r/Eugene • u/Rabyd-Rabbyt • Nov 27 '24
Support Live Music! Something to do
The Big Dirty has announced that they will be closing Dec. 14. This comes just before Sam Bond's closes on Dec 18 (correction: end of December).
The reason these places are closing is simple: the audiences are not there. Eugene has a lot of amazing musicians and bands, but people don't go out to hear them.
Support local music by visiting local venues, while you still can.
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u/kekeandsome Nov 27 '24
i wish things started earlier. i’m too tired to go out by 9 pm. everytime i hear of a cool local band that i’d like to see, they don’t go on until my bedtime. which was fine before my job started sucking the life out of me, now i just can’t stay awake due to emotional exhaustion.
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u/educationaldirt285 Nov 27 '24
Honestly same, I’m a local musician and I hate when shows start at 9pm or later. The audience is always smaller compared shows that start earlier. Plus I have a day job so I’m also tired.
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u/taemyks Nov 28 '24
I want to go to a show after work and not have to take the next day off. This is why I usually see the opening bands and go home
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u/blueberii Nov 27 '24
Same here 💀 lots of comedians and acts coming to town I LOVE but I am so dead tired by 6pm
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u/LabyrinthJunkLady Nov 27 '24
Issues with downtown safety are way overblown. I go dancing regularly Sunday nights and have been to a ton of shows at John Henry's, Macdonald, Hult, and WOW Hall this last year and I have never been hassled. Sometimes I park on the street, sometimes in the garages. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but it's not as common as some people would have you believe. TBH the biggest issue I have is that there have been too many acts I want to see and it does get expensive as well as exhausting to go out multiple nights a week and still work during the day.
Sad to see another one going under.
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u/TheLastEggplant Nov 27 '24
I completely agree that you’re not super likely to get hassled— this hasn’t really happened to me downtown either, and I want to clarify since I was the first person who said it in this thread. Rather, my friend got drugged while we were out drinking downtown; none of us were drunk or engaged in particularly unsafe behavior, but we ended up calling an ambulance and at the emergency room for close to 20 hours while they stabilized. That same weekend, two of my friends in my grad cohort also got drugged downtown in two separate incidents. And it just turned all of us off to downtown bars forever. It’s far from a rare story now, unfortunately, and I’m positive it’s not unique to downtown Eugene, so I’m not just throwing our city under the bus.
Sorry to jump on your post but I just wanted to clarify I’m not fearmongering about homeless people or something because I also think that’s overblown!
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u/LabyrinthJunkLady Nov 27 '24
I'm so sorry that happened to you! I appreciate you sharing that experience and clarifying. Unfortunately that's not an uncommon story. It was happening downtown and at college parties when I was in my early 20's and two decades later it doesn't look like anything's changed. I take for granted some of the habits I've built in to guard against it, the music I'm into isn't so much based around a party/heavy drinking scene, and I'm probably less likely to be targeted at this point in my life too, but I recognize that it can happen to anyone. It's definitely something people should be aware of anytime they are downtown or around campus events.
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u/TheLastEggplant Nov 27 '24
I appreciate you being such an obviously nice person and I hope you have a really good day!
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u/Affectionate-Art-995 Nov 27 '24
Maybe you should have clarified that 1st comment. There's products online to test your drinks.
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u/TheLastEggplant Nov 27 '24
Nah I ain’t gotta clarify a single thing for you unless I feel like it. This is the internet.
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u/junglequeen88 Nov 27 '24
Sam Bond's is closing because the owners don't want to own it anymore. It isn't lack of business. Big Dirty? Absolutely lack of business, and never being open, and never having any half way decent shows.
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u/BelaFleckLostHisNeck Nov 27 '24
Also the dirty charged a cover every night for no fucking reason. Oh you need revenue? Book an actual band. Don't charge just to come see what's happening
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u/Dank009 Nov 27 '24
They are pretty good about working with people on the covers. Only time they won't is if it's packed or sold out in my experience. If it's pretty empty or I'm not particularly into the music I just tell the door guy, hey I don't really care about the music but my friends and I are buying drinks it can be here or across the street and they usually let me in free. A few times it's been kinda of busy and I did care about the music and was able to get half of cover after talking to them.
