Music venues — lately they’ve been dropping like flies. First it was Starr Hill; then it was Satellite Ballroom. Now it’s looking grim for the Gravity Lounge. Whether it’s a new trend in music tastes, the economy or a coincidence, the pattern reflected by Gravity being on the fritz is, well, bringing us down.
Two music venues comprised the C-ville small-venue scene at the time of Gravity’s inception six years ago. Starr Hill presented jam bands and college acts, and Prism presented world music. Gravity’s initial vision, owner Bill Baldwin said, was to cover the genres left out by the venues in place: local acts, singer-songwriters and cross-genre music.
When you walk into Gravity Lounge, you find that the place has a bit of an identity crisis. Is it a bookstore? A café? An art gallery? A music venue?
“The original idea was to have an all-day bookstore café that had occasional events,” Baldwin said. “But when we first opened, the daytime business didn’t exist, so we started concentrating on events.”
The books that line the walls can, in fact, be purchased, but Baldwin noted that the people who usually buy them are the musicians themselves.
Though Gravity might be small, it has hosted Grammy-winning acts like Janice Ian and Buckwheat Zydeco. It has touted “had-them-before-they-were-big” bragging rights for many acts like The Avett Brothers and more recently Lenka. And the little place is, well, cozy. One hundred and fifty people in a living-room atmosphere creates the sense of an intimate show, and the fans love it.
But even though the atmosphere of these intimate shows remains popular, Baldwin said smaller and medium venues closing are a nationwide trend. He specified that these were mostly concert-oriented venues, while “bars with bands” are still going strong. Baldwin attributed the trend to “a lifestyle change. People are staying home more; they are having home theatres installed where their investment recovery is built on using the equipment.”
To combat this phenomenon, various local artists put on a benefit show for Gravity in February, Baldwin said. “The shows have had a good vibe, and have been trying to keep people positive,” he said. Other than benefit shows, Gravity has been staying open on donations.
There also is the possibility of making Gravity a non-profit organization.
“The idea would be to expand our mission to include more educational programs for kids and more multicultural events. That would allow us to receive grants,” Baldwin said. The process, however, would not be easy, and may require Gravity to run as a new entity.
Former Satellite booking agent Danny Shea, who has also done his share of booking for Gravity, suggested that the three local venues’ closings are in no way connected.
“Each venue has had its own story,” Shea said. “With the Ballroom, it all had to do with the landlord having an opportunity to get CVS in there. But with Gravity, to my understanding, they’ve been working in an unrealistic environment for a while.”
Shea went on to explain that Gravity’s financial troubles are not just peeking their head out of the water — they’ve been around for years.
“There’s an ebb and flow [of local music], and right now we’re definitely in an ebb,” he said. “But I don’t think it will be long-term. In many ways, the community here’s gotten spoiled. It’s easy to get used to a lot of activity. In the context of U2 coming to Charlottesville, people start to ask, ‘Why isn’t Radiohead coming?’”
Shea said he thinks Charlottesville will not be deprived of music for too long with the impending opening of the Jefferson Theatre. He also noted that the landlord of Gravity intends to keep the space as a music venue, even if the management and name changes.
In terms of the economy, Shea suggested that places like Gravity Lounge, which allow you to see a show for less than $20, should be prospering instead of expensive venues like John Paul Jones Arena.
“It’s like vacationing in Nag’s Head instead of Europe,” he said.
In an attempt to save Gravity, another benefit show is scheduled for Sunday, March 22 with Terri Allard, Brady Earnhart, Bahlmann Abbot, JJ von Briesen and Thomas Gunn performing.
Read More
The best albums of 2014
By Noah Zeidman | December 4, 2014Across genres, it has been a pretty great year in music.
Top 10 movies of 2014
December 4, 2014This has been an excellent year for film, offering everything from gripping blockbusters to innovative personal films.
Iggy Azalea is “Reclassified”
December 4, 2014It has become common practice among music artists to repackage their albums in an effort to simultaneously boost single sales and dish out new content by slightly renaming the album or slapping “Deluxe” onto the title.
