Too many music venues in Atlanta?

Can a post-bailout economy support a glut of mid-to-large music venues in one city? Idolator.com calls for a moratorium on CW Midtown Music-type complexes.

By Rodney Carmichael Thursday October 9, 2008 06:44 PM EDT

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Can a post-bailout economy support a glut of mid-to-large music venues in one city? That’s the question posed by Variety. which focuses on three 8,000-capacity venues opening in L.A. over the next two months.

A follow-up blog on Idolator.com throws Atlanta’s CW Midtown Music Complex in the mix, comparing it to the three-in-one L.A. Live Complex:

Can we call a moratorium on these odious music venue “complexes” like the LA Live one?

You know what I’m talking about. Some big-time corporate entity buys an old venue and tries to turn it into a music amusement park of sorts-except things just don’t work out that way. In fact, I can’t think of many clubs that have ever worked with this model. Atlanta, for example, has the Vinyl/Loft/Center Stage chimera that attracts exactly zero foot traffic and only brings people out for marquee shows, if then. Los Angeles and Atlanta share a lot of geographic characteristics-sprawl and traffic-so I wouldn’t be surprised if LA Live was plagued by similar issues.

In recent years, most concert-goers have complained that Atlanta suffered from the opposite problem - too few mid-sized venues - especially after the close of East Atlanta’s Echo Lounge (recently replaced by the new East Atlanta Icehouse) and the temporary closing of the Roxy in Buckhead (due to reopen in ‘09).

Idolator makes a good point about the CW complex, which does tend to book a pretty hit-or-miss schedule of shows. But the empty foot traffic might have more to do with the wack location and lack of parking than the line-up or overabundance of venues.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)