Southgate House closing
Renowned Newport music venue hosted wide variety of acts


The Southgate House in Newport will shut its doors after New Year’s Eve, its owners announced Monday.

Written by
Lauren Bishop

NEWPORT - The Southgate House, the historic Newport mansion-turned-music club that has been hailed as one of the best concert venues in the country, will shut its doors after New Year’s Eve, its owners announced Monday.

“While we are deeply saddened to close ... it’s been a great run and it’s been a great privilege to be the steward of such a grand building all these years,” owner Ross Raleigh said in a statement. “There have been many great memories made here, but the history is in the people and the music, not just the building, and the show must go on.”

Raleigh said in the statement that he hopes to relocate his business in 2012 and that he would release more information about that soon. The statement did not give a reason for the closing, and efforts to reach Raleigh Monday were unsuccessful.

Owned by Raleigh since 1976, the Southgate House is known for its diverse array of acts, encompassing alternative rock, punk, metal, country, blues, bluegrass and folk. Its three performance spaces – Juney’s Lounge in the first floor bar area, the library-like Parlour on the second floor and a 600-capacity ballroom with its horseshoe-shaped balcony and signature red curtain in the back of the house – have hosted up-and-coming as well as established local and national acts.

Grammy Award-winning bands such as Arcade Fire, the Black Keys and the White Stripes played there before they became household names, and it was a favorite venue of many touring acts, including legendary Dayton rockers Guided by Voices.

Bluegrass greats Ralph Stanley, Jimmy Martin and Del McCoury have also graced the Southgate House stage, as have folk heroes Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark.

The Southgate House’s eclectic entertainment schedule and unique space has attracted national attention. Independent music magazine Paste called the Southgate House one of America’s 40 best music clubs in its May 2007 issue, and Esquire magazine ranked Cincinnati seventh on its list of 10 “Cities that Rock” in its April 2004 issue, citing Southgate one of the region’s top venues.

The building itself, located on Third Street across from Newport on the Levee, also has a storied history. A historic marker at the bottom of the front steps identifies it as the birthplace of World War I Army Brigadier Gen. John Taliaferro Thompson, the co-inventor of the submachine gun nicknamed the Tommy gun. He was born there Dec. 31, 1860.

The mansion was built around 1814 for attorney Richard Southgate, who became a state legislator. Visitors to the home included Abraham Lincoln (before he was president); presidents John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and James Polk; and legislator Henry Clay.

The Knights of Columbus bought the home in 1914 and added the brick porch and a ballroom in the back of the house that could hold 550 people. That ballroom burned down in 1948 but was soon replaced.

The Dec. 31 closing show is a “whole-house” event, with 14 bands playing in all three performance spaces. The headliners are Cincinnati pop-punk trio the Dopamines, who are celebrating their five-year anniversary.

Admission is $10 in advance and $15 at the door for the 18-and-older show, which begins at 9 p.m.

Other acts scheduled to perform between now and the end of the year include comedic country musician Unknown Hinson (Dec. 3); local country rockers 500 Miles to Memphis (Dec. 10); comedian and School for Creative & Performing Arts grad Tyrone Hawkins (Dec. 15); Cincinnati rockers Chakras (Dec. 16); the Kentucky Struts’ album release concert (Dec. 17); the Ohio Blues Explosion (Dec. 18); and Kentucky-bred singer-songwriter Noah Sugarman’s annual Christmas show (Dec. 23).

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111...eakingnews

what?! this is horrible, horrible! our musical heritage is slowly being stripped away. king records, woxy, now this? if they closed only for a renovation i could understand. i remember attending a voxtrot show, seated near the bar, and the vibrations caused plaster from the roof to fall on me. jeez, what an amazing place. so many shows. just another reason for any notable act to skip town and head up i-71 or 70. f*ck

(11-28-2011 11:42 PM)Lush Wrote:  what?! this is horrible, horrible! our musical heritage is slowly being stripped away. king records, woxy, now this? if they closed only for a renovation i could understand. i remember attending a voxtrot show, seated near the bar, and the vibrations caused plaster from the roof to fall on me. jeez, what an amazing place. so many shows. just another reason for any notable act to skip town and head up i-71 or 70. f*ck

Seriously. This is awful.

