"A" is for All-Ages

From Issue 177, September 2003

It took a couple of months to get Pete Hansen, girlfriend Kandi, David White, and Jen Averett together to find out exactly what’s going on at the new venue they opened in May of this year. Developing and cooperating under Pete’s vision, they gave the kids of Salt Lake City Albee Square.

Albee Square defies the conventional plan. Located between two bars and behind a novelty sex shop downtown at Arrow Press Square it has already become a hot bed of activity. You may have been there or you might have walked by the constantly packed shows. Yet, you never knew what it was.

“Who does the booking?” I ask. “None of us.” Pete replies. “Every show that we’ve had up ‘til now, is people finding us,” Kandi adds, “There’s nothing out there that says this is Albee Square.”

There has been some confusion as to whether this space is The Junction or Albee Square. David assures me, they have no involvement with the promoter of The Junction other than the fact that he promotes shows in the same location. As of the beginning of August (2003) all promoting of shows will be exclusively under Albee Square.

Pete explains, “Basically how the system works is, we talked to the guys from Uprok, Dustin and Kel, they were having shows in their basement and I showed them this place [Albee Square] and they referred a couple of people to us, they do a couple of shows, they did a really killer show here, it was a battle… an M.C. battle that packed the place, I was in Mexico at the time.” Kandi elaborates, “It was more than an M.C. battle, we had breakdancing contests, graffiti contests outside and the M.C. battle. It was sponsored by Red Bull, which was really awesome.” She continues, “There’s no drinking, no drugs, no smoking inside, all-ages venue. Some people have tried to beat the system, whether it’s my best friend or some guy from the street. If you’re drunk or on something, you can’t come inside. Our space, our license, our reputation is on the line. It’s not worth having the kids that don’t do these things lose out on the shows because of the new liquor laws. Number one, Albee is about the music. It’s not about the money, it’s about giving these kids a place to see shows.” Kandi breaks for a drink as the others nod in unison.

Pete emphasizes her point, “Most of these kids can’t see a lot of the bands that come through because it’s at a bar, bands like Throw Rag, we want kids to be able to see good shows.”

David points out that, “Young kids wanted to find a place to play, the bands that play have a huge younger fan base and they wanted to find a place with good space downtown that kids wouldn’t be excluded outside of the bar scene.”

Photos:

Page:  [1]  2  Next >>

Comments on this article

Be the first to comment!

Add a comment

Please keep your comments on the subject of the article.
We will delete your comment if it is racist, misogynistic, sexist, bigoted or just plain lame.
No HTML allowed!