Los Angeles music venue The Key Club has shut its doors, at least for the time being.
Pollstar reports that the venue, which opened in 1996 as Billboard Live, will be out of action while investors look at taking it over.Key Club CEO Keith Pressman told Pollstar that he expects the well-known club on Sunset Blvd will be reopened by February.
The Key Club is along the entertainment district of West Hollywood near The Roxy, The Whisky A Go Go and the Viper Room. All clubs in the area have been affected by the economic downturn this year.
Speaking to the LA Times, Roxy boss Nic Adler said the year was “worse than you can imagine” but was steady while Mario Maglieri, owner of the Whisky and Rainbow Room said that business was down 50% this year for the Rainbow Room.
Hollywood music venue The Knitting Factory shut its doors in October.
One of the troubles the West Hollywood venues face is the difficulty in getting to them unless you live nearby.
In recent years, venues in Silver Lake and Echo Park have replaced the need to travel into West Hollywood to see live music.
West Hollywood has had a major disappearance of music stores in recent years as well after the closure of Tower Records and the Virgin Megastore.
If more music venues shutdown, Hollywood may be on the verge of no longer being the centre of the music business.
