It’s been five months since Satellite Ballroom closed, yet the Facebook group, "Coran Capshaw, Save Satellite Ballroom!" still has 1,000 members, says Cavalier Daily columnist Isaac Wood, which just shows how urgently Charlottesville needs a mid-sized music venue. Wood’s solution: Get the University Programs Council (UPC) involved.
"One of the biggest problems for music venues is balancing capacity and atmosphere. Gravity Lounge is a great space, but it fits a very limited audience. The Charlottesville Pavilion on the Downtown Mall has the capacity for big concerts, but it lacks the intimacy of the old venues and is further limited by its seasonal schedule. Starr Hill and Satellite Ballroom were so popular because of their intimate setting that was still large enough to entice well-known artists," says Wood, perhaps unaware of Capshaw’s plans to refurbish the Jefferson Theater downtown as a mid-sized venue, though the launch of that space is at least one year away.
Wood looks instead to UPC to fill the void by booking acts into campus spaces to which other promoters do not have access, such as the Amphitheater and Old Cabell Hall. Wood reports that UPC has several mid-sized shows in the works for late fall and early spring.
The call continues for Coran Capshaw to save Satellite Ballroom, closed since May. Meanwhile, he’s working on the Jefferson and a UVA student booking group is at work to bring mid-sized shows to Grounds.
