LA’s Troubadour Faces Closure Amid Coronavirus Shutdown
Famed West Hollywood concert venue the Troubadour is facing the reality that it may close forever amid ongoing coronavirus lockdowns.
The 500-seat venue hosted its final show on March 11th and has been closed since then due to government mandate and by all appearances, may not be allowed to re-open until 2021, based on the plan laid out by California governor Gavin Newsome.
According to a report in the Los Angeles Times, that long hiatus may well prove fatal for the club.
On April 2nd, the club launched a GoFundMe campaign to help provide support for their 20 hourly employees, most of whom have been laid off for the duration of the shutdown.
“It looks tacky, but it’s a reality at this point. It’s not a joke,” Troubadour general manager Christine Karayan told the Times. “If we’re going to survive this thing—and that’s a big if—we’re going to need all the help we can get, from any direction we can get it.”
Since it launched, the crowdfunding campaign has raised just $28,731 of its $50,000 goal.
The club, which was inspired by a famed cafe in London with the same name, was first opened by Doug Weston as a coffee house on La Cienega Boulevard in 1957 before relocating to its current location on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Since then, the club has become a key performance space in the market, hosting concerts by the likes of Tom Waits, Elton John, The Eagles, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, Jackson Browne, and numerous others.
In the 1980s, the club became a nexus for the new wave and glam metal scenes, and played a significant role in the early careers of artists such as Guns N’ Roses, who were discovered by David Geffen while performing at the Troubadour, and the Melvins, who have performed at the club dozens of times.
Today, the club is popular with major touring artists who want to scale down shows for intimate audience experiences or for high profile launches such as Stone Temple Pilots who debuted their new singer Jeff Gutt at the Troubadour in 2017.
“We know there’s going to be a huge fatality rate as far as how many venues will not be able to open again when/if this thing ever ends,” Karayan added. “We’re just looking to survive, like everybody else.”
