{"id":25045,"date":"2023-04-07T05:30:35","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T09:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=25045"},"modified":"2023-02-22T08:19:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-22T13:19:30","slug":"asheville-music-venues-in-a-post-pandemic-world-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/07\/asheville-music-venues-in-a-post-pandemic-world-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Asheville Music Venues in a Post-pandemic World, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

Guarded optimism<\/strong>
\nWhile most indications suggest that the worst of the pandemic is now history, the teams that run local music venues don\u2019t want to get caught off-guard like they did in 2020. \u201cWe had plexiglas screens everywhere for awhile,\u201d says Santiago. \u201cBetween the monitor person and the stage, between our front-of-house technicians and the crowd, between bartenders and the crowd.\u201d And while all of those screens have now been removed, they\u2019re being kept handy. \u201cWe can’t afford to toss this stuff when we might have to possibly reuse it,\u201d Santiago says.<\/p>\n

In 2022, it wasn\u2019t unusual for a concert to be canceled at the last minute due to an artist\u2019s illness. That happens much less frequently these days. \u201cAnd if a band needs to postpone due to Covid, we immediately try to rebook the show within a reasonable time frame, based on routing and venue availability,\u201d says Santiago.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Rabbit Rabbit. Photo by Tom Farr<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s in everyone\u2019s interest for the show to go on as soon as it\u2019s practical to do so. \u201cAt this point, only mandates closing down shows and\/or venues can be considered a force majeure,\u201d Santiago explains. \u201cThat motivates venues and artists to quickly work out rebooking a canceled show.\u201d
\nUltimately, for concertgoers in the region, there are reasons for optimism. While Ambrose West closed its doors at the beginning of the pandemic, a new venue, AyurPrana Listening Room, recently opened in the same space near Beacham\u2019s Curve in West Asheville. Director David Newman says that the new music venue has a character that sets it apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Listening Room is a peaceful and pristine setting with stellar acoustics to enjoy music of diverse cultures, genres and traditions,\u201d he says, noting that AyurPrana is alcohol-free and \u201cfocuses on the music.\u201d With regard to health and safety protocols, Newman emphasizes that because AyurPrana is new, \u201cwe have nothing to compare it to.\u201d He notes that any policies related to health are \u201ca collaboration\u201d between artists and the venue.<\/p>\n

Hybrid indoor\/outdoor music venue Salvage Station managed to maintain a reduced schedule of live events during the pandemic; \u201cbooking seems to be back to normal at this point,\u201d says Katie Hild, the venue\u2019s marketing director. \u201cWe have lowered our indoor capacity, and we are definitely more cognizant of air flow for indoor shows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artist meet-and-greets made a comeback at Salvage Station in 2022, and like AyurPrana\u2019s Newman, Hild says that any safety protocols for those events are the result of collaboration to ensure everyone involved is comfortable, healthy and safe. \u201cAll of the changes that took place due to the pandemic ended up making our team stronger, the venue better, and the love for live music in Asheville to shine even brighter,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Both Rodriguez and Santiago see a bright future for their venues, and for the local live music scene as a whole. And talent booker\/consultant Sam Katz of Charlie Traveler Presents agrees. Running a music venue is \u201ca tough business model, and the landscape has changed a bunch since Covid,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we\u2019re getting huge [touring] acts in this city, and I don\u2019t see that stopping.\u201d He believes that bands and ticket buyers alike recognize Asheville as a \u201cdestination town\u201d for music. \u201cIt\u2019s a place that people want to come to and bands want to play. And I see that continuing on for many years to come,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Entertainment ecosystem<\/strong>
\nJeff Santiago believes that the lessons of the pandemic \u2013 and the creation of NIVA \u2013 have taught him a great deal about the business of music venues. \u201cI think we’ve understood for a while here in Asheville that we are all part of an ecosystem together,\u201d he says. The venues are connected to the artists, whether they\u2019re local or nationally-touring acts.\u201cWe watch and help artists develop,\u201d Santiago says. \u201cAnd because we’re such a tight knit community here \u2013 we all know each other, we’re all friends \u2013 we figure out how to make it all work.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One… Guarded optimism While most indications suggest that the worst of the pandemic is now history, the teams that run local music venues don\u2019t want to get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,3668],"tags":[237],"class_list":["post-25045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview","category-music-business","tag-asheville","cat-41-id","cat-3668-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25045"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25049,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25045\/revisions\/25049"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25045"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}