Local musicians react to closing of South Side venue Club Cafe

Opus One Productions, owners of longtime South Side concert venue Club Cafe, have announced that the venue will close its doors at the end of the year.

“It’s been an incredible run, and it felt like the perfect time to move on to other endeavors,” said Michael Sanders, founder of Opus One Productions — the owners of Club Cafe since 2011 — in a statement. “We get to celebrate a quarter-century of incredible music and leave on the best possible note. We’ve worked hard to deliver an extraordinary experience to the neighborhood, the Pittsburgh music community and all of the artists who have graced the Club Cafe stage. I’m grateful for the thousands of concerts our team hosted and produced, the memorable nights on the South Side, and 25 amazing years at Club Cafe.”

The 125-person-capacity venue opened in 1999, a project of Marco and Paula Cardamone and their partners, Barney Lee, Clay Kisker, Dennis Loughran and Joe Nolan. Prior to its time as a prime stage for music, the building lived several lives, serving as a restaurant in the early 20th century, a popular bar for steelworkers and a dueling piano club.

Club Cafe has become a hub of longtime Pittsburgh musical acts and touring musicians. Jeff Miller — a singer-songwriter and native of the South Hills who currently resides in Nashville — is disappointed to see the intimate venue go.

“It came out of nowhere for me,” he said of Tuesday’s announcement.

Miller has played Club Cafe numerous times, both when he lived in Pittsburgh in the early 2000s and as a touring musician. He would also perform at AcoustiCafe Open Stages, open mic nights that have since moved to Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale but were held at Club Cafe regularly for a number of years.

“It was everything, from a songwriter’s perspective. It’s a listening room and that’s what makes it special,” Miller said. “I think a lot of people go to shows and they think of a show as like a pavilion show or something like that. People might be getting drunk and not even paying attention … Club Cafe was the exact opposite of that. Any show that I went to there, it was almost a pin drop sort of experience, people are obviously there to listen to the music that’s happening.”

It was also a place to find community amongst both artists and music lovers, he said, especially with the AcoustiCafe Open Stages shows. “The thing about AcoustiCafe Open Stages, there’s never a dead night, the list is always full. Another thing with open mics, you just don’t know what you’re going to get talent-wise, but there’s a lot of musical talent in Pittsburgh.

“I would say music is respected there. There are tons of music venues around the country, but I would say the majority of them don’t respect the music the way that Club Cafe does, and the way Club Cafe’s patrons knew what to expect if they go to a show,” he said.

Brad Yoder, a singer-songwriter who lives in North Point Breeze, has been a prominent figure in the local music scene for decades. He moved to Pittsburgh 30 years ago and has been playing shows here ever since. He was attending a concert at Club Cafe on Tuesday night when he heard the news of the venue’s shuttering.

“Club Cafe is a great room, and I’m so sad to hear it’s closing,” he said.

Yoder has performed at the venue a lot over the past 25 years, including feeling the sense of achievement from opening for touring acts and playing “Songwriters in the Round” shows there.

But he also fondly remembered the great concerts he’s caught there as a spectator, including the Civil Wars and Tuesday night’s performer, Matt the Electrician, with Pittsburgh native Mirabelle Skipworth opening.

He also has fond memories of the AcoustiCafe shows. “People would show up early and form a line down the sidewalk to get in and sign up.”

One night, they even put on Joss Whedon’s 2008 musical miniseries “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog” live at the open mic.

“This is in general a great time for Pittsburgh music, with lots of new energy from new creative people moving here, making music, writing songs and building community. … That said, Pittsburgh still doesn’t have the kind of ‘venue infrastructure’ that some other towns can offer,” Yoder said, noting that DIY and house shows are an integral part of the live music culture here. “It’s just a bummer to lose such a great room at that size at this moment.”

Mark Dignam, an Irish singer-songwriter who moved to the Pittsburgh area in 2000, noted that Club Cafe has been a great space for smaller touring musicians to find a foothold in Southwestern Pennsylvania. “I have opened many shows at Club Cafe and have been delighted to watch some of my Irish friends pass through it,” he said, listing artists like Glen Hansard, Damien Rice and The Coronas.

He has even produced his own alternative Irish show, The Calm Before The Storm, at the venue for more than a decade around St. Patrick’s Day.

“I’ve traveled a lot and played in many, many venues in multiple countries and among them, Club Cafe is world class. I will treasure memorable shows, memorable staff and memorable audiences. I’m saddened by its loss,” he said.

Opus One Productions intends to put together a run of farewell shows before the club’s closing. Details about the future of the building — including potential purchasing opportunities — will be released in the coming months. Sanders declined additional comment for this article.