Rock Candy: Shake-up at Vino's

It's a new era at Vino's. Earlier this week, Joey Lucas took over as talent buyer for the pizzeria and brewpub from Samantha Allen, who'd handled booking for the club for the last two and a half years. Both Lucas and Allen say the change reflects Vino's desire to attract an older crowd (Owner Henry Lee wasn't immediately available for comment).

Lucas, 33, has booked shows since he was 16. The Little Rock native owned, for four years, an all ages club in Fort Smith called Heshers. More recently, he opened a record store, Circa 76, in Little Rock.

He says he's hoping to bring back Vino's "old vibe."

"I want to get the people in who loving going to shows, but haven't been at Vino's. Not so much the 15-20 crowd. More of a college crowd."

Allen, who calls her departure from the club a "mutual separation," wishes Lucas and the club well as they court what she terms a "White Water crowd," but warns that the road ahead is difficult.

"You can't smoke [in Vino's]. [They] don't have liquor. A lot of the bands that play at White Water might play Vino's with a show booked at White Water three days latter, for less money and where their friends can smoke inside and drink liquor. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle."

Lucas maintains that he can make Vino's more eclectic. He said he's talking to booking agents about everything from soul to jazz to hip-hop. The first show he's booked that he's particularly anticipating is River City Tanlines and Andy War and His Big Damn Mouth on Aug. 15 (coincidentally a bill that recently came to White Water), and he says there's no reason the club can't get Ted Leo to return to Vino's. Or Man Man to play. Or Built to Spill.

Meanwhile, Allen is reviving her Drastic Measures Productions company and expanding the umbrella. She's planning to book independently, manage and consult bands, make buttons (she has a button company called Rad Buttons), take pictures — just about anything related to local music. She's also working as a talent scout for Erin Hurley, who books Juanita's, and says she's meeting with Blake Sandifer who owns the Village soon, too.

Lucas recently shuttered his Circa 76 location off W. 3rd, but says he'll reopen in late summer in a much-improved space in the lower floor of the Peacock, the pink, stucco apartment building in Capitol View on W. 3rd, just east of the School for the Deaf.

Comments

Allen makes a good point when she says that they may compete with the "WWT crowd," but there's an upside for geezers like me. I detest smoke-filed rooms, prefer a good ale to the hard stuff, and Vino's shows often begin and end a little earlier. I've passed up many a killer show at WWT because I can't handle the headliner coming on at 11pm any more, and the smoke damn near kills me.

Posted by: Amanita | June 25, 2009 05:17 PM

Amen, Amanita, except I like the hard stuff - I'm allergic to ales.
Vino's was very eclectic at one time, young and not-young music lovers there in the same week, often on the same night. All styles represented, all ages on stage. As a performer, it was my first stage home. Sometimes it seemed like a portal to another world, whether I was in the audience or in front of it.

Posted by: Kelly Franklin | June 25, 2009 07:33 PM

I THINK SAM DID WELL. HOWEVER, THIS WILL BE A GOOD GOOD MOVE. A LOT OF US HAVE GROWN UP AT VINOS AND NOW, WELL, WE ARE GROWN UPS! WE BUY MORE THAN THE YOUNGER FOLK AND MIGHT EVEN HAVE A BIT MORE CLUB LOYALTY. I TOO NO LONGER SMOKE, REALLY LIKE CONSTRUCTIVE DAYTIME ACTIVITIES, AND LOVE GOOD LOCAL ROCK. I WOULD MUCH RATHER GO TO A SMOKE FREE AND SOMEWHAT EARLIER ROCK SHOW. BOTH THE WWT AND VINOS CAN AND WILL THRIVE. THEY DON'T COMPETE, THEY COMPLIMENT. CHOICE IS GOOD STUFF! ALSO, IF YOU DIG A SPORTING EVENT ON TV BUT DON'T DIG GNARLY SPORTS BAR MEAT HEADS . . . VINO'S BACK ROOM IS THE PLACE FOR YOU!
THE STATE OF ROCK IN THE ROCK REALLY KILLER RIGHT NOW. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT ACTS COME BACK TO THE OLD SPOT AND I THINK THE WWT AND THAT CREW SHOULD BE APPLAUDED BY ALL CLUB OWNERS AND ROCKSHOW FANS FOR KEEPING THINGS FRESH AND BRINGING SOLID/HEALTHY COMPETITION TO THE SCENE THROUGH PROMOTION, HARD WORK AND, OH YEAH, PAYING LOCAL BANDS REALLY REALLY WELL.

Posted by: GC3 | June 26, 2009 09:23 AM

Yeah, the last comment brought up a good point - Pay the bands a decent wage. That hasn't been the case over the last couple of years.

Posted by: KC&JoJo | June 26, 2009 10:50 AM

It was totally time for Vino's to shake things up. I'm ready to see a new mix of music and a new mix of folk. From the gal's quote, it kind of sounded like she'd given up and frankly I'm glad - she wasn't booking anything I wanted to see. Best of luck to her, but I'm ready for Vino's to re-emerge as the viable music venue it should be.

Posted by: lil rockette | June 26, 2009 03:17 PM

Posted by: lil rockette | June 26, 2009 03:19 PM

I'm actually really glad to see Lucas booking shows there. Under the several different management changes bands come & go, but nothing has stuck very well. I started spending ridiculous amounts of time in that haze filled room as a young kid seeing Red Octopus Theater perform there while I was still in elementary school. Yes that accounts for a lot of my warped sense of humor, but I literally grew up in the backroom there. Sure I'll probably get lung cancer from all the second hand smoke, but it was worth it. Some of my best memories came from there. In particular I caught Soophie Nun Squad there several times, I saw The Gossip, Murder By Death, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, and my first Lucero show there. They were all memorable in their own ways, but I haven't truly enjoyed myself there in a good 6 years. I'm really hoping that Joey can turn it around, and I know he is battling tough crowd issues, but I feel like if the allure of the show is great enough that it'll draw people out of the woodwork no matter the stigma that has built up against the place in the past few years. I really & truly hope he succeeds in bringing back some bigger names and restores it to its once former glory of my youth. Cheers and good luck Joey!

Posted by: L | July 1, 2009 01:12 AM

Rock Candy

Shake-up at Vino's

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