 |
| Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, NC |
As a fan of live music I can remember really only having a
few choices for seeing many of the bands that I loved when they would
come through the state of North Carolina. For many years Tremont landed
many of those very acts. You can check out for yourself the amazing list
of bands that have graced the stages there on their website.
Tremont Music Hall opened its doors in 1995 thanks to Penny
Craver and throughout the years the venue has only transitioned through
two other owners. It certainly has been interesting to make the
parallels between the ups and downs of the music scene here in Charlotte
with the ups and downs of Tremont. For me personally, some of my
favorite shows happened in during 1996 to 2001 time period right there
on the stages of Tremont Music Hall. As a fan of the venue and the acts
that they were bringing to the city it was easy to notice a decline of
acts that were were coming during the early to mid-2000s. Of course,
there were many reasons for this and the second owner of Tremont, Dave
Ogden, has spoken about many of the issues that were really contributing
to a slow period at Tremont. But it’s Tremont’s current state under
owner John Hayes that has been really interesting to watch.
If you have been paying attention to the wide range of acts
that have recently performed on the stages at Tremont then you have
likely been impressed. Under the ownership of John Hayes the current
General Manager Lisa Barr, the place has done an amazing job of bringing
Tremont back to one of the premiere music destinations here in
Charlotte. Numerous showcases of local acts and bringing in some of the
most diverse national acts 2012 alone contributed to a monster year for
fans of music and Tremont Music Hall.
Lisa sat down to speak with Shutter16 about Tremont Music
Hall and give us a real behind-the-scenes peek into the life of Tremont
Music Hall.
Please, take a moment to introduce yourself and your role at Tremont Music Hall.
Lisa:
I work as Talent Buyer and General Manager at Tremont Music Hall. I
have held both positions for about 4 years now. Prior to that, I worked
part-time at Tremont as door person and bartender. Before coming on
full-time to Tremont, I worked as the store manager at The Record
Exchange in Park Road Shopping Center.
As Talent Buyer for Tremont, I am fully in charge of
keeping the calendar filled up with shows year ‘round. This is
absolutely my favorite part of the job. I search out bands or evaluate
the bands that come my way, and it’s the shows that I decide to book
here that keep the whole machine running. As General Manager, I keep
everything in line and keep the machine oiled. This consists of managing
the staff, handling concert production, and executing our marketing
strategies across various platforms. Basically, with the two roles
combined, I put on a diverse selection of concerts for a living, and I
sleep well knowing that these concerts make different people happy.
Who are some of your favorite musicians you are listening to right now?
Lisa: I’ve
been listening to a lot of Anthrax in excitement for their upcoming
April 13th show at Tremont. I usually work with music playing in the
office, and some regulars on rotation on Spotify lately include: Tame
Impala, Rolling Stones, Lee Fields & The Expressions, First Aid Kit,
Mudhoney, Swans, HRVRD, Liars, Why?, LCD Soundsystem, Bauhaus, and Lana
Del Rey.
Local bands that I’ve really been digging lately: (the
aforementioned) HRVRD, Center of the Sun, Old Soles, Birds With Teeth,
& Votnut.
Lisa: A
lot of the growth seen over these past few years can be credited to the
current owner of Tremont, John Hayes. He bought the venue in March of
2010 when we faced a lot of challenges. Initially John’s plan was to
stabilize the business and understand where we fit in the local music
scene. John and I sat down and evaluated where we thought we fit and,
with the help of some local musicians and friends of Tremont, we picked a
strategy and have since been revising it as we learn and doing the most
we can with what we have available. Since then, he has given me the
push I needed to carve out our own niche, encouraging me to take smart
risks on shows that make sense at Tremont more than at other venues in
town. He is big into heavy metal–we feel we have re-established
ourselves as Charlotte’s best place to see memorable and intimate metal
shows with bands from all over the world– but I do my best to keep a
very diverse calendar booked!
Is there one type of
philosophy or guiding factor that you can point to about the approach
that you and John [Hayes] take toward the forms of entertainment that
Tremont offers to Charlotte?
Lisa: Give
people diverse selections of shows and keep everything as mixed as
possible. One of our best shows in 2012 was when R&B/Soul music
legend Lee Fields came and performed in the Casbah.
Our mantra is be nice! We want bands to want to come back, we want
people who come to a show here to feel like we want them here, like they
have friends at the Tremont. We are in the South and people should feel
like family when they come to Tremont. Music should be a unifying
force!
Tremont has a great
reputation for giving local bands, from established to new, an
opportunity to showcase their talents on stage and even open for
national touring acts. What motivates you all to deliver such a regular
opportunity to the local scene?
Lisa:
We want locals to have the opportunity to be exposed to as many people
as possible. To watch a local band (that is honored to open up for one
of their favorites) win the crowd over is one of the best feelings I get
working here. Nothing makes us happier than to have a local band
progress to regional and national status. It makes us proud to think
that we may have helped in some way to further their success.
Tremont has opened up
the doors to more than just music over the last few years, with events
that range from wrestling to hip-hop workshops and hosting the Vinyl and
cd show. What has been the benefit to hosting these varied
entertainment experiences?
Lisa: While
we are a music venue, first and foremost, we realize that we have a
unique space that can be utilized in so many other ways. From a business
perspective the benefit has been twofold. We have a building that was
only open during shows and now we get to use that space to create
revenue, but there is something else that is more important: We actually
draw a whole new group of people to Tremont for these different type of
events. Many times people need to be exposed to something before they
feel comfortable coming out and if we can draw them to our venue with
something other than a music event and win them over with our Southern
charm and hospitality we think they will come back!
What do you believe sets Tremont apart from some of the other venues in Charlotte?
Lisa: Again,
our diverse selection of shows. We book anything from Norwegian Black
Metal and UK Punk Rock to R&B/Soul and Tween Pop. And everything in
between.
Also, both of the rooms here (the Casbah and the Main Hall)
offer SUCH an intimate view of the bands performing. In both rooms, you
can always be within 50 feet of the stage. Bands tend to take advantage
of our laid back atmosphere and often surprise fans by walking around
the venue before and after the shows to meet fans and sign autographs.
Lisa: Seeing
Children of Bodom’s show in the Main Hall in January 2012 was like
watching a miniaturized arena show. The production of that show was
incredible. Junior Astronomers’ annual birthday show (the past three
Octobers) is always amazing because not a single person in the venue is
still when they go on. It looks like pure pandemonium as they play, but
it’s many people’s favorite show every year.
I can’t name names as far as riders go, and we tend to not
get very many over-the-top requests. There was one a few years back that
listed they wanted a “cute puppy to play with” before sound check. We
happened to have a staff member with a puppy, so we obliged.
Lisa: There’s
too many to list. The ones that stick out in my mind, the ones that
brought me true joy and made me proud to be a part of all this: Cursive,
Minus The Bear, Down, The Adicts, Swans, Del the Funky Homosapien, Dick
Dale, Graveyard, and Lee Fields & The Expressions.
Lisa: More
of the same as what we’ve been doing, but even better. John and I are
always honing our skills at this whole thing. There will be a good
handful of surprises in the coming year with huge acts performing here.
