How Music Venues Convinced Congress to Save Live Entertainment
The Save Our Stages Act has been described as the biggest show of federal support for arts and culture in U.S. history. It started with a few independent music venues.
Photographer: Darin Kamnetz
On the 50th anniversary of legendary Minneapolis music venue First Avenue, owner Dayna Frank was at home working on her loan application for the federal Paycheck Protection Program instead of hosting the celebration concert she had planned.
With the doors to her club shut indefinitely because of the coronavirus pandemic, she had already reduced her staff from 480 employees to a skeleton crew of 24, including furloughing herself. But the real jolt to her business’s survival came when she realized by the start of April that the Small Business Administration program was in no way designed for the challenges independent music venues were facing.