Good bye to the Green Door

[Patrick]

Economic problems finally lock Green Door

By George Lang
The Oklahoman

Every door eventually closes. After five years as a key venue for local alternative and punk bands and a preferred stop for national touring acts, the Green Door will swing shut at the end of this month.

Owners Reggy and Lucy Wheat will close the club with a two-day "Farewell Bash" on Jan. 27 and 28, featuring at least 25 bands including the Roustabouts, Klipspringer, Union Calling, the Misled, American Ruse and the Disposables. The Green Door was an important place for many of those bands, but by late last year, Wheat said that he knew his efforts to keep the club afloat had reached an end.

"We got into a mountain of debt, and we tried to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy last February," Wheat said. "It got declined in November. Chapter 13 is a restructuring bankruptcy, so we could get into a payment plan for the taxes, but it got declined due to lack of profit, basically. So, without being able to do that, there was no way we could renew our licenses."

Wheat said he owed the Internal Revenue Service about $100,000 in back taxes. To maintain the licenses and permits to operate the club with a full-service bar, he said he would have had to be in an organized payment plan with the IRS. Without the licenses and permits, he could not earn the money to pay off the debt, creating a vicious cycle.

The Wheats never saw any profits, but he said they didn't go into the business looking for them, either, describing the club as an expensive hobby.

"You know, little things like health insurance, stuff like that you really need," he said. "We've been trying to start a family for a while, and that's been a main goal: get a retirement fund set up and get some insurance, but we never really achieved that." The Wheats are expecting their first child in March.

When it was going strong, the Green Door was a groundbreaker, serving as a regular stage for local bands and an important stop for alternative rock bands on national tours. Originally at 8911 N Western (now home to the Conservatory), the Green Door became a destination spot for bands on the rise. Groups such as Stillwater's All-American Rejects played the Green Door just before hitting big on the national scene, and alternative headliners such as The White Stripes, Ben Kweller, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead, Electric Six and Hot Hot Heat all played memorable shows at the club.

In August 2003, the Green Door relocated to 329 E Sheridan in Bricktown, a larger and centrally located building. While Wheat said rumors surrounding the closing center on the cost of rent in Bricktown, he said moving to the entertainment district was not a major factor in the Green Door's demise.

"Everyone says its the rent down there, but if you compare it to the rent plus the maintenance on the old building, there's only about a $500 difference," he said.

Wheat did acknowledge that the scene became crowded with competitors -- successful clubs opening in Oklahoma City and Norman that hosted many of the same bands as the Green Door. But he said it was the concert business slump that made it more difficult to sustain the club. The cancellation of the Lollapalooza festival last year was an indicator that things were not going well in the alternative rock touring economy.

"Obviously, we didn't get into it for the money, but it takes money to keep things going," he said.

After the final show, Wheat said he will continue as a concert promoter, working with many of the agents who have brought shows to the Green Door. He said he wants the farewell bash to be a celebration, not a tearful wake.

"You know, man? Things can't last forever," he said. "I mean, it sucks, but it's not a sad thing. The final show, I'm not looking for it to be a pity party. I want it to be a celebration of all the good times people had. "There's so many kids who come up to me and tell me, 'I grew up here, you know? All my teenage years were spent at your club.'" Wheat said. "That's honorable, you know?"

[BG918]

Ugh, this is bad news for OKC because the Green Door was one of the few indie/alternative music venues in this city and a great place for small concerts. Hopefully someone else will step in and reopen the Green Door.

[metro]

I meant to post this last week and forgot, it was a sad day last week 3 other venues also shut their doors.

[Keith]

I meant to post this last week and forgot, it was a sad day last week 3 other venues also shut their doors.

So, why are so many venues shutting down in Bricktown? Are they too expensive? Is their overhead too high? Are they "out of place" in Bricktown? Once they shut down, how long do you think it will take before another venue opens in the same place?