Years ago, my "second home" the legendary Jockey Club on York St closed.

Now the Southgate house.

Ugh.

(11-28-2011 11:42 PM)Lush Wrote:  what?! this is horrible, horrible! our musical heritage is slowly being stripped away. king records, woxy, now this? if they closed only for a renovation i could understand. i remember attending a voxtrot show, seated near the bar, and the vibrations caused plaster from the roof to fall on me. jeez, what an amazing place. so many shows. just another reason for any notable act to skip town and head up i-71 or 70. f*ck

I know it won't be the same, but it says he'll be opening up elsewhere.

Cincinnati hosts more national touring acts than any other city in the region, with the exception of Chicago. We are a little behind Detroit. Far ahead of Columbus.

I would like to know why he's closing such an acclaimed venue. Wonder if it has something to do with the plaster.

The good news is.......Toby Keith's country venue will be opening soon!!!!

Wow. Just wow. I am sad.. lots of good memories in that place. One of the most unique and fun places to see a show in the tri-state.

Drove down from Dayton twice last year to attend shows at the Southgate House. It will be missed.

(11-29-2011 11:16 AM)BearChatter v2.0 Wrote:  The good news is.......Toby Keith's country venue will be opening soon!!!!

I give that place a year, two tops.

Owners say Southgate will remain music venue


The Enquirer/Mike Rutledge
Southgate House, which was built in Newport around 1814, will end its run as a bar/concert venue for local, regional and national acts on December 31, 2011.

Written by
Lauren Bishop

A day after the Southgate House announced that it would close at the end of the year and relocate, the couple who are the majority owners of the building said they hope to keep the building open as a live music venue.

The historic building at 34 E. Third St. in Newport had been owned by Ross Raleigh, who runs the day-to-day business of the club; his sister, Armina "Mina" Lee, who also owns the Brass Ass adult club in Newport; her husband, Roger Petersen; and another sister, Nancy Young. But a recently settled legal battle between the siblings has put the majority ownership of the club in the hands of Lee and Petersen, who spoke to The Enquirer from their Newport home Tuesday.

Raleigh had filed a complaint against Lee and the other owners in January 2010, asking Campbell County Circuit Court to establish the ownership, occupancy and royalty rights to the Southgate House property and liquor license in his favor and to permanently bar Lee from asserting any interest in the property, business or liquor license.

Lee fought back, claiming that Raleigh illegally transferred a liquor license from the corporation they formed when they purchased the Southgate House to his own LLC and asking Raleigh to either return it and pay her rent or vacate the premises. A flurry of legal filings followed, taking up three volumes of court documents.

Lee and Petersen said Tuesday they have settled the dispute but declined to discuss the terms of the settlement, and the settlement document is not publicly available. But Lee and Petersen said that Raleigh declined an option to buy or lease the Southgate House in favor of moving the business to an as-yet unannounced location, and that they bought out his share in the Newport property.

Lee and Petersen also told The Enquirer that they plan to renovate the Southgate House building and will lease or sell it. They said they want it to continue to operate it as a music venue. They said the style of music featured could change.

"We can assure you that our plans do not include demolition of the building and that it will be opened as a music venue," Lee said.

The Southgate House building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The historic designation does not automatically protect properties from demolition or other alterations, but it sometimes requires additional governmental reviews before changes are made, according to the National Park Service.

The assessed value of the property is $1.2 million, according to the Campbell County Property Valuation Administrator website.

Raleigh, 67, has not announced where he might relocate to operate a music club. He has managed the Southgate House for three decades. He has not responded to The Enquirer's attempts to contact him.

His daughter, Morrella Raleigh, 41, said Tuesday that he is looking at several different area locations. She and Newport on the Levee spokeswoman Christy Gloyd did say one rumor - that the Southgate House might move to the former IMAX theater at Newport on the Levee - was false.

Raleigh's decision to relocate rather than buy or lease the building was a difficult one, his daughter said. She declined to comment further on the suit or the settlement.

