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| The Blue Quarantinos (Jimmy Vivino, Jesse Williams & Rob Paparozzi) at the Bitter End on June 4; the Bitter End reopened in April with a greatly reduced capacity |
Congress signed into law the SVOG relief fund, formerly known as the Save Our Stages Act, in December 2020. The fund promises to provide eligible movie theaters, live venue operators and promoters, talent representatives, and performing arts organizations with grants equal to 45 percent of their 2019 gross earned revenue, up to a maximum of $10 million. Nearly six months later, the SBA missed its June 9 deadline to grant funds to the first tier of applicants, which are the businesses which suffered losses of 90 percent or more. The SBA also missed its deadline to begin distributing grants to the second tier of applicants, the businesses which suffered losses of 70 percent or more.
Today, the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), the League of Historic American Theatres, the National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), the National Independent Talent Organization (NITO), the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), the Performing Arts Alliance, and the Performing Arts Managers and Agents Coalition (PAMAC), banded to make a statement. The organizations call on the SBA and SBA Administrator Isabel Guzman to fully fund all SVOG-eligible entities immediately. The organizations also ask that Guzman and the SBA immediately resolve "interagency issues that have proven a barrier to the funding" of SVOG applicants.
"More than 4,910 small business owners in the first priority period, those with the greatest need, and an additional 10,000 independent businesses that fall into the second and third priority periods, are still waiting for emergency relief funding," the statement reads. "If every one of the 500 reviewers assigned to the program reviewed just one application per day since the application portal opened, approximately 14,000 applications submitted could have been fully processed by now. Yet as of June 9, the SBA reported it had awarded a total of 90 grants.
"SVOG stakeholders are experiencing a talent drain, cannot reopen, and are hanging on by a thread because this funding is not arriving quickly enough. If SBA doesn't urgently issue funding while addressing interagency challenges, small businesses that have done everything they could to scrape by and hold on will close due to no fault of their own."
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| Blag Dahlia of the Dwarves performed a solo set at the Bowery Electric on May 29; the Bowery Electric will remove tables and chairs and return as a standing venue tonight |
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| Jill Fiore performed at the Bowery Electric on May 29 |
This week, executive members of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) met with the new SVOG leadership team. NIVA left the meeting expressing hope that the new team may expedite the grant process. At last count on June 9, 90 of the more than 5,000 priority applications (out of over 14,000 total applications) had received SBA approval letters. How many applicants received the funds in hand? According to NIVA, a "few." Less than one percent of the promised $16 billion in funds has been distributed. NIVA is the organization which spearheaded the legislation shortly after the pandemic paralyzed the live entertainment industry in 2020.
Many New York City venue operators contacted by The Manhattan Beat chose not to speak about the SVOG for fear that any published statements might impact their grant application. The venue owners stated off-the-record that they took a massive economic hit in 2020 due to the governmental lockdown. After suffering a series of grim months, many operators are happy that they are able to resume business, even with the mandates of reduced capacity and other costly safety protocols. The federal aid would pay a backlog of bills.
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| Jenn Jade Ledesma (right) with Benny Benack III at the Anyway Café on May 31; the Anyway Café featured live performances nightly throughout the winter, when most other venues closed. |
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| Miss Maybell & the Jazz Age Artistes at Rue-B on June 1; Rue-B also remained open through the winter months by having performers inside play to audiences seated outside. |
Virtually all New York music venues had to invest in air filtration upgrades, partitions, salaries and other expenses in order to reopen. Arlene's Grocery, the Bowery Electric, the Rockwood Music Hall, Small's Jazz Club and other venues resumed performances by transmitting live stream broadcasts online with no physical audience; these venues have all since reopened to the public. The Anyway Café, Baby Brasa, Rue-B and other formerly indoor venues had entertainers perform for outdoor audiences. Venues that primarily had standing audiences, including Berlin and the Bowery Electric, instead reopened with newly-installed tables and chairs separated by partitions, greatly reducing their capacity. The most recent development is the advent of COVID-free venues, spearheaded by City Winery NY and now including Mercury Lounge and Terra Blues, which require customers to show proof of vaccination in order to enter the premises. All venues adopted the safety protocols issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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| Adam Masterson at Marshall Stack on June 4; Marshall Stack was among the first venues to present live music in June 2020, with artists performing inside by an open window for customers seated outside |
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| New York Tempo at Groove on June 2; performers at Groove play by an open window to audiences both indoors and outdoors |
Music clubs continue to reopen. Irving Plaza will reopen on June 12 with a concert by the Strokes, a New York City-based band that is staging a benefit for mayoral candidate Maya Wiley. The Blue Note will reopen with reduced capacity on June 15 to a week of sold-out performances by Robert Glasper. As music venue operators restart their businesses, they take risks that require more financial investment, including the re-hiring of staff, the recharging of utilities, and the booking of talent.
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| Rebecca Moreland at the Red Lion on June 2; in the fall of 2020.performers at the Red Lion played for outside audiences, then moved inside when state laws permitted indoor dining. |
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| Last Night in Town at the Red Lion on June 4 |
Meanwhile, the SBA has not issued any formal statements in the past week regarding the distribution of SVOG funds. Its most recent remarks were on June 2, which read "Operators of live venues and related businesses can still apply for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant." An unofficial source reported yesterday on social media that "The SBA is implementing a new plan that they are piloting this weekend (starting at 12pm today). This will be more streamlined and lead to faster decisions and faster award distributions." Local promoters and venue operators eagerly await progress this week.
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| The 11th St. Bar quietly resumed its Monday night jazz jams |
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The Manhattan Beat covers New York City's live music developments as they happen. All photographs are by Everynight Charley Crespo, except when noted otherwise. For a list of Manhattan venues that are presenting live music regularly, swing the desktop cursor to the right and click on the pop-up tab "Where to Find Live Music." For a listing of upcoming concerts for live audiences, visit The Manhattan Beat's June 2021 calendar.
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