Neumos in a Pandemic
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: Shows Are Still Canceling
How are things going for you since we last talked? We had our third break in at (my restaurant) Life on Mars. I now have an alarm. The funny thing about me not having an alarm, is that when I moved to Washington in 1991, I sold burglar alarms for three years. I know how shitty they can be with false alarms and everything, so I was like ‘I don’t want an alarm.’ But this time we had a pro job. They came in through the back door, got into the office, took our portable P.O.S. devices and multiple laptops. The other times people broke in, they didn’t get much. This time they got us bad. We’ve got insurance and all that but there is still a deductible. It’s not cheap. It is a pain the ass and I am still dealing w...
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: No-Show Rates Are 20-30%
What were your thoughts when you saw Bonnaroo was canceled? That was so brutal because that’s not even COVID that f–ked it. It was mother nature. People talk about Bonnaroo cancelling and are like, “Oh yeah. That sucks.” But they don’t think about the ripple effect. It’s massive. Bands are all routed around Bonnaroo and this impacts all those shows. They just got pummeled too. All the bus drivers, the lighting rig techs, and everyone lost jobs. It’s Manchester, Tennessee. That’s probably a huge economic driver for that city. It’s devastating. There were bands that were looking at that gig and thinking, “That’s going to pay my rent.” All those people are on-site building it out and they just got pummeled. Putting somethi...
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: It Can Cost a Venue $60,000 a Month to Be Closed
As co-owner of Seattle’s popular independent venue Neumos in Capitol Hill, Steven Severin has been a staple in the Seattle music industry for more than 20 years. Roughly 10 years ago, he helped create the Seattle Nightlife and Music Association to bring together the area’s live event insiders, and for the past 16 years has helped run Neumos with its sister club Barboza and the accompanying Runaway bar. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Severin every two weeks to chronicle his experience throughout the crisis. (Read the last installment here and see the full series here.) {“nid”:”9430226″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Indie Venues and...
Neumos in Seattle, in a Pandemic: ‘We Employ a Lot of People … I Paid 10,000 People Last Year’
Steven Severin, co-owner of Neumos in Seattle, says indie clubs contribute $35 billion to the music industry and that needs to be recognized with government funding during the crisis. As co-owner of Seattle’s popular independent venue Neumos in Capitol Hill, Steven Severin has been a staple in the Seattle music industry for more than 20 years. Roughly 10 years ago, he helped create the Seattle Nightlife and Music Association to bring together the area’s live event insiders, and for the past 16 years has helped run Neumos with its sister club Barboza and the accompanying Runaway bar. As part of Billboard’s efforts to best cover the coronavirus pandemic and its impacts on the music industry, we will be speaking with Severin every two weeks to chronicle his experience throughou...
