Lexington, KY - In November's Urban County work session, local business and community leaders focused on the state of downtown Lexington. Of all the recent studies related to downtown - - there have been at least 10 - - perhaps most jarring were findings by the Minority Recruitment and Retention Task Force, showing a direct correlation between the diversity of options in downtown entertainment (or lack thereof) and economic prosperity in the Lexington area. This study, commissioned by LexMark and Toyota, suggests that our shortcomings in attracting and retaining a diverse workforce (particularly African Americans) can be directly attributed to a perception that Lexington lacks a dynamic and welcoming downtown with diverse entertainment options. Further investigation suggested that these findings can be applied to the recruitment and retention of all young professionals in technology, engineering and general business fields ("the key to our companies' future," according to the study).
With these studies making it clear that downtown nightlife is is not just an important social issue but also a business-critical economic development issue, Business Lexington surveyed Lexington's downtown venues offering live music on a regular basis, taking stock of the changes that have occurred this year and looking forward to 2009. In the upcoming January 9 issue, a companion article will focus on ideas for sustaining and growing our downtown entertainment scene, and the need to put Lexington higher on the map of cities competing for the next generation of young, diverse and creative minds.
NEWLY OPENED:
Manchester's
The Distillery District's first nightclub, located at 903 Manchester, opened its doors in late November. Managing partner Debbie Cole also serves as Vice President of Lexington's African American Forum, a position that has opened her eyes to the need of an available facility for her organization and others like it - - a venue for networking as well as socializing and entertainment, for a diverse, upscale, business-oriented crowd.
The club, which has a capacity of 400, hopes to offer regular live music (primarily jazz and R&B) beginning in February. In addition to being an entertainment venue centered on live music, however, Manchester's will sometimes provide DJs, or have viewings of music DVDs on a large screen. Important to the mission of Manchester's in engaging the local art and business communities as well as being an entertainment venue. Manchester's wants to be known as a high class yet affordable facility available for private events, including business meetings and luncheons as well as parties and social gatherings.
"We're going to make it as easy as we can for the community and for the business community to access to this facility, not just for purely entertainment, but for business meetings, for powerpoint meetings, [etc.]," said Cole, whose partners include Jeff Blandon of UpScale Entertainment and Omar Rasoul, former owner of Fusion. For more information, call 859-321-1982.
Victorian Square
(Lower 48, DeVassa and Brooklyn Pizza) When the "Dame Block" came down in the summer of 2008, Victorian Square became host to a small resurgence of nightlife hot spots. Live entertainment venues Lower 48 and DeVassa, as well as watering hole The Chase Tap Room, opened their doors in July, with the former two locations picking up many local music acts that had previously frequented The Dame and Buster's.
Under the leadership of partners Shawn Sewell, Sarai Steward, and Nate Eldridge, Lower 48 offers a variety of live music for a crowd that typically ranges from "20-somethings to 50-somethings." Genres vary, from house music to rockabilly, reggae to experimental, and the bar also hosts poetry readings and benefits for non-profits. Located on the bottom level (facing the Opera House on Short Street), Lower 48 is divided into five primary areas - including a dance floor, sitting areas and an indoor "patio" located in the Victorian Square atrium - and Eldridge likens the intimate, casual atmosphere of the venue to that of a house party.
Coexisting peacefully under the same roof of Victorian Square is DeVassa Bar & Cafe - restaurant/bar by day, entertainment venue by night - as well as Brooklyn Sports Grill and Pizzeria, which is not new in 2008, but has recently been picking up momentum with weekly live music shows. DeVassa serves Brazilian-influenced food from 10:30 A.M. - 10:00 P.M., at which point the dance floor opens up for live music Wednesday through Saturday nights. Business partner T.J. Gordon describes the crowd as "young professionals, with a little bit of college students," and says that considering the state of the economy, the Victorian Square entertainment scene is doing quite well right now.
"It's exciting to be down here right now. It's growing," said Gordon. "Every weekend it's packed."
The Penguin
Entrepreneurs from Missouri have brought the concept of a dueling piano bar to Lexington's front door. The 7,000 square foot bar can hold a crowd of up to 275 people and provides a live personal jukebox in the form of live musicians who are flown in from all over the country each weekend and play crowd requests chosen from a book of thousands of popular songs, spanning five decades.
Open Thursday - Saturday each weekend, the Lexington location is the second for the Penguin, which launched in Colombia, Missouri "on a whim" and was met with huge success. The Lexington location has been no disappointment so far.
"It has exceeded my expectations," said part-owner Craig Hays. "It's been really good so far. The crowds and the clientele, we've just really been well-received."
The Penguin is located at 517 West Main Street. For more information, visit www.penguinpianobar.com.
C.P.R.
Shorthand for Cultural Preservation Resources, C.P.R. is not your typical music venue. For one thing, it's all ages. For another thing, it's also a store, specializing in handmade clothes, art, jewelry, stuffed animals and other odds and ins. And finally, there's no alcohol sold there. Owner Darin King opened the doors this past Fall, after coming to terms with the fact that the series of shows he'd been hosting at his house (aka The Shrieking Shack) had gotten too big for his living room.
C.P.R., located on Sixth Street directly behind Al's Bar, is part of a growing trend of DIY (do-it-yourself) venues, which specialize in providing a venue for bands that, well, do it themselves, without managers and labels.
"We've had everything from straight-up folk, to folk-punk, to bluegrass, to psychedelic noise, metal, harsh noise, melodic hardcore," King said. He admits the venue might not be for everyone - it's small, there's not a bar or many options for sitting down, and sometimes the music is straight-up weird - but it has been well-received by grateful bands who otherwise might not have had a opportunity to make Lexington a stop on their tour, and by a scene of hungry locals looking for interesting, independent and non-mainstream live music.
