Megadeth performs at Toad’s Place on Oct. 1, 2007. (Photo by Chris Lacroix)
With concert halls and music clubs dark for the past year because of COVID-19, recent conversations I’ve had with fellow Richmonders left me wondering: What is the future of live music? Is there a future?
I understand the difficulties of producing and promoting concerts under adverse conditions. In 2007, I founded Toad’s Place Richmond, the concert hall in Shockoe Bottom. Through appearances by artists such as Buddy Guy, Boyz II Men, George Clinton and Third Eye Blind, Toad’s Place helped breathe new spirit into downtown nightlife.
My experience running Toad’s Place left me with indelible memories of the rich moments live music can bring.
With a capacity of 1,600 people, Toad’s Place was the first of the larger music complexes to open in downtown Richmond since The Flood Zone in Shockoe Bottom closed 10 years prior. The National and Richmond CenterStage would follow Toad’s months later. At the time, besides the conversion of a few old tobacco warehouses into trendy apartments, there were few signs of the explosive changes that were to come downtown.
Live music was mostly limited to seasonal outdoor shows with temporary staging and portable toilets. Events at the Richmond Coliseum and the Landmark Theater (now the Altria Theater) provided a sporadic and often low-fidelity concert experience. For those who did not mind the drive, Charlottesville, Virginia Beach and Washington, D.C., all had better facilities.
For touring artists, Richmond was a perfect additional location, given that both I-95 and I-64 intersect the city. The 9:30 Club in D.C., the NorVa in Norfolk and the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, already occupied their places as mid-Atlantic stops. To be included, a Richmond venue needed concert-quality sound and lighting, a large stage, and a capacity of at least 1,000.
The live music business has always been in my blood. I worked as a sound engineer and DJ at the original Toad’s Place in New Haven, Connecticut, while an undergraduate at Yale. During my subsequent years at the Medical College of Virginia (now VCU School of Medicine), I promoted concert events, often as a silent partner. I knew the concert industry well, but I was still an unlikely champion for Toad’s Place Richmond. In the four years before we opened, I got married and had two sons. Around the same time, I launched a career as a private-practice cardiologist, making for long days and nights. While the combined responsibilities were almost more than I could bear, I was thoroughly convinced that the concept of a Richmond live music venue was a winner.
Construction went through more than the average share of fits and starts. Perhaps our single biggest problem was that building our adjoining restaurant took longer than the construction of the concert venue itself. We had started booking shows well ahead of time, and these touring acts could not easily change their schedules to accommodate our construction woes. We officially opened on June 21, 2007, with a concert by The Squirrel Nut Zippers, a popular retro swing group from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The opening act was called The Old Ceremony, and it featured a fellow Yale grad as lead vocalist, who I’m sure was surprised to find another Toad’s Place some 300 miles south of the original.
Unfortunately, with restaurant construction incomplete, we could not obtain our mixed-beverage license and were effectively a dry facility for our first several shows. This was covered widely in the local media, and without the business-sustaining alcohol sales, we were hemorrhaging money.
Even once we had satisfied all requirements, it ultimately took the influence of the governor’s office to secure our mixed-beverage permit. The first night we sold alcohol was the Aug. 26, 2007, George Thorogood concert — fitting, given that one of his signature songs is called “One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer.”
Over the next two years, Toad’s Place produced more than 150 shows, encompassing everything from heavy metal acts to sanctioned MMA fights to hip-hop and R&B shows. I recall walking into a packed house on a Friday night following a long shift at the hospital. Method Man and Ghostface Killah of the hip-hop supergroup Wu-Tang Clan were performing. The captivated crowd responded enthusiastically, faithfully reciting lyrics to every song. In many ways, this was Toad’s at its best: a communal, immersive experience with a swaying crowd packed shoulder to shoulder — and, for that moment, rising above the mundane concerns of the day.
Our run of live music came to an abrupt halt in 2009. We could not survive the launch miscues, vestiges of the 2008 recession and emerging competition from The National. Our landlord locked the doors for delinquent rent. I had been making payments out of my own pocket as we collectively searched for a way to keep Toad’s Place alive. When our doors were shut, we had four sold-out shows pending, including Lady Gaga.
If the live music scene isn’t dead, it is certainly on a ventilator right now. As with COVID-19, survival is not guaranteed, and recovery can be lengthy, delayed and unpredictable. However, with the fast emergence of powerful vaccines, it’s now possible to imagine a day — perhaps even within several months — when enough of us will be vaccinated to make gathering safe again. I would envision venues may require “proof of vaccination” for entry, and masks will remain common.
Toad’s Place ultimately faltered, but for me, the memories remain vivid and restorative. Perhaps we can use this time to reimagine an even more robust and diverse live music scene to match Richmond’s acclaimed restaurants and breweries. Following the wounds inflicted by COVID-19 and continuing tensions as we reckon with the region’s difficult racial history, there is perhaps nothing more therapeutic and unifying than live music.
Dr. Charles Joyner is a cardiac electrophysiologist with Virginia Cardiovascular Specialists. He founded Toad’s Place Richmond in 2007 and is the co-host of the upcoming podcast “Twisted Wisdom.”
