The Venue + The Nightspot

Union Sound Hall

Kevin Legge

THE VENUE

1. Union Sound Hall
2. The Windsor
3. The Purple Room

THE NIGHT SPOT

1. Union Sound Hall
2. The Toad
3. The Kingshead

Union Sound Hall has hit the ground running since opening in August 2013. The Venue has a flexibility that lends itself to small shows, but can open up to accommodate up to 500 people.

Many guests are responding to an atmosphere that feels decidedly more grown up than a typical night spot, including local designer Lennard Taylor, who recently held a fashion show there. “The aesthetic is fabulous with the exposed brick, the wood pillars, and the layout. It was a perfect complement to my designs.” Taylor adds that he received a lot of positive feedback about the venue, saying that “it feels classy without being over the top. No one is going to feel under dressed or that they don’t belong.”

Tyler Sneesby (AKA DJ Hunnicut), one of the many owners of the venue, says that the goal was to keep it minimal. “There is no pretense to it. That word comes up a lot. Some places give you an automatic impression of what they’re all about, so people end up saying ‘what is that metal band doing there?’ We did kind of a renovation by subtraction.”

Even with larger shows, Union Sound Hall has an intimate feel thanks to low ceilings and a stage that only elevates performers two feet away from the audience. “When Greg MacPherson was deciding where to hold his CD launch (coming up on December 22nd) that was a deal-maker for him. He wanted to be in the mix with the crowd.” This direct connection between performer and audience member makes sense as social networking makes artists more accessible. “The space was what we had to work with, but we’re lucky that it happens to be conducive to that. I don’t know how we did it, but we’re thankful.”

Part of the series: The Uniter 30

Published in Volume 68, Number 14 of The Uniter (December 4, 2013)

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