From: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org (headline-girl-digest) To: headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Subject: headline-girl-digest V7 #58 Reply-To: headline-girl@smoe.org Sender: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-headline-girl-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk headline-girl-digest Tuesday, July 27 2004 Volume 07 : Number 058 Today's Subjects: ----------------- RE: C'est What? Say What? ["Tab Siddiqui" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 23:36:20 +0000 From: "Tab Siddiqui" Subject: RE: C'est What? Say What? Dan wrote: >That is a real shame about C'est What. Of course it wouldn't be the first >time a rent increase has forced a legendary music club to close against the >wishes of the owners and the fans. We went through a similar experience >here in NYC last year when the renowned Bottom Line Cabaret was shut down >in a similar money dispute with the landlords at NYU. indeed. it's a very similar parallel. >Tab, do you know if the owners intend to find a new location to host their >business if C'est What is forced to close as expected? as the restaurant/pub side of the business will remain open (it's with a different landlord and has a long-term lease), the managers are planning to focus on that and do not plan to open a 'new C'est What' music room elsewhere. there's not really much point - a lot of the magic of the club had to do with the space itself - aside from it being a small and cozy and historic spot, the managers sunk a lot of money into the place to make it sound as good as it does (the wonderful soundguy/music manager Crispin notwithstanding ;)). it's very difficult in Toronto (in any city, really) to open and maintain a live music venue. as i wrote in the article, even C'est What's music room just barely broke even most of the time... some months it even lost money, meaning that the owners had to keep it afloat. which they were more than happy to do, and they were more than willing to put a bit more money into the place in terms of rent in order to keep it open, but they *weren't* willing to be held hostage to the ridiculous demands of a greedy landlord (the guy wanted to *triple* the current rate). will be heartbreaking if the place turns into yet another office or bar or something equally yuppiefied (it's the perfect target for a chain coffeeshop, but there's one just next door, plus several others on the block, though i wouldn't be surprised if they went ahead with one anyhow). or worse, just sit empty (as fellow indie club Ted's Wrecking Yard did for years until some businessman bought it to turn it into a - wait for it - "boutique hotel"). - - tab. _________________________________________________________________ Scan and help eliminate destructive viruses from your inbound and outbound e-mail and attachments. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-ca&page=byoa/prem&xAPID=1994&DI=1034&SU=http://hotmail.com/enca&HL=Market_MSNIS_Taglines Start enjoying all the benefits of MSN. Premium right now and get the first two months FREE*. ------------------------------ End of headline-girl-digest V7 #58 **********************************