A concert venue for North Albany?
The rear of the building, from Common Place. Here's the streetview of the front.
Interesting: Chris Pratt, one of the owners of the Barrel Saloon and the Pearl Street Pub, has applied for a zoning variance to turn a warehouse at 28 Thatcher Street in North Albany, just off Broadway, into a music venue. From the application:
... This venue will hold live concerts for local and national acts such as Country Music acts, Rock Music, Bluegrass, and many other various styles of music and entertainment. The venue will only open for such shows and close no later than an hour afterwards. The hours of operation depend on the start times of shows and duration. The front of the space, see attached floor plan, will have a bar area where patrons can purchase beer, wine, and liquor. All events will be fully staffed with security and will follow all SLA requirements for on-premise alcohol consumption.
At this time there are six restaurants/bars in close proximity. This area has grown in the past two years to become more of an entertainment district. This venue will only enhance and compliment that.
The business model we will be using is that of the Helsinki Music Venue, located in Hudson NY or the Upstate Concert Hall, Located in Clifton park NY. This is a live music venue that will accommodate national up and coming acts that might be too large to play a local bar establishment but too small to the play the Palace Theater. The capacity will be somewhere between 700 to 800 people depending on city code.
That capacity would put this venue somewhere between Upstate Concert Hall (about 1000) and The Egg's Swyer Theater (450). It'd be a bit bigger than Revolution Hall (500, though it doesn't host concerts any longer).
Steve Barnes talked with Pratt about the plan (and a plan for a new lounge on Pearl Street) -- and touched on the denial of Sneaky Pete's application for a night club space in the neighborhood a few years back.
The application is on the agenda for the March 13 Albany BZA meeting.
Find It
proposed music venue
28 Thatcher Street
Albany, NY 12207
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Comments
Yet another good step in turning that area into a cool, fun warehouse district.
... said Hock on Mar 5, 2013 at 11:11 AM | link
I like the idea but it would've been nicer if the venue was closer to the rest of downtown. I hear St Josephs is available.
... said Code Monkey on Mar 5, 2013 at 12:19 PM | link
I really hope this application gets approved and this place does well. And most importantly, I hope and pray that they book acts outside of the country/bluegrass genre. ;)
This is a good size venue to bring in some up-and-coming indie rock bands (maybe a little large, but still). Every other decent place who booked shows like this has closed. I can't wait to see what happens...
... said Paul on Mar 5, 2013 at 1:26 PM | link
Great news. I also hope this palce gets approval and does well. Albany desperately needs a club of this size, especially since Rev Hall closed (still lamenting the loss of that place...) Hopefully the owners will set it up and run it correctly. Running a music venue like this is different than running a bar or lounge so I hope they get some good, experienced people on board. And anything is better than the horrible Upstate Concert Hall...
... said grandmastergus on Mar 5, 2013 at 8:37 PM | link
This would be a great boost for the capital district region. With different genre it's sure to be a hit. Wish you the very best! Rikk Anderson
... said Rikk Anderson on Mar 5, 2013 at 8:48 PM | link
Upstate Concern Hall (Re-branded to separate itself from Northern Lights, but still the same crappy venue) is such garbage. Even when musicians I really like (Frank Turner) finally come to this area, I'd still can't bring myself to go. I suffered through it for Coheed and Cambria a couple years back and vowed never again, even for them, and I can't tell how how pleased I was that they choose to play at the Egg the next time they were in town. So, with the understanding that the Egg is sporadic and UCH is a sweaty pit of poor speakers and zero ambiance, I'd LOVE to have any other alternative.
... said John on Mar 6, 2013 at 9:20 AM | link
"I like the idea but it would've been nicer if the venue was closer to the rest of downtown. I hear St Josephs is available."
hahahahawesome
... said Ed on Mar 6, 2013 at 10:22 AM | link
Pretty much echoing the comments earlier, I'm pleased to hear this news.
I've never been too fond of Northern Lights. Don't know many people that are, quite frankly, but in fairness I haven't been there in some time, well before they renamed it Upstate Concert Hall. They have done well for themselves and brought a lot of diverse and talented acts to the area, so kudos to them.
That said, I've always thought that if there was a venue in Albany or Saratoga with a similar capacity for music, bands and concert-goers alike would much prefer it. From a fan perspective, I feel like they book some of the acts they get simply because no alternative exists.
... said Jeff D on Mar 6, 2013 at 10:29 AM | link
As others have commented, I too lament the demise of Rev Hall, easily my favorite music venue when open. Since this and Saratoga Winners have closed, there has certainly been a need for this sized venue. It would seemingly fit right in with the neighborhood.
... said Beeswax, Not Yours INC on Mar 6, 2013 at 3:03 PM | link