Start United States USA — Art Music venue owners warn ‘hospitality and entertainment are dying’ – The San...

Music venue owners warn ‘hospitality and entertainment are dying’ – The San Francisco Examiner

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Industry leaders plead with city, state for help
It was around 5 p.m. on March 13, the evening of a sold-out show at Bottom of the Hill on 17th Street, when Mayor London Breed ordered every bar and venue in The City to shut down. Knuckle Puck, the band scheduled to play that night, was doing a sound check, while the owner of the venue, Lynn Schwarz, was on a hike. Schwarz said that the night before had been the first time she noticed people weren’t showing up like they used to. Bands were canceling tours and she recalls feeling “odd” about the whole situation. The show must go on though, she thought to herself as she fielded emails from customers reaching out to make sure that the venue was still open. Schwarz started flipping burgers at Bottom of the Hill 24 years ago, working her way up to bartender, manager and eventually to part owner. It was a struggle to make the bar profitable again, and it wasn’t until last year that Schwarz felt she had a handle on running the business. “It was really tough times, and continues to be even without the pandemic,” she said. “Just last year I’m like, I finally got this, I know how to put down great offers and I have all these agents that I’m friends with. I got it, I can finally sleep.” “Fast forward three months, and I’m like, OK, I’m not meant to sleep well,” she said. It’s been over five months since the initial shutdown, and independent music venues in The City are on the brink of disappearing, according to Ben Bleiman, a small business owner and president of the San Francisco Entertainment Commission. “We are in red alert, freefall, absolute devastation and we need help now,” said Bleiman, who said he was speaking for himself and not the commission. “I’ve been pleading with The City to offer directives to our small independent venues, especially on how they can have a show in the park with circles on the ground.” Bleiman and Schwarz agreed that The City should be looking for solutions similar to the Shared Spaces program, which would allow venues to block off streets or host social distance shows in the park.

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