When Jessye DeSilva said they wanted to explore new territory with their upcoming LP Landscapes, they didn’t mean they wanted to perform an album release show at a venue that was totally foreign to them. But they had no other choice.
The Burren was booked solid for the spring. So was The Jungle. Lizard Lounge, their other regular spot for performing, has yet to reopen due to the pandemic. As DeSilva flipped through a metaphorical rolodex of venue contacts, they were met with booked-to-the-brim calendars and closed doors, over and over again. Eventually, they locked in a show at Boston Harbor Distillery for April 21, without ever stepping foot in the Dorchester performance space.
“I soon discovered that reaching out to venues in January — which previously would have been more than enough time — wasn’t going to work as it had previously,” DeSilva tells Vanyaland. “All of my go-to spots were booked solid.”
As Boston’s live music scene comes back into full swing, its cultural losses from the COVID-19 pandemic become even more apparent. Following the closure of Great Scott, Thunder Road, The Milky Way, Bull McCabe’s, Wonder Bar, and ONCE Ballroom & Lounge (which will return this summer to Boynton Yards), musicians find themselves with far fewer choices for booking shows. But a lack of options is only the first half of the problem; the second half is that the same amount of musicians are seeking out performance spaces, further skewing the venue-to-musician ratio in Boston. While some new venues grace the scene — Faces in Malden, Crystal Ballroom in Somerville, and Roadrunner in Brighton — performance oversaturation remains an issue around town.
AsVanyaland detailed in late 2020, without enough mid-sized venues, a major piece of the Boston music ecosystem is missing. Less than two years later, musicians are feeling the repercussions. Artists like DeSilva have to explore show options at venues that feel too small, too large, or too distant from their genre of music. Others simply hop in a van and bring their music to other cities.
“I found myself reaching out to venues I’d never played, some of which perhaps weren’t the right vibe for my music, and then having to give info on draw (from before the pandemic) that I wasn’t even sure was accurate anymore,” DeSilva adds. “I think the greater-Boston-area scene is so full and rich with talent, but even pre-pandemic, it’s often felt like there are more musicians than there are venues, or even audience.”
Boston art-rock vets Bat House are feeling the squeeze of oversaturation around the city, too. Following the arrival their record Twenty Mule Team, the band won’t host a release show until mid-April… nearly three months after the album dropped.
“I feel that Bat House is at this awkward level where Boston doesn’t have as many offerings for us as it once did,” shares guitarist Ally Juleen. “O’Briens [Pub] is always so great but tough to book these days because everyone wants to play there and the venue scene is slim! We used to play The Middle East Upstairs a lot which was a great venue but when the sexual harassment issues from upper management came to the surface we stopped playing there.”
While the band has hired a booking agent, they’ve also returned to DIY performances and house shows in the Boston area to expand their musical footprint.
“Since Great Scott has closed, as well as others, booking a weekend show in Boston has become increasingly difficult,” Juleen says. “We’re resorting to going back and playing house shows where we can find them for the time being as to reintroduce ourselves to the younger scene after two years of quarantine.”
The local booking pickings have been so slim that the band’s first show of 2022 was actually scheduled for Brooklyn. Bat House were born and raised in basements across Boston, yet the current venue imbalance has forced them to look towards New York for growth and performance opportunities.
“New York has a larger market with more venues to choose from,” Juleen explains. “We want to sell out rooms with our friends and New York offers a nice circuit of rooms for a band to climb. There are large gaps now in Boston’s venue circuit where smaller to medium sized venue options are limited.”
While not a new venue, The Rockwell Theater in Somerville has played a major role in filling the “venue void” left by the pandemic. Bat House recently announced an April 14 show at the black box theater in Davis Square. In fact, if it weren’t for The Rockwell, Bat House wouldn’t have any upcoming Boston-area shows at all (that aren’t in basements, at least).
Alex Pickert, in-house talent buyer for Crystal Ballroom, as well as owner of booking organization Get to the Gig Boston, says The Rockwell has been pivotal in providing another performance space for local artists. Prior to the pandemic, The Rockwell booked more theater-centric performances, but since reopening, Pickert says the venue has embraced all kinds of bands, from metal groups to pop-punk and hyper-pop acts.
“They have an amazing supportive team of people with an amazing space and want (just as much as I do) to support the local music scene, as well as help fill the hole that Great Scott and ONCE closing left in the small venue scene, and provide a space for local music to happen, which is why I’ve been putting so many shows there,” Pickert tells Vanyaland.
Over at Crystal Ballroom, Pickert is trying to bridge the gap as well, although as a 500 capacity room, the new Davis Square space is similar in size to Brighton Music Hall and The Sinclair — both venues that don’t often feature rising Boston headliners. A key difference is that Pickert is allowing local promoters to book the room, in an effort to make it more accessible for the Boston music scene.
“Right now I’d say we’re a good mix of local and national acts,” he shares. “Though I am booking in-house, I am still allowing outside promoters take a stab at booking the room, too. The goal is to have a healthy mix of both touring bands and local shows and I am working hard to having as many local acts on the national shows as possible “
In a similar fashion, the newly-opened performance space at Faces Brewing in Malden has expressed a desire to pack its 100-person taproom with as many Boston-centric performances as possible. Still, venues like The Rockwell, Crystal Ballroom, and Faces can’t balance the Boston venue equation on their own — especially not without a new venue in the low-hundreds capacity range.
“I think we’re lucky to have a new room of any size, but what the scene is really missing is that 100-300 capacity room, which is why I’ve been doing so many shows at The Rockwell as well as booking Crystal Ballroom,” Pickert elaborates. “Great Scott and ONCE was a huge loss to the community, and rooms of that size are practically nonexistent at the moment. The Jungle, Obrien’s, The Rockwell, Cantab (which is back now) are all under 200 capacity and I am patiently waiting for someone to open a 250-300 capacity room to fill that Great Scott / ONCE void.”
Boston R&B artist Ava Sophia — who also has struggled to book shows around Boston in recent months — says she hopes support for large venues like Roadrunner will trickle down to smaller, independent venues. The 3,500 capacity club opened in late March to mixed reactions. Some music fans were ecstatic to see a new venue open in the midst of a pandemic; others felt that the time, money, and attention would be better spent on smaller spaces, which would provide more opportunities for Boston-area musicians.
But Sophia doesn’t believe Boston has to pick between sizes when it comes to supporting new venues.
“I deeply hope that venues whose primary goal is bringing in national touring acts provide pathways for local artists, arts organizations, and venues,” she notes. “However, I am excited to see larger venues developing here. This gives Boston’s larger population more reason to engage with live music, for nationally touring artists to make connections here, and for local artists to stay in the city.”
Sophia sees the potential for larger venues to share their stages and resources in a way that paves a path for additional independent venues. If anything, she hopes some excitement surrounding places like Roadrunner will spill into support for smaller spaces.
“I think if Boston can create the infrastructure for larger venues to exist, we can also dedicate the same effort into reviving smaller venues that play such a huge role in our cities’ creative landscape,” she concludes.
Meanwhile, Pickert maintains an important perspective. “I’m just happy to see most everyone back at it,” he says, “we’re lucky that any new rooms for live music are opening after the shitty couple of years we just had.”