Live music "just didn't pay the rent," Derek Aldridge
told AnnArbor.com after his sale of LIVE at PJ's and Goodnight Gracie. "It comes down to simple economics, where unfortunately a band costs at least three times as much as a DJ, and if you don't do three times the business, you can't support it."
Aldridge's comments rubbed many attached to the local music scene the wrong way. Local business owners were a little more divided.
"The Pig exists to sell beer," says Jason Berry, who's been booking acts at the
Blind Pig since 1997. "Now, to say you can't make a dime isn't right. You can't make a dime doing it incorrectly, sitting at the end of the bar counting your money. Goodnight Gracie came and went like a million other dudes."
"We need to do $2,000 in revenue on a Wednesday night to break even," says Justin Herrick, new co-owner of LIVE. "If we're not making money, we can only do this so long."
"Can live music pay the rent?" asks Andy Garris, manager of Woodruff's (http://woodruffsbar.com/) in Ypsilanti. "Yeah. I mean, we're here."
"The music is incidental. It's how we choose to sell beer."
Jason Berry has been booking music in Ann Arbor for decades. He used to book acts at the Screaming Dog, which became D'Amatos, which became LIVE at PJ's which became LIVE. "It failed," he laughs.
"It's very simple. Does the act I'm booking bring a crowd with them that drinks? The music is incidental. It's how we choose to sell beer. That's the first thing I was taught."
Berry serves as the gatekeeper, determining what acts the community wants to see and which acts to keep off the stage.
"Everyone can get a show here," he says. "Not everyone can get a second show."
Berry is in a prime position, booking for arguably the most legendary venue in Ann Arbor. Jimmy Hendrix, John Lennon, REM and Nirvana all played the Pig and it remains a popular destination for touring bands as well as local up and comers. Even with all of its advantages, including owning the building, Berry admits that music can't always pay the bills.
"If we didn't have
the 8 Ball, I don't know if we could make it," Berry says. "Sometimes the Pig doesn't need the 8 Ball but some years it does. We can afford a slow month now and again, but you can't run a successful live music venue by renting space for more than a few years."
"Bands can be a crap shoot."
"As a business model, it's safer and more consistent to do DJs," says Adam Lowenstein, co-owner of LIVE. "Live music relies on bands bringing out their fans but when you have DJs spinning, it's more consistent. People know what to expect."
With the recent purchase and reorganization of LIVE and Goodnight Gracie (now The Last Word), Lowenstein and his partners have a lot on their plates, but they're willing to take a risk with live music. The popular live band
happy hour continues, while LIVE is starting a
Wednesday LIVE Showcase each week featuring a headliner and additional artists.
"We'll have a featured band and aspiring talent," says Wednesday LIVE Showcase booker Chris Hines. "We're offering artists a chance to get on stage and show us what they've got for a chance to headline sometime down the road."
Admission is free for both nights, but the owners are keenly aware of their break-even points.
"We need good promoters and bookers for these shows," says Herrick. "We admit - we don't know the dynamic so we need experts who can get the right bands and the right crowds."
"We're focused on getting our core business working," says LIVE co-owner Paul Drennan. "When it comes together we can look at putting more money towards live music."
"I have live music in my bar because I love live music."
Andy Garris looks at music a little differently. For years he championed local music in Ypsilanti while managing The Elbow Room, Savoy and now Woodruff's, offering live music seven nights a week and hosting the area's most popular annual music festival,
Mittenfest, which raised $21,900 this year alone ($55,0000 the last six years) to benefit
826michigan.
"I have live music in my bar because I love live music," says Garris. "When I used to run the Alley Bar we had a big book of CDs and a five-disc changer. Those were some of the best times of my life. When I got my own place I decided to bring in live acts because, why not?"
To make seven nights a week of live music a viable business model, Garris offers very few guarantees to bands, instead giving them the door. If the bands draw well, everyone makes money. With $5 cover four nights a week, people can have an inexpensive night out and listen to some great live music.
"I have a front row seat to some of the best music in the world," says Garris. "I get to listen to Laith Al-Saadi play every Monday night, I get to listen to world-class jazz two nights a week and everything in between. We're not printing money but I still think we haven't scratched the surface."