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u/Bozo-Bit Nov 27 '24
I've been to Sam Bond's four times in the past year. Each time, the audience was outnumbered by the band members. This is not a recipe for success.
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u/oldswirlo Nov 27 '24
You’ve been to the wrong shows. Been to two recently where the entire place was packed
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u/phukew Nov 27 '24
This so hard. Their variety was lacking and didn't seem appealing. I'd rather go see a live performance than attend their salsa night. Everywhere in town has karaoke and salsa night. They had a chance to set themselves apart from the average downtown bar.
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u/8bitKafei Nov 28 '24
Please enlighten me of the other salsa events? I know the Barn Light does them most saturdays.
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u/FoundationAdorable73 Dec 03 '24
Google doc of Latin Dance nights: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13_v7aM_5qHn1-pEfDU7fsWrBMHqe3Drk0PMHkpZn6tg/edit?usp=drivesdk
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u/FoundationAdorable73 Dec 03 '24
There's two more salsa nights at the Big Dirty, tonight and next Tues
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u/andee510 Nov 27 '24
Big Dirty had good shows occasionally. It was packed as fuck for EPROM a while back and Buku was just there, although I missed that one
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u/541dose Nov 27 '24
We need a new venue frfr....whirled pies is a decent option but still kinda small... Only place for midsized bands is wow hall now.... Bands that used to come to town are now skipping eugene and going to bend and portland instead... Just look at how many shows they're doing at hayden as compared to cuthbert....🤷♂️
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u/lindagovinda Nov 27 '24 edited Nov 27 '24
Hayden homes makes the bands that play there sign contracts saying they won’t play anywhere else in Oregon. That place sucks shitty ass for that. Not freaking cool. And the bands that sign it are almost as bad.
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u/duck7001 Nov 27 '24
This is very true. Hayden Homes (LiveNation) increased their non-compete radius for artists, so it now cover Eugene and The Britt Amphitheater (in Jacksonville). This has taken a huge amount of artists away from Eugene in the last two years.
LiveNation/Ticketmaster is an illegal monopoly and they are actively making our local live events worse. I'm sure they will be pardoned by the Trump admin or some bullshit.
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u/Ocastra Nov 27 '24
Hayden is a live (ticketmaster) venue. It's a corporate venue with national buyers. Everything in Eugene except Matt knight arena is a local promotor/buyer.
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u/LabyrinthJunkLady Nov 27 '24
Hayden is a nightmare. Extremely expensive for food and drinks. They make me grateful we have Cuthbert.
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u/Ent_Trip_Newer Nov 27 '24
They are also going to Talent Oregon ( outside Ashland) over us. Apparently, there is a decent venue there that draws. Several of the reggae/Ska bands are playing there instead of here now.
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u/Dank009 Nov 27 '24
Iirc there's a Jamaican musician that's played with a lot of the reggae legends that used to live in Eugene and moved to Talent that pulls a lot of these people in but I could be misremembering.
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u/SoyboyJr Nov 27 '24
Several bigger than you expect bands have been coming to John Henry's. Black Flag is coming in January, for instance. But more venues would definitely be a good thing. It's too bad it's too expensive or late for a lot of people though
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u/phukew Nov 27 '24
Between the lack of variety (I'd rather see a live band than go to salsa night) and the scheduling (everything of any value was always on weekends when the whole world does not work mon-fri) I wasn't interested anymore. These venues are cool and it's sad to see them go. BD staff was always all male and seemed very clique-ish so it was always an odd feeling being in there
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u/Ent_Trip_Newer Nov 27 '24
FYI, a born and raised Eugenian who is now a world-famous DJ is playing here tonight. LP Giobbi's show was supposed to be at the Mcdonald Theatre but got switched to the WOW hall, I'm assuming, due to low ticket sales. If I had a sitter and friend, I'd be there
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u/Alone_Business1426 Nov 27 '24
I think part of this is that no one who grew up and is from Eugene really knows of LP Giobbi, or more so knows that they are from Eugene. If you aren’t repping your hometown proudly, it doesn’t surprise me that there isn’t a huge turnout in terms of ticket sales.
