Sacramento's Music Venues Fight To Stay Afloat With No Immediate Reopening Plan
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Among the hardest-hit industries during the coronavirus pandemic is the live music scene.
Venues big and small in Sacramento were the first to close and will be the last to reopen. And at this point, they don't have much of a timeline.
A lot of Sacramento's social scene has been able to adapt to this pandemic. Bars and restaurants have expanded to the sidewalks and even the streets. But the local clubs have no option.
Ace of Spades on R Street is shuttered, as it's neighbors welcome as many people as they can outside.
"You do miss the feeling of being at the concert, the good feels of the music being with your friends," said Clarissa Pickens, a local concert-goer.
Venue owners miss even more - an income.
"We started rescheduling shows, rescheduling shows, pushing them out and at this point we're just closed," said Anthony Paganelli, co-owner of Holy Diver.
Paganelli is also a musician. The pain of no live music is double.
He said his business is doing everything they can financially just to be able to open at some point.
"We are a restaurant and we are a bar, but the majority of our income came from people coming to watch live music," Paganelli said.
It's an economic blow for the city. Golden 1 Center's canceled or postponed list includes a concert with Cher, Bon Jovi and Janet Jackson. Aftershock Festival was supposed to start on October 3.
But the biggest concern is the financial health of smaller venues.
"Ace of Spades gets a lot of big names that come through. So that would really hurt," said Max Vanstone, a local concert-goer.
It's a social scene stymied with no end in sight.
"Small music venues are where bands get their start. If there [are] no small music venues then there won't be any big music venues," Paganelli said.
Concerts are in the last phase of Gov. Gavin Newsom's coronavirus four-phase reopening plan. He said they wouldn't happen until a vaccine or some other effective treatment is developed.