"His heart and soul went into that place," she said. "It has not been an easy time. This place has been his whole life, really. He bought this place when Newport wasn't what it was now. It's changed quite a bit over the years."

Raleigh said she didn't know whether the Southgate House name would go with Raleigh or stay at 34 E. Third St. Neither did Petersen and Lee, who said she hasn't spoken to her brother in years.

"Aside from everything, I do love him, and I wish him all the success in the world," she said.

Rumors have circulated this week that building code violations might have played a part in the closing, but Newport Code Enforcement Director Brian Steffen said the Southgate House hasn't had any recent violations.

And there have been no crime problems on the property, said Newport Police Lt. Tom Collins.

The Southgate House will remain open through Dec. 31, but promoters are now scrambling to reschedule shows that had been booked for the Southgate House early next year.

John Madden of West Chester Township-based JBM Promotions, who's been booking shows there for 17 years, said he was "flabbergasted" by the news of the closing. He's been busy making phone calls to change venues and dates for acts including the Old 97s, Mike Doughty and Sonny Landreth.

Without knowing where and when the Southgate House might relocate, Madden also said he was worried about the impact of the closing on smaller musical acts that attract 75-125 people and can be accommodated in one of the Southgate House's three performance spaces.

"They were always open to bringing in new artists. Other clubs were less inclined to let you do that kind of experimentation," he said.

"That's the real tragedy of losing a place like the Southgate House."

Staff writer Brenna Kelly contributed.

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111...320&Ref=AR

I saw a couple of terrific shows there so that's great news if the plan comes to fruition. It would be a shame to lose a regional treasure like Southgate.

I think the show I saw there that I liked the most was Buckwheat a few years ago. Where oh where will the Psychodots play now?

Music community frets about life without Southgate House


Joe Simon for Metromix
Southgate House will end its run as a bar/concert venue for local, regional and national acts on December 31, 2011.

Written by
Lauren Bishop

Patrons have their choice of entertainment options on almost any given night at the Southgate House, the music club housed in an early 19th-century mansion on Third Street in Newport.

They can step into Juney's Lounge to the left of the main entrance, pull up a stool at the bar and listen to a local folk or bluegrass band for free. They can walk upstairs to the Parlour and hear an up-and-coming punk band on tour. They can walk into the 600-capacity ballroom in the back of the house to see a national act, shoulder to shoulder with other fans on the floor or from a seat in the horseshoe-shaped balcony.

Some nights, they can take in an art show on the top floor. Or they can just relax with a drink on the brick front porch, people-watch at Newport on the Levee across the street and take in the view of the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline.

That's how it's been at the Southgate House for years. And that's how, after Dec. 31, it likely will be no longer.

A family feud that turned into an ugly legal battle led to the announcement earlier this week that the last event there under the operation of longtime owner Ross Raleigh would be New Year's Eve. Raleigh plans to relocate his business, and his sister, Armina Lee, and her husband, Roger Petersen - who acquired Raleigh's share of the property in a legal settlement - said they plan to renovate and either lease or sell the building. But they want it to remain a music venue, if with a different musical focus.

But whatever Raleigh and Lee decide to do, Southgate House just won't be the same, said local musicians, music fans and former Southgate House employees. And neither will the local music scene.

"You can't replace that place," said Chris Schadler of Northside, the Southgate House's in-house promoter from 1995 to 2008. "A band can go anywhere and do a show and make that place cool, but the Southgate House was a step above that. That place is unique and everybody knows it."

In the short term, the Southgate House's closing means that the bands that were booked there into the spring must find other places to perform. John and Brenda Madden, who run West Chester Township-based JBM Promotions, have booked shows there for 17years. They already have rescheduled acts such as the Old 97's for the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley on Jan. 30 and Mike Doughty for the Redmoor in Mount Lookout on Feb. 19. They're trying to find local venues for several other acts.

The long-term impact of the Southgate House's closing is harder to predict. But it's clear that it would take time and dedication to develop a venue as beloved by fans and bands as the Southgate House, which was named one of the top 40 music clubs in the country by independent music magazine Paste in 2007.

