Columbia values New Brookland Tavern. And, for now at least, it seems the city’s patrons have done enough to keep the longstanding rock club and local music scene hub from having to close.
The club, hampered by tax issues that have kept it from renewing alcohol and retail licenses, temporarily closed Aug. 30 . The venue turned to the community to help it get back on its feet Wednesday afternoon, posting a GoFundMe fundraiser seeking $75,000 to help it with mounting expenses.
By the next afternoon, the fundraiser had brought in more than $18,000, giving the club enough cash to make a down payment on the taxes it owes and set up a payment plan, owner Carlin Thompson said.
That should mean New Brookland will have a retail license and be able to reopen starting Friday when the club is set to host touring country artist Logan Crosby, a show that he reported had already sold nearly 300 tickets. Moving forward from there, all shows are set to go on as previously scheduled, Thompson said.
For the now, the club will operate without alcohol sales.
The S.C. Department of Revenue didn’t immediately reply when asked about the status of New Brookland’s retail license Thursday.
“We were pretty clear with people that this was it,” Thompson said of its plea for help online.
He noted that he felt weird about asking for help, particularly after the club had just solicited nearly $38,000 through a GoFundMe last fall to help it move from West Columbia to 632 Harden St. in Five Points. That’s why the fundraiser came with significant payback from the club — ranging from four free shows for a donation of $50 to a year of free shows for a donation of $1,000.
Things looked dire for New Brookland earlier this week. Having previously said, “I have no idea what we’re going to do” with the club facing a daunting tax issue at the same time as its insurance expenses were going up, Thompson was forced to ship two shows scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday to Augusta , Georgia, due to the lack of a retail license.
Like many bars in the state, New Brookland will continue to face high insurance costs, stoked by a state law that requires such businesses to carry at least $1 million in liability coverage. To get back its liquor license, the club will have to put $18,000 down on a policy that will cost $70,000 a year.
But Thompson is confident the club can find ways to generate more revenue. The club moved to the college-adjacent Five Points neighborhood in December, with Thompson taking over ownership in July, and the new owner said it’s found success with rentals to sororities and fraternities, including one night featuring three such rentals that made more money than four shows combined.
“It was a nightmare. But I could deal with doing some fraternity and sorority rentals here and there if it allows us to book the band that we like that doesn’t really have much of a draw,” Thompson said. “If it helps pay for it, then great.”
Other ideas to bring in more revenue and cut down expenses include plussing up the food menu to draw people in who aren’t interested in music, and cutting down the number of shows when the students are away and crowds dwindle.
Thompson also said he’s looking at installing TVs at the front entrance of the club to show what’s going on inside, hoping to entice more walk-up traffic, of which the venue has already seen an uptick since moving to Five Points.
Still, the most crucial moneymaker for New Brookland, like most rock clubs, is alcohol. So getting the permits back in place as quickly as possible is key.
“We absolutely need to have alcohol sales because that is what brings in the most income,” Thompson said.
Keeping the club open and keeping it independent is important for the local music scene, he added. New Brookland does all-ages shows, which allow young newcomers a starting point to get into the Columbia scene. And if a company like concert industry giant Live Nation were to come in and take over, Thompson said, it would keep the venue from fulfilling some of its essential functions.
“People would be attending those shows on their terms, which means higher ticket fees, bands paying merch cuts, stricter restrictions on the environment of the show, like barricades and everything,” he said, adding it would likely also mean far fewer opportunities for local bands to play, particularly when it comes to opening for national talent.
New Brookland continuing to be a home for local music is big for the Columbia scene, said Cameron Powell, a local musician for more than a decade who books shows both at Transmission Arcade, the bar he co-owns on Columbia’s Main Street, and for the city’s monthly First Thursday on Main events.
Powell noted that while there are other clubs that book local music, there are few open to it seven days a week, meaning Midlands bands would lose a lot of opportunities to play if New Brookland were to close its doors.
“We just wouldn’t have our hometown rock club anymore,” he said.
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