Music venues always seem in short supply

If you’re a promoter, or a musician yourself, you’re probably aware of that. Ironically, do you know what there is a surplus of? Vacant space. Think outside of the box when considering music venues.

At any point in time, your city has an abundance of unused, unrented real estate – commercial and retail, intimate and expansive, warehouses and quirky lofts; there are many options that could be rented on a short-term basis.

A quick call to your local realtor can give them something they can take to the bank. They all represent property owners with rentable space that’s sitting idle. Naturally, their ambition is to get multi-year leases signed. But, in the absence of that, many of their clients wouldn’t turn their noses up at one, two, or three-days’ worth of trouble-free money.

Agents who specialize in booking short-term lets exist in a number of urban centres. Think of it as Air B2B. An example of such a firm with services across North America is This Open Space. Kijiji is another player in this arena. These spaces are more conventionally used for retail pop-ups and product launches, but it’s not a great leap to consider events and performances.

As a promoter, all you’d need from a facilities standpoint is temporary staging apparatus. Lighting grids and uprights, drapery and platforms. In many cases, pipe and drape would be sufficient to define the performance area.

Of course, how elaborate you get is entirely up to you and your artists’ performance needs. But think of the possibilities. A little ingenuity and you’ve made a substantial dent in your venue shortfall.

The great news is, QSD is here to help. We stock all your drapery needs from pipe and drape, all the way up to full proscenium set-ups, theatrical scrims, and more.

Got a promotion idea? Thinking of a space? Bring us in on the front end to help scope out your project and the venue. We’ll set up; we’ll tear down. Challenge handled.