Couches on Fire

A Morgantown Area Music and Culture Blog

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Rosewood no more...

Just thought I would repost this here for anyone who hadn't heard yet...

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The Rosewood Theatre & Cafe Newsletter
February 22, 2006
www.rosewoodtheatre.com

.....a message from Gary Tannenbaum

Hello all, after a year and three months of many, really awesome shows and lots of good times, The Rosewood Theatre and Cafe has run out of steam. Due to a handful of problems (all of them having to do with money), I am cancelling upcoming shows, until further notice. It is with heavy heart and reluctant hand that I make this announcement, the Rosewood has meant so much to so many. I believe it had raised the bar on Morgantown's "culture meter", bringing new life to the music scene here.
The reality is that, the business end of things is in a stranglehold, and I just don't see the light at the end of the tunnel (all these metaphors, sheesh).
At least for the time being, folks, we have shut down.
Special recognition goes out to my staff for helping make the Rosewood what it had come to be.....thanx to Heather, Walt, Becky, Veronica, Casey and Jeremy. It would never come this far without you guys.
Thanks to my friends that have helped materially and with moral support.
Thank yous go out to all the performers that have played here. Keep making music!!
....and of course, many, many thanx to all of you that have come to shows...... keep supporting live music!!
We will keep you updated on any developments...... Rory Block ticket holders can return them to Blue Moose Cafe for refund..... sorry for canceling the rescheduled show (Rory will be at the Fur Peace Ranch in Meigs County, Ohio on April 9th)

Take care, Gary

7 Comments:

  • At 2/23/2006 12:53 PM, Blogger Skull-Shaped Maracas said…

    I hate to say it, but I saw that coming a mile away. Not that that takes away from the Rosewood's contributions, but it was pretty inevitable.

     
  • At 2/23/2006 1:36 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    i agree with both comments here. it does suck. i saw some jaw-dropping-ly good shows there. mould, o'brien, hot tuna, thompson, old crow, larry keel to name a few.

    but it was obvious it was going to go under. in order to run a venue you have to be absolutely cut throat. you have to get people in there every night of the week, not just friday and saturday. gary could have kept his over-40 folk shows on the weekends, but he needed more diversity. get the punk rockers in there. get the hip hop kids. get everyone he could. but it stayed pretty genre-specific and there's a VERY small market for that. give the kids in the dorms a reason to go, and you can survive. it's almost ironic considering he had to deal with club z's crowd on his sidewalk all night.

     
  • At 2/23/2006 10:17 PM, Blogger Brian said…

    I don't think it was inevitable that the Rosewood had to close. It's frustrating because for a place with so much potential that started out on such a positive note, the cracks have been visible from very early on.

    You simply cannot exist on one audience alone. You have to appeal to different crowds, and I know Gary did try but it was pretty half-hearted. You can't treat the local performers who are playing at your venue like second class citizens, or they simply won't play there. Local bands etc. may not bring in the high door prices but they will consistently bring in larger crowds than touring acts, and that's what you need, heads coming in and out of your venue, buying beer and wine from you, and Gary did not do enough to encourage this to happen.

    When you're starting something new (and this goes for venues, dance nights, bands, whatever) you'd better treat everyone like gold in this town, because there's not too many bridges to burn. And once they're burnt, you might as well close shop. If you can't play nice, you might as well not play at all.

    It's too bad about the Rosewood. I hope that someone tries to take it over and manage it better, now that all of the money has been spent to furnish it, but realistically I'm not sure that'll happen.

     
  • At 2/24/2006 12:47 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    two words: liqour license

    without one, you will fail. excluding restaurants, of course.

    yrs-
    Evan!

     
  • At 2/26/2006 1:21 AM, Blogger The Wilkinsons said…

    You can make money selling beer. But the Rosewood never even got that right. Running out of cheap beer on the nights when Gary's preferred crowd wasn't in there was plain bad business. It's sad to see the place go - nobody's mentioned Jr. Brown's tear-down-the-place performance - but facts are facts. Not getting enough cheap beer for those us interested in getting bombed is a major mistake.

     
  • At 2/26/2006 1:38 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I heard he had only ever made a profit on two shows, the old crow medicine show and kaki king. He was very poor businessman who constantly seemed to struggle with what he wanted his venue to be.

    Its sad because he could have created something so much better.

     
  • At 2/28/2006 12:19 AM, Blogger miafrate said…

    I wouldn't venture to say Gary was/is a poor businessman. I have no idea what a good businessperson is like or how one becomes one of those. And I think he knew what he wanted the venue to be. (He never wanted it to be another 123.) It's just that there isn't much support for what he wanted to be here in Morgantown. Maybe the venue was in a bad location for what he wanted the venue to be. I dunno. Kind of sad it doesn't seem to be working out.

     

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