Not enough talent? "Frankly, that's bullshit."
Members of the local music scene are passionate about the viability of live music as a profitable business model. On the subject of there being too few quality bands who can generate a crowd, Jeremy Peters doesn't mince words.
"Frankly, that's bullshit," he says. Peters, his brother Brian and their partner Justin Spindler founded
Quite Scientific Records in 2007 and have since signed some of the most popular acts in Michigan, from
Chris Bathgate to
Lightning Love,
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and
Frontier Ruckus.
"I've been working in the music industry for about a decade now and there are numerous bands that prove that axiom patently false. It's a lazy-ass accusation meant to deflect blame off a person or group of persons who ran their business into the ground and don't want to own up to the plain truth that they were the ones at fault."
If it's not a question of having enough bands to play shows, what about the crowds themselves?
"There aren't as many people going out to shows as there used to be," says Doug Coombe who books the acts at Woodruff's. (Full disclosure: Doug is also a photographer for Concentrate). "There are two extremes. You'll get people who will see a band at The Fillmore and pay more in parking than you would for cover and a few drinks at Woodruff's, but they won't pay the cover for a night at Woodruff's. People are staying home and listening to music. We need to concentrate on the live music lovers out there and give the people at home a reason to come out."
"I strongly believe that live music changes lives," says Shelley Salant. Salant books shows at a number of local venues, including a lot of non-traditional spaces, while also hosting the
Local Music Show on WCBN-FM, running her own record label and playing in a number of area bands. She sees the need for more, not fewer live venues in the area.
"There are a lot of shows happening all the time but there's definitely a need for another venue in Ann Arbor/Ypsi," she says. "Having shows at alternative non-bar venues is really essential to the scene, but it's a lot harder to sustain. I think there's a market for a 150-200 capacity venue in Ann Arbor. The Blind Pig and its 400-person capacity is already too big for a lot of shows."
"When fewer people go to shows it's easier for smaller venues to carry nights," says Garris. "If we get 40 people out on a Tuesday night it's still a great atmosphere. Live music is growing in Ypsilanti. I hear
Red Rock will have live music. The Elbow Room is reopening. I'd love it if we could ultimately build to a level where we have enough successful venues for local acts to play so we don't have to give them away to the Crofoot or Detroit."
"It's a math game," says Berry. "There's a need for a venue somewhere between the Pig and the Michigan Theater, but that's been the case for 30 years. On paper it seems like a venue that size would work."
So, can live music pay the rent?
"Do you have an audience?" asks Berry. "Do you have the right venue for that audience? There are a lot of variables. The Pig has them. Woodruff's has them. The Ark has them. If you run it right, you can make a ton of money and become legendary but you need total devotion."
"Everybody has to work together," says Garris. "Bookers need to be smart and bands and the venues need to promote like crazy."
"There are great bands locally and nationally that can draw more than enough people to a venue," says Peters. "But you need to be willing to work with them as a business partner and not something coming into your space to draw a crowd. It'll never be successful without buy-in from all parties involved."
"It's cool to see the White Stripes on Saturday Night Live, but it's way cooler to have seen them live before they hit it big," says Coombe. "We take our talent for granted. A lot of Detroit acts are beloved overseas but ignored here. They play in front of thousands when they tour over there but have trouble getting 200 people when they play at home. It's beautiful but frustrating."
So can live music pay the rent?
"Yes, maybe, what the fuck do I know?" laughs Berry.
Richard Retyi is the social media manager at Ann Arbor digital marketing firm Fluency Media as well as a freelance writer for various publications. His musical credentials begin and end with dating a cellist in a local folk band for three months. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichRetyi or read his blog at RichRetyi.com.
All photos by Doug Coombe
Photos:
Jason Berry updating his show board at The Blind Pig offices
Matthew Dear soundchecking at The Blind Pig
Paul Drennan, Adam Lowenstein and Justin Herrick at LIVE
Andy Garris at Woodruff's
Electric Fire Babies play at Woodruff's during Mittenfest
Jeremy Peters
Shelley Salant at WCBN