First venue, fourth fest

There’s a new music venue on J Street—The Lounge—and it’s no Ace of Spades. Performers book directly with the owner, Danielle Vincent, and keep 100 percent of the cover charge.

Think: a special event space with a P.A. system, small stage and no fee to rent the room.

“The idea is that bands can put on their own DIY shows in a space where they earn the revenue from it,” Vincent said.

As Vincent gears up for the launch party of her other venture—the fourth First Festival—on December 9, she’s also opening The Lounge (1812 J Street, Suite 9) using the same deer-head logo.

Vincent says the Lounge isn’t in direct competition with existing music spots because her model’s so different, though it is intended to address the loss of artist spaces and venue closures this year. She first got the idea when Starlite Lounge, known for its metal shows, closed in June. (The building is now under new ownership as Holy Diver.) That same week, two more venues—Naked Lounge and Station 1—announced they would no longer book shows.

Meanwhile, other DIY venues have struggled: The Colonial Art Complex on Stockton Boulevard has held benefit shows to avoid shuttering, and the Red Museum on 15th Street closed several times before it received city support to stay open.

“It’s very challenging to monetize art in our community,” Vincent said. “Hopefully, this is a platform to do it.”

The Lounge is still under construction, but expect a “state-of-the-art” space that will comfortably fit 35 to 40 people, with acoustics that are ideal for hip-hop and softer rock bands.

“There’s no way that you could have a heavy punk or metal show [at the Lounge] and not have everybody die,” Vincent said.

For the sake of comparison: The Lounge would fill just a portion of Blue Lamp, with a snug stage the size of Shady Lady’s. A perimeter bar, benches and open floor are your options for concert viewing with food and drink. But those sseeking to mingle after the show will have to go to Streets of London.

The Lounge is also the home base for First Festival and #ShowUpSacramento, Vincent’s mobile calendar app for local arts. This year, the two-day, 40-band fest made a comeback after 2016’s rendition suffered low turnout. In 2017, around 3,500 people attended.

The 2017 festival cost Vincent around $45,000, mostly out of pocket.

Next year, she has the city’s backing. Earlier this month, First Festival received $25,000 through the city’s Creative Economy Pilot Project, which awarded $500,000 in grants to local arts efforts.

First Fest was among 57 projects selected out of 481 applicants. It was chose in part because the panel thought it could be an economic stimulus for local arts, and long-term, that First Fest could become something much bigger, like TBD Fest.

“The panel is hoping [that funding could] potentially raise its attendance year over year, and that [First Festival] could be [a] flagship festival in Sacramento,” said Ash Roughani, a panel spokesman and program manager for the mayor’s office.

The funding won’t cover the whole the festival, but it ensures that it’ll happen next year, Vincent said. Bands will also receive a stipend for performing, and for attendees, the first 1,000 tickets will be free.

Meanwhile, the deer, the brand of her long-running campaign to encourage people to support events around the city, is clicking its hooves.

“I feel like someone saved my life,” Vincent said. “It’s going to make it so everything that I imagined it can be, it can be.”