It’s been a scary few months for Eugene music fans. In November, downtown venue The Big Dirty announced it was closing, and Sam Bond’s Garage in the Whiteaker said it would shut down and was up for sale.
On the bright side, Sam Bond’s has had a stay of execution, reboot pending, and after a yearslong, pandemic-related hiatus, Wandering Goat Coffee Company on Madison has resumed hosting shows.
Goat General Manager Aaron Maltz says since the COVID shutdown, the Goat operated window service only and considered reopening the coffee shop space for customers and music, but the timing felt wrong.
Maltz, who used to play in the Eugene ska band The Varicoasters, says a few house venues in the Whit recently shuttered, so the Goat, which had already reopened the café, filled the void.
“It just felt right,” Maltz tells Eugene Weekly in an email, and like before the pandemic, the Goat will typically book punk, metal and hardcore but will be open to other genres as well.
“Eugene lacks all-ages venues catering to those genres around town,” Maltz says. “We’re trying to help fill that gap.”
Since Goat concerts resumed, videos have circulated on social media showing an enthusiastic mass of concertgoers moshing to the music. Maltz says the shows have been well-attended, and audiences are happy to have the Goat’s live music back.
“It’s awesome to have a place for new Eugene bands to develop an audience. Nothing has gone wrong, and most everything has gone right,” Maltz says.
Unlike before the pandemic, the Goat clears all the tables, chairs and counters out of the way for the concerts so that the space is one big open room, more conducive to seeing bands play.
Concert planners also say shows will happen after the café is closed, rather than what it was like before when audiences mixed with patrons at the Goat for other reasons.
However, the overall look and feel of the venue remains as it was before the COVID shutdown.
“We have developed an aesthetic and are sticking to that,” Maltz says. “Some people call it ’90s. Some call it DIY. It’s just our thing. I feel that the shows mirror that aesthetic. It is like seeing a show at a small club or café in the ’90s.”
Maltz says it’s like entering a world that “was once very important and prevalent in Eugene” that no longer exists.
“We’ve had three shows per week or two for the month, and both scenarios are fine with us,” Maltz says. “Shows are always all-ages. We try to start them as close to 6:30 or 7 pm. There’s generally a cover, but many of the shows are ‘NOTAFLOF,’ which stands for ‘No One Turned Away For Lack of Funds.’”
The Goat produces shows in collaboration with venue bookers like Nail House, a house venue that shut down last summer, and RAD, the local nonprofit that throws all-ages punk shows at Washington Jefferson Skatepark and Blairally Vintage Arcade in the Whit focused on inclusivity, community building, youth mental health and harm reduction.
Live music, in general, is still finding its feet after the pandemic, but Maltz is optimistic. “I think with the cost of living continuously increasing, we’re going to see more regional scenes develop much like in the ’90s,” Maltz says.
He adds, “It’s just becoming too expensive to tour without guarantees” — or an agreement the venue will pay a set amount, regardless of turnout — “and fewer people can take time off work to sleep in a van and lose money for any length of time.”
“But people will always want to create music and find an outlet for their art,” he says, “so local scenes will once again blossom. That’s my hope, at least.”