NEW LOCATIONS/EXPANSIONS
The Dame
After closing for what General Manager Nick Sprouse calls "three very long months," Lexington's leading concert hall reopened in October as part of the Main Street Live complex. The new facility accommodates up to 500 people, offering a concert room with a stage as well as a large dance room with a DJ booth and lounge area and a large patio shared with the rest of the Main Street Live complex. Sprouse admits the move affected the momentum of the concert hall - many "big-time" national acts are contacted four to six months in advance and confirmed a few months out, he said - but he ensures that "2009 is just amazing as far as bands that want to play at The Dame."
In the meantime, The Dame has hosted many favorite locals acts, and has scheduled a more diverse line-up in upcoming months. As for what lies ahead in 2009?
Expect "bigger name country artists that are coming through, some good indie stuff like usual, some more hip hop ... more the type of stuff that we've been doing, but some artists that haven't played at The Dame yet."
Natasha's
Feeding off a momentum that has been building for years, in 2008 Natasha's Bistro and Boutique embarked in a move that truly cements their status as an "arts and entertainment" restaurant. The bistro has revamped the space formerly occupied by the boutique (which moved to a new adjacent location on the corner of Main Street and Esplanade) to accommodate a stage, a new sound and lights system, and a green room for bands. Co-owner Gene Williams says these improvements open up Natasha's as a venue for national bands - an avenue they have touched upon recently with John Lilly and the Asylum Street Spankers, and plan to continue to explore in more depth in the future.
Regular weekly events include "Sax in the City" on Wednesdays with musician/actor Lew Bowling, and "Tawaga on Tuesdays" with jazz pianist and composer Kokichi Tagawa. Other regular events, including Mecca dancers, story-tellers and Balugala Surprise Theatre, keep the landscape at Natasha's busy and teeming with variety and mystique. Winekeeper, Natasha's new advanced wine preservation system (and the first of its kind in Lexington) allows wine fans the option of "more expensive, delicate wines by the glass." Natasha's added a new bar (constructed of eco-friendly 100% Plyethylene post consumer waste) in 2008 as well. For more information, visit www.beetnik.com, or stop by at 112 Esplanade.
The Green Lantern
On the corner of 3rd and Jefferson, Harry Somerville has changed not only the name, but the face of the bar that for years was perhaps equally beloved and infamous as the Hideaway. Now known as the Green Lantern, the business has picked up a handful of The Dame's employees and has expanded into a live entertainment venue, having completely remodeled the adjoining property to accommodate a stage, portable bar, dance floor and sit-down area. Much of the improvements were conducted by Green Lantern employees, including exposing a brick wall and original hardwood floors, as well as sprucing up the walls with fresh paint jobs and original art.
The atmosphere of the Green Lantern is inspired by a "non-pretentious, New Orleans, Mississippi Delta kind of loose-feeling bar," according to Somerville. The bar, which claims to be home to "Lexington's best chili," is open for business seven days a weeks, featuring live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
"From barfly to barkeep," a full-length article about the Green Lantern, appeared in the November 14 issue of Business Lexington - search for "Green Lantern" on www.smileypete.com.
COMING SOON
Tin Roof
Tin Roof, Lexington's upcoming live music restaurant, has officially broken ground on the corner of North Limestone and West Maxwell. According to owner Jason Sheer, who opened the first Tin Roof in Atlanta and then followed with two locations in the Nashville area, the venue will bring in bands from Nashville and the region, but will also have a strong focus on local acts, primarily bands that play familiar cover songs that people can sing along with.
"We just had so many people from Lexington come in and say 'You gotta open one in Lexington, you gotta open one in Lexington,'" said Sheer, referring specifically to the mass of Lexingtonians who have graced Nashville over the years for the Music City Bowl game. "You hear that a bunch of times and you finally say okay, maybe we need to check out Lexington."
The Tin Roof crowd ranges from the college-aged to young professionals and families. "On any given night if you come into the Tin Roof you'll see 21-year-olds and 65-year-olds," said Sheer. "We'll be open during the day on the weekends, have all the games on. Hopefully we'll see lots of families."
For more information about the club, enter "Tin Roof" into the search engine at www.smileypete.com.
Buster's
Jessica and Clark Case purchased Buster's before the Dame Block came down in the summer of 2008. Though the exact future of the bar has been a question mark in the minds of many downtowners, Jessica Case wants to assure everyone that "We are definitely relocating!" The Cases, a married couple who started frequenting Buster's during college when it opened in the early 90s, feel fortunate to have obtained a liquor license (a first for Buster's, which was historically a beer-only establishment). However, they intend to keep the essence of Buster's intact, including a focus on bottled beers with reach-in coolers. The same pool tables remain (though they will be recovered); the same jukebox will be in play (though they may change out a few CDs to "bring back the old punk classics"). The owners plan on installing a permanent stage and a strong focus on live music, picking up the momentum Buster's was building before the Main Street location closed in June, marked by a series of live shows sponsored by The Void skate shop. "We're really excited to keep everything as local as possible," said Case, adding that local artist Waseem Touma is creating sculptures to be used as light fixtures. Buster's is currently in negotiation with a lease and Case emphasized that they will definitely remain downtown. Once a lease is finalized, Buster's will be reopening as early as March 2009.
Skybar
Watch for a new upscale bar to be opening sometime around February in a downtown highrise building (www.skybarlex.com). Owner Vince Carlucci could not be reached for further comment.