After the gold rush
Dot-com collapse puts future of
94-year-old music hall in limbo
www0.mercurycenter.com
BY TRACY SEIPEL
Mercury News
Dot-coms come and dot-coms go. But when
one of the San Francisco music scene's most
cherished venues is in danger of becoming a
secondary victim of the dot-com shakeout
that's more than just troubling. It's potentially
tragic.
The Great American Music Hall is one of the
city's oldest live music clubs. The 5,000
square-foot concert hall, which opened in
1907, has hosted legendary performers ranging
from jazz greats Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan and Count Basie to
rock icons Van Morrison and the Grateful Dead.
So how did this ornate little gem of a hall end up as collateral damage
in the implosion of a Net start-up?
Last May, the music hall -- which has changed ownership several
times over the decades -- was nudged into the 21st century after being
sold to a Net company called Riffage.com for an undisclosed sum.
Palo Alto-based Riffage began as a music Web site that sought to
market new recording artists to listeners via the Internet. It offered free
downloads of sample songs and a place for unsigned artists to sell
CDs online.
In its purchase of the landmark club, the Music Hall's general manager
Tony Caparelli said, Riffage.com got a brick-and-mortar operation
that could serve as a live showcase for its online mission. And that
came to pass. By September, regular Webcasts of some of the club's
shows were available online.
``It was a great idea,'' said Caparelli.
But by December, Riffage.com ceased operations after it could not
find additional financing. While the online component went silent, the
music continued at the music hall.
Enter the Diablo Management Group, a Danville-based asset
management company charged with selling off the assets of
Riffage.com -- including the Great American Music Hall. Reached this
week, officials at Diablo said they intend for the club to continue to
operate, ``unchanged for the foreseeable future,'' said Diablo
Management Group chairman, CEO and owner Richard Couch.
``I am looking at several proposals that may result in the acquisition of
GAMH by an individual, a group of individuals or a company,'' he
said. ``We have not decided how to deal with the GAMH at this time.
This piece is not as immediate a question as some of the other pieces.''
Riffage.com's other assets include a database business and a Southern
California record company. Couch would not comment on potential
buyers of any of the assets, nor the value of any of those assets.
Couch is familiar with the venue's storied past. ``I am very sensitive to
the fact that there are other businesses in the community that rely upon
the relationship with this (GAMH) community,'' he said.
``I am acutely aware the GAMH has a fairly clear mission and fairly
clear operating strategy, and our plan is to support that however we
can.''
So as it has for the last 94 years, the Great American Music Hall stage
will continue to host an eclectic concert slate until further notice.
Caparelli is confident the outcome will not affect the music hall or its
thriving business.
``It's just a prediction, but why would anyone want to come in here
and change a successful operation?'' he asked.
Why, indeed? |
