Get Involved, Internet: Help save the Troubadour, which is struggling to stay afloat in lockdown
The last band to grace the stage of West Hollywood’s iconic Troubadour was Glass Animals, who headlined a packed gig on March 11. Since then, the venue that helped propel Elton John to stardom has been shuttered, and the reopening plan laid out by Governor Gavin Newsom appears to indicate that clubs of its size might not reopen until mid-2021. As a new piece in the Los Angeles Times outlines, that could spell doom for the 500-seat Troubadour and similar venues both in California and throughout the world.
As such, the Troubadour has, like so many others in this awful time, started a GoFundMe to help support its 20 hourly employees, the majority of which have been laid off. “It looks tacky, but it’s a reality at this point. It’s not a joke,” general manager Christine Karayan told the Times. “If we’re going to survive this thing—and that’s a big if—we’re going to need all the help we can get, from any direction we can get it.”
As of this writing, the venue’s raised more than $22,000 of its $50,000 goal. Over the years, it’s hosted everyone from Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits to Metallica and Foo Fighters to Weezer and Bon Iver—somebody tell them it’s time to dig into those deep pockets.
“We know there’s going to be a huge fatality rate as far as how many venues will not be able to open again when/if this thing ever ends,” Karayan continued. “We’re just looking to survive, like everybody else.”
Donate a buck or 10 here.