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u/Ent_Trip_Newer Nov 27 '24
Yeah, considering her remix of Garcia is what helped catapult her, and she headlined OCF last year,I'm surprised more locals aren't aware of her.
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u/Alone_Business1426 Nov 27 '24
I’m glad you didn’t take my comment as throwing shade at the artist in any way, and I hope no one else does as that was not my intention! I’m born and raised and Eugene and I had no clue who she was until I saw her at OCF. Great seeing someone from Eugene with a successful career in music nonetheless!
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u/Isherwood81 Nov 27 '24
Damn! Great sized venue and I’ve seen some amazing shows there the past couple years but they also didn’t book enough acts to get me there more than once every couple of months. Eugene needed a venue that size after Sessions closed. WOW Hall is just a bit too big for a lot of touring acts that might stop between Portland and CA.
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u/OOkami89 Nov 27 '24
Maybe if folk chose better times that fit within bus service more folk would be able to go
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Nov 27 '24
[deleted]
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u/OOkami89 Nov 27 '24
It’s really not. A good chunk of the population use’s public transportation. Gearing hours towards your customers is never a bad idea.
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u/Bozo-Bit Nov 29 '24
Yes, LTD should gear its hours towards its customers.
The true irony here is that LTD is funded through a tax on businesses.
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u/reluctant_oppa Nov 27 '24
I've been trying to hit as many of the open mics as I can of late. Never know how long they'll be around right?
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u/Dapper_Split_4413 Nov 28 '24
Feels like BD would have done better if they didn't have such a heavy entrance fee. I literally never went there once because the entrance fee was always prohibitive.
Smaller fee and just sell more drinks.
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Nov 27 '24
[deleted]
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u/Useful-Ad-2409 Nov 27 '24
If a music venue is betting on 45+ as their prime demographic, they'd go broke in a month. It's the twenty or thirty somethings who don't have kids, can go out on a weeknight and rebound the next day who make a music club run. Back in my 20s, living in the SF Bay Area, bands use to go on 10 pm at the earliest, usually midnight. That was still late back then. If bands went on at 9 pm, I'd show up. SF Bay Area music venues have gotten smart - to serve the affluent, older crowd, artists and bands go on much earlier. Win-win.
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u/TrinkieTrinkie522cat Nov 27 '24
We have been to that club and other venues at night. We are over 70 and have had no problems.
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u/Repulsive_Leg5878 Nov 27 '24
Don’t worry and sacrifice a good time over the low chance of getting a window broken
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u/Strange-Biscuit Nov 27 '24
I would never park in a garage and park on the street instead. That’s just my take on it. Best regards.
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u/Empty-Position-9450 Nov 27 '24
Sorry, Eugene is not very supportive of people driving into town for things like this.
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u/SeaAbbreviations2706 Nov 27 '24
How so? Tons of parking in the ramps and I think they are free at night.
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u/garfilio Nov 28 '24
I thought sam Bond's is closing because after almost 30 years the owners are tired, and want to be done,
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u/ElginLumpkin Nov 28 '24
I love music. I’m not convinced that abundant concert venues are important.
With less of a focus on seeking out entertainment, people tend to make art and entertainment with friends/family.
And this less commonly involves excessive alcohol/money/regrets.
Before you ask, yes I’m old. Just my thoughts.
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u/Certain-Sky-5582 Nov 27 '24
Good riddance to big dirty. They had some cool acts but the owners are scumbags
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u/TheLastEggplant Nov 27 '24
Totally. I agree with you in large part and think that sounds fun. But I think a lot of us are broke and burnt out by work, and there’s reasons we’re not going that aren’t just a lack of awareness. In the Big Dirty’s case it’s also bc some of the spots downtown have gotten sketchy and so a lot of us don’t go down there to drink anymore, and the Big Dirty is a drinking scene in a drinking area.
RIP Sam Bonds tho, it will be missed.