From a name perspective, Is Venue might’ve been doomed from the get-go. During the music venue’s year of shows, Feedback heard a few variations dozens of times, including “Was,” “Has Been” and “…really?”
For a while, it seemed as if the name was the only new problem to surface in the space once dubbed Starr Hill Music Hall, particularly since local booking agent Jeyon Falsini began managing the music above Si Tapas restaurant.
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Who’s calling the shots? Booking agent Jeyon Falsini may keep putting on music locally, but Is Venue, his home of the last year or so, is no more. |
Granted, like Starr Hill before it, the stairs at Is point you directly away from the stage, and the room is bisected by the stairwell, which can leave you with two crummy sightlines instead of one decent view.
But it became something of a joy again to stop short of the Downtown Mall or the Corner and, potentially, change evening plans based on what was happening in the middle of one of our city’s main arteries—that brick rock-box at 709 West Main Street, near Maya and the Horse and Hound, and a short hop from Blue Moon Diner. Unfortunately, we’re back to a schedule of extremes.
A series of notes posted to the venue’s Twitter and MySpace accounts starting on Saturday, September 26, revealed that Is and Si Tapas would close for good on October 1—news that was confirmed when Feedback watched a few Si Tapas employees move furniture into a U-Haul a week ago Monday. After a few days of silence, Falsini posted a note on his booking website, MagnusMusicLLC.com, to address the closing, and noted that show attendance “was fine in most cases, but the combined alcohol and food sales needed to keep the space afloat was not being generated.” The venue’s liquor license was reportedly not renewed, and so…“Was.”
Falsini has always booked well as a free agent, and assembles entertaining co-bills like none other. We’ll keep you posted as Is’ gigs are rescheduled and our live music scene is rearranged. Again.
With death comes rebirth
Seems like the vengeful gods of West Main Street never close a door without opening a window. This week, it appears that the window is actually a book store.
On his stroll to Is last week, Feedback noticed a bit of activity at 315 West Main, opposite the Lewis & Clark & Sacajawea statue and the Greyhound Bus Station. Turns out that, while tables and sofas were being carted out of Si Tapas, the finishing touches were being put on Random Row Books, a combination used book store/arts venue/space for rent.
In fact, there are a few music gigs on the way, including an October 11 show by Valleys—think psych-folk played at the bottom of the canyon, with a bit of Mount Eerie thrown in. Drop by Random Row between 10am and 7pm, Monday through Saturday. Remember, kids: Reading rocks.
Old books is new books
Ah, Dahlia Lithwick—in the court of love, Feedback could never find you in contempt. During a chance encounter with Lithwick’s husband, sculptor Aaron Fein, Feedback was reminded that the Diana Ross of Slate.com’s Supreme Court coverage—get it? Supremes?—is in the thick of a month-long online novel challenge.
Since kicking her project off on September 8, the locally based Lithwick has posted (at press time) 15 chapters of her “mommy lit” novel, Saving Face, to Slate. Moreover, she’s soliciting real-time character and plot details from readers through Slate and a Facebook page devoted to the book.
Not that she’s been too busy Saving Face to track coverage of her efforts. When Feedback wrote about Lithwick’s project on his blog, he asked readers what story they’d tackle if they had only a month to write a novel. Before long, he heard from the budding novelist herself.
“I think I’d write,” responded Lithwick, “about an international opium ring.” Second novels are always the hardest, Dahlia.
