Last spring, restaurants and bars braced themselves against a flurry of rapidly escalating news about the COVID-19 virus that led to a statewide lockdown mid-March. In the midst of so many unknowns, one unfortunate fact was certain: Live music venues were among the first to close. In the months since, it became clear that if they survived, the same venues would be the last to reopen. Now that the state has lifted pandemic restrictions, live music, performance, comedy shows, and even dance parties are returning to South End venues. Here’s what the return of live entertainment will look like for Rumba Notes Lounge, Clock-Out Lounge, and The Royal Room.
Clock-Out Lounge, home to Breezy Town Pizza, might be take-out and delivery only these days, but their weekly comedy show Joketellers Union hasn’t missed a beat, they just moved online. In fact, Joketellers just celebrated their two-year anniversary show via Facebook Live. The comedy veterans behind Joketellers, Brett Hamil and Emmett Montgomery, are making sure Beacon Hill’s much-loved neighborhood act continues to deliver laughs and connection in the new reality of quarantine and social distancing.
The Seattle-based rock ‘n’ roll band, Tres Leches, thrives in poorly lit, vulnerable spaces. The group, however, doesn’t use darkness as a cause for being closed off. Rather, the trio, which is known for strapping on instruments only to switch them mid-song, uses dim spaces to open up to one another within them, exchanging the creative energies and personal conversations that have helped fuel their punk prowess.
