There’s no telling what the answer might have been when posed to the public writ large (getting pedicures?), but to us as insular, daylight-fearing music obsessives, the obvious response to the question often bandied about during the foul and contemptible year of 2020, “What do you miss most about life pre-COVID?”
Fort Worth Weekly
By Story and Photos by Juan R. Govea -
On Saturday, one of the most progressive venues in North Texas reopened its doors, and the evening felt like a homecoming. Lolaâs Saloon was packed for a bona fide, no-frills rock show by Royal Sons, Arenda Light, and Trees Marie. Lolaâs owner Brian Forella thanked the crowd before doing one of his now-patented stage dives. The new lighting and sound were on point, and the way Forella and company freshened up the place was more than welcome.
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And local venue owners and operators are hoping they, too, will stay open.
Earlier this month, the Small Business Administration (
SBA) was slated to begin processing applications for financial aid from venue owners/operators across the country whose businesses had been crushed by the pandemic. The owners/operators seeking a sliver of the
$16 billion in available federal funds as part of the
Save Our Stages Act encountered a crashed website.
The feds went to work, and the website reopened Monday for applications to Shuttered Venue Operator Grant (
SVOG) monies.
MASS owner Ryan Higgs said the process “went great,” adding that he is “relieved to have it done.”
Fort Worth Weekly
Now that
Gov. Greg Abbott has lifted restrictions, some local venue owners are still not sure how to proceed. Most of the ones I talked to want to open but also want to remain safe.
Ryan Higgs, co-owner of
MASS on the Near Southside, sees the problem clearly.
“Once again, [Abbott] has put the burden of policing the public on individual bar owners,” Higgs said. “If you maintain a mask order at your business, you will have to argue with patrons at every turn. If you allow maskless patrons, you are not doing the public any favors.”
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The Post is one of several 817 venues hoping to receive help from the feds soon.
Image courtesy of Facebook
Local venues will be receiving some much-needed financial assistance. With the passage of the $900 billion federal stimulus package, they will receive
$19 billion along with theatrical producers or live performing arts organization operators, museum operators, motion picture theater operators, and talent representatives. The disbursement could take weeks if not months. If the monies are unleashed around the time the
COVID-19 vaccines begin to work their magic, the parties could be epic.
Lola’s Trailer Park,
MASS,
The Post, and a handful of other 817 spots and promoters are in line to receive some of that phat, phat federal largesse. To qualify, a venue or promoter must have suffered at least a