One of the biggest bummers of COVID-19, outside of the obvious, is that a number of music venues are on the verge of closing permanently. That moment, however, is now.
Los Angeles’ The Satellite announced on Friday morning that it will be removing its stage and no longer be hosting live music and will become a restaurant. The Silver Lake music venue is one of the more intimate rooms in the city and has hosted shows from the likes of Foo Fighters, Silversun Pickups, Freddie Gibbs, Jenny Lewis, Foster the People, Eels, Jewel, Daniel Johnston, Local Natives and Lady Gaga among many, many more.
“To all of the Satellite fans out there, I am sorry to say that we will no longer be doing live shows or dance parties. We would like to thank you for all the support you have shown us over the years,” a statement on the venue’s Instagram read.
The building has been owned by the Wolfram family since 1968. It became a music club in the 1970s called Spaceland before changing its name to the Satellite around a decade ago.
The Satellite said that if it continued to wait for the pandemic to pass, it would have to shut its doors permanently.
“We are currently removing the stage and redesigning the club to be more of a place to get good quality drinks and food. We will be re-opening the kitchen and doing a complete redesign. Due to the lack of funds, this will not happen quickly. We will be opening in the parking lot for food and drinks as soon as we have the kitchen re-opened or the government lets us hire a food truck. We hope you will still support us during these tough times,” the statement continued.
Last month, Dave Grohl, Billie Eilish and 600 other musicians and comedians signed a letter imploring Congress to support independent venues or else they could close.
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