Blues in 2009.

[siflandollie]

that is some weak sauce right there.  I also did not know about this

"The Paradise, which holds 650 people and has recently hosted shows by the Raveonettes, Justice and Dropkick Murphys, has gobbled up an increased share of touring acts with the closing of Avalon and Axis on Lansdowne Street. Those clubs were also sold by the Lyons Group earlier this year and will reopen as a House of Blues in 2009."

when did that happen?

Another bummer for the already drowning Boston music scene

[zuke583]

shitty.  i went to the paradise last week to catch the u-melt show in the "lounge" half of the venue.  would have been a sweet spot for the breakfast..100-150 would have been perfect.  

deep banana blackout was playing the bigger room the same night.  that seemed like a pretty sweet spot too

[derickw]

the bigger room is nice, kind of weird shaped and multi-tiered. who the hell is gonna go into a restaurant with a loud ass rock show going on a wall away....

[FreeSpirit]

:lol: figures that tim plays at this place & shuts the whole damn thing down!

[weekapaug19]

so is it just the lounge shutting down, not the back? or is the whole place gonna be a restuarant

[derickw]

so is it just the lounge shutting down, not the back? or is the whole place gonna be a restuarant

i think just the front

[skalnbyc]

Is there 1 "cool" venue for music in Boston?  And i\'m not just talking about the acts they book, I\'m talking about the whole experience.

[Yoda]

It\'s the curse of the red sox!  They start playing well and the rest of the city starts to fall apart.

[tyzack]

Is there 1 "cool" venue for music in Boston?  And i\'m not just talking about the acts they book, I\'m talking about the whole experience.

middle east maybe? but that\'s rumoured to be closing too.

[skalnbyc]

Is there 1 "cool" venue for music in Boston?  And i\'m not just talking about the acts they book, I\'m talking about the whole experience.

middle east maybe? but that\'s rumoured to be closing too.

I\'ve been there and it is definitely not a "cool" venue, just a venue with no special distinction.

[Wolfman]

so is it just the lounge shutting down, not the back? or is the whole place gonna be a restuarant

i think just the front

Yes, this sucks, but mainly because Ticketmaster (Live Nation) now owns the building.  Note that the room where the Breakfast plays and all the major bands play, Paradise Rock Club, is NOT shutting down.  The part that is shutting down is where Tim played his solo show a couple of weeks ago, the 150-capacity Paradise Lounge.  "Live Nation declined to comment on the Paradise Lounge changes. But a source within the company said it will be “business as usual” in the adjacent and larger Paradise Rock Club, and that it is unlikely the legendary local venue would be converted into an outpost of Live Nation’s rapidly-expanding Fillmore concert hall chain."  The Breakfast can still play here if they can convince Ticketmsater that they can draw 300 people in Boston.  Ticketmaster is not in the restaurant business, that\'s why when they bought the whole building they sold off the Lounge to restauranteur Joe Dunne.  

The Lounge has been pretty beat for a long time.  Nothing good ever seems to happen there and I can see why they would reconcept it.  Joe Dunne will do a good job and turn it into a lively bar.  I won\'t mind having somewhere else to go before Paradise shows other than T\'s Pub because T\'s Pub kinda blows.  Don\'t get me wrong. it sucks to lose ANY concert space for small acts, but it wasn\'t working anyhow so oh well.  The real shame here is the monoplistic practices that Ticketmaster can now abuse all bands and fans with by owning the venue.

Is there 1 "cool" venue for music in Boston?  And i\'m not just talking about the acts they book, I\'m talking about the whole experience.

There are 3.  Problem is the first two are capacity <100.  They are options for Timmy Tour but not The Breakfast.  

The undisputed cool music venue is Matt Murphys  Certainly not big, but very cool.

The Milky Way rocks.

And of course the Middle East.  Three music venues that book every possible genre imaginable and a kickass middlle-eastern restaurant all under one roof.

There is nothing notably cool in Boston for shows over 400 people.

[jocelyn]

I am really not that surprised to hear this. I don\'t ever hear about anyone going to the Lounge anymore. But like Seth said, it\'s a shame that Live Nation will be in control of the Rock Club, not people who actually care about live music and are motivated by something beyond money.

[Wolfman]

I am really not that surprised to hear this. I don\'t ever hear about anyone going to the Lounge anymore. But like Seth said, it\'s a shame that Live Nation will be in control of the Rock Club, not people who actually care about live music and are motivated by something beyond money.

Yup, the real loss is in the quality of shows.  Paradise Rock Club has always been all about having headliners play full shows no matter who they are.  If there\'s an opener there would only be one and often the headliner would invite the opener so it was always a good fit.  Max Creek invited PB to open for them a couple of times in 2002.  Two sets were a lock for any band.  One of the first and most important shows of my life that I will never forget was when I was in high school and went to a THREE set Percy Hill show at the Paradise that blew me away.  Wow, come to think of it that was 10 years ago this week, I still have the tapes.  Crazy.

Anyhow, you can probably forget about those shows now.  It will be 4-5 acts a night, all chosen by the venue to be different to sell more tickets, headliner gets a whopping 75 minutes.  There\'s no way anyone could really enjoy every different unrelated band that goes on.  If you\'re there to support your friend\'s band that is opening, you\'ll get 5 songs in 40 minutes, thanks for playing.  If you\'re there for the headliner you have to sit through everything else before your band comes on at 11:45 and goes until 1.  That works at festivals, but not at clubs...as soon as Ticketmaster finishes buying every club in America, no band will ever play a real concert again.  Maybe I\'m wrong, I hope I am, but this is the most likely outcome.

[skalnbyc]

Most places I frequent have 1-2 acts on a given night.  I\'m always shocked to see the 4 openers wasting away precious evening time when The Breakfast plays Northeast shows.