[metro]

This was the only venue that shut down in Bricktown, as you can see by the article, it was not due to overhead but by back taxes owed. The other venues were in other parts of the city, they were The Deep End and Purgatory and one other one

[Keith]

This was the only venue that shut down in Bricktown, as you can see by the article, it was not due to overhead but by back taxes owed. The other venues were in other parts of the city, they were The Deep End and Purgatory and one other one

Ok, I guess I misunderstood the post. I thought it meant that all three venues that shut down were in Bricktown. Thanks for setting me straight.

[Elmofromok]

I think the location killed the Green Door. The target audience could not afford to park in bricktown and still get into the show on a regular basis. It was better off on Western.

Damn shame.

[BDP]

I think it's market saturation. When Green Door was on Western, that was it for punk and, to some extent alternative rock, in the city. Right around when it moved, others seemed to be popping up and others started hosting the same music. Venues in OKC need to diversify their offering amongst each other. Too many are genre clubs, we need one that is a venue in general. One that will have punk one night, singer songwriter the next night, and country the next.

In a small scene, obviously, the places are going to be booked by the owners who have their own passions. But it would be nice to see a place that was just a good all around place to see a show and people like Wheat could use their connections and savvy to promote shows at the place without having the fixed operating costs to drown in when the industry drops off a bit. One or two good places to house touring shows across genres by all of our local promoters mitigates the risk and spreads it across music scenes instead of each one of the promoters carrying the entire burden of one venue for each type of music.

I think Oklahoma City could better support mid level and theater size acts if there was such a place that did not discriminate by genre.

[TheImmortal]

Alot of it is just shady stuff as well, my band played Purgatory a few times and we were really good friends with the owners but alot of their equipment was stolen about 2 months back and the lack of a marquee or lit sign hurt the place quite a bit. The same owner used to own stars and bars before he shut it down to open Purgatory. But many of our fellow local bands have been feeling the effects of the recent shortage of venues. Sadly it is causing us to look to other places. We are playing in Midwest City in January and Ardmore in Febuary when we really would like to be able to have some shows in OKC. But I guess that is just how it goes.

[BDP]

Did you play in the city 10 years ago? It's just funny to hear "shortage of venues" when there are more places to play now than at any other time in my life. That is, if by venues, we mean "clubs". There still really isn't any good venue under 1k, imo, they're all clubs.

I think the Tower has been bought and the Public Market is picking up some steam. Those have the potential for being good mid-sized venues.

I also think too many are run just as a passion hobbies. That's always respectable, but they have to be money making ventures if they're going to stick around (that, or they have deep pockets with cash flow coming form elsewhere). Sometmes you have to subsidize your passion with what sells. Bill Graham is a good example. He had as much passion for music as anyone, but he was also a very savvy and shrewd businessman.

[TheImmortal]

I do realize there are more places to play now than before. But it is just the majority of places we play have been shutting down. But there are many fine venues, the Bricktown Brewery is one that stands out in my mind. And yes the Tower has been bought. I know the guy who is renovating it and he is anxious to bring the place back to life. I am definatly excited about it as well. I love to see old buildings renovated to their original glory.

[BDP]

Yeah, and I really think 23rd could be a cool area with some work. I love the storefronts at the street and, sandwiched in-between the historic districts, it could really tie the area together.

Do you know if they want to make it a venue or something else, like the dinner movie theater thing?

It does suck that these places are closing, but all it really means is that you have to play less shows to reach more people and every show will get a better draw becasue the scene will not be spread out amongst 3-4 clubs on any given night. IMO, that's what made the original Green Door great was that it was the place at the time for that kind of music. As the venues began multiplying, the support did not and, unfortunately, the Green Door itself has become a casualty.

[OklahomaNightLife]

I meant to post this last week and forgot, it was a sad day last week 3 other venues also shut their doors.

What are the other two venues that closed along w/ the green door?

[AXU]

I've heard for years that it has been closing down, but I'm terribly sad about this. I really liked the Green Door. Some of my favorite bands thata not many people even know exist played there, all of the time...oh well, hopefully they'll all follow the band coming this montha nd still come to Oklahoma, just...to the conservatory or something..