WASHINGTON — Instead of hosting concerts, plays, and other events for the holidays this year, spots like the 9:30 Club remained closed down on Friday ahead of a year that could bring both federal funding relief and the return of shows for struggling venues.
The 9:30 Club, like many entertainment and music venues, has been closed since the pandemic spread to the region.
For staff, having the doors closed for the holiday season had them longing for shows and events to come back.
"New Year's Eve was usually rolling in all of our venues with exciting shows. It was a bizarre thing for all of us to not be working New Year’s Eve," said Audrey Fox Schaeffer, a spokesperson for the 9:30 Club and the National Independent Venue Association. "New Year's Day is the day that we all want to look forward to all the shows that are coming up for the year. Right now, that’s a question mark.”
New Year's Day instead meant gates being down and closed signs up on the ticket booths while cold rain fell outside.
While the 9:30 Club has been forced to cancel shows, other spots have faced even greater challenges.
U Street Music Hall, the Eighteenth Street Lounge, and Twins Jazz are some of the venues that had to permanently close as a result of the impact of the pandemic.
"So many venues struggled to survive. A lot of them didn’t make it," Schaeffer said. "The fear that there would be a mass collapse of the independent music industry and venues was real. We’ve had to furlough more than 95% of our employees and that’s typical across the country for our industry.”
For the spots that remain in business, hopeful signs emerged in December when Congress passed a $900 billion pandemic relief package.
According to Schaeffer, part of the plan includes $15 billion tied to the Save Our Stages Act for struggling music venues, theaters, and comedy clubs.
"The money is able to go toward payroll, utilities, rent," she said. "If the Save Our Stages Act didn't pass and didn't pass now, we could easily predict 90% of the venues would have gone under.”
Schaeffer added that it may take months before funding arrives for the clubs and concert halls.
Even after the payments come, she said it could still take venues some time to operate again.
"It will take three to five months for us to be all up and operating once everything does open up," she said. "That’s how long it takes to book all of the tours and schedule them and putting tickets on sale. It’s not like flipping a switch.”
So when can music fans expect to possibly see a show again?
"Hopefully in the summer, there’ll be outdoor events and then toward the end of the year, indoor things," Schaeffer said. "We’ll just have to wait and see along with everybody else.”
In the meantime, Schaeffer said people could support venues by buying merchandise from their website.
Moving forward, she knew being able to host a concert or show would be a sign of things feeling normal again.
"Going to a show is one of those things we do to take care of ourselves," she said. "I’m glad people are going to want to keep doing that.”