Albany is a great town for great live music, and we have our share of venues all over the city and Capital District. But we are missing one venue – the one that fits in between the clubs of Red Square, Bayou and Putnam Den, and one that houses the larger acts like The Egg and The Palace. That gap leaves out the bands that can fill 400-900 fans into a venue, such as Railroad Earth, Umphrey’s McGee, and countless other acts that are missing their perfect sized room in the capital of New York.
Finally, someone has stepped up to the plate with a potential location for a new venue. Chris Pratt and Alessio Depoli, owners of both Pearl Street Pub and The Barrel Saloon on Broadway in North Albany are in the process of gaining a zoning variance for a warehouse at 28 Thatcher Street, just off Broadway near The Barrel, into a music venue.
From the looks of it, the venue needs some work, but fear not, this venue is slated to hold local and national acts, country, rock, bluegrass and more styles. And since the club will only be open for shows, the hours wont stretch far beyond when the doors open and the end of the show, much like Revolution Hall was. (RIP) Even though the venue closes early, you’ll have Wolff’s Biergarten, Stout, The Barrel and Sciortino’s Pizzeria for post-show food and drinks. Capacity will be between 700-800 and have a full service bar inside.
One word of caution – Sneaky Pete’s, the infamous club, was denied an application for this same property in 2010. That could be a sign of things to come, or lead to two proven business owners in Albany bringing the city what it truly needs, that music venue to fill the gaps and keep the great music coming to Albany.
Update 3/7 – Support is needed on March 13th at 5:30 pm at City Hall in Albany for the Zoning Committee meeting that will determine the future of this potential venue. Come out and support live music in Albany and a couple of great businessmen looking to improve the downtown/warehouse area.
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