Schadler was the one who, in 1995, dreamed up the Southgate House's eclectic, experimental business model with the blessing of Ross Raleigh, and his daughter, Morrella Raleigh, a childhood friend of Schadler's. Before that, it was a neighborhood bar that hosted wedding receptions and occasional concerts, he said.

Schadler estimated that he spent 60 hours a week at the Southgate House between 1995 and 2006, booking shows, building the sound booth in the ballroom, fixing the roof and sometimes even sleeping there. He and the Southgate House's small but devoted staff nurtured local musicians and put on whole-house events like Art Attacks and the Lite Brite Film Test that blended musical performances and visual arts.

"Anybody who had an idea to do a show, an original show, was greeted with open arms as long as it wasn't completely horrible," he said. "We had great sound production that we provided. We did a lot of really good in-house marketing. The whole ethos was, make it as easy as possible for people with good ideas to be able to implement their plan."

And bands appreciated it. Local rock trio Knife the Symphony posted a note on its website this week that read in part: "From the sound guys, the bartenders and the staff (past and present), they have endured countless hours of artists perfecting their craft, night after night. That is what separates the (Southgate House) from any other venue. They didn't cater to a particular crowd, scene or style of music, which often is the death of so many venues....that is why it has stood the test of time."


Joe Simon for Metromix
Evan Butler and Stacey Kesling of Dayton, Ohio, wait for the next band to set up and play in the Parlour - one of the smaller performance spaces at Southgate House.

The Southgate House staff also cultivated relationships with music agents from around the country until the venue became a destination for touring acts that were routed through Cincinnati and could draw audiences of 200-600 people, Schadler said.

The intimate access that the Southgate House provided to burgeoning acts like Arcade Fire, the Black Keys and the White Stripes before they became Grammy Award winners made the Southgate House a regional draw, said former Southgate House promoter Dan McCabe, the director of the MidPoint Music Festival and the marketing promotions manager for CityBeat. McCabe said easily half of advance tickets sales from sold-out shows came from outside of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, from cities such as Louisville, Lexington and Indianapolis.

Schadler and McCabe, now both in their 40s, have carried many of those ideas to MOTR Pub, the bar, restaurant and 150-capacity music club in Over-the-Rhine that they co-own. It's one of several venues - along with the Northside Tavern, the Comet and Mayday in Northside; the 20th Century Theatre in Oakley and the Madison Theater in Covington - that book the kind of pioneering acts that Southgate sought.

But none of those venues by themselves can make up for the loss of the Southgate and be as much of a regional draw, McCabe said. Some acts may skip this market in the Southgate House's absence, but McCabe believes the area can make up for it.

"In a couple of years, there will be that void filled, where music fans again have access to these artists that may be passing us by for a few years," he said. "But it's going to take more than just one room to fill the void. It's going to take a street, a neighborhood, to fill what ... the Southgate House was."

“Speaking as someone who plays and enjoys original music, it’s going to be felt,” said former Afghan Whigs bassist and Ultrasuede Studios owner John Curley, who now plays in a band called Fists of Love with Schadler. Curley even had his wedding reception there in 1993, when he and the Afghan Whigs played some of the songs from their breakthrough album “Gentlemen” live for the first time.

“It’s not like we can lose a venue and it won’t have an impact. What impact that’s going to have is hard to say,” Curley said. “The emotional impact will be great among a lot of people who go to see shows there and have been playing there a long time.”

It will also be difficult, if not impossible, to match the Southgate House's historic ambience, some local music fans believe.

"I've been to many, many venues across the country, and hands down it's one of the top venues in the nation for atmosphere," said tour manager and publicist René Dean of Clifton, better known as Venomous Valdez, her alias from her days as a DJ at WAIF-FM and WEBN-FM. Three days after hearing the news of the closing, she said she still feels like a part of her is dying.

"You feel welcome there," said Nate Rosing of Edgewood, a music blogger who runs the 10-year-old Cincypunk Fest, held at the Southgate House since 2008. A regular patron since 2004, the 30-year-old Rosing said the place has become like a second home to him and that staffers have become like family.

"It's still hard knowing there's not much time left to make some more memories in a building like that," he said.

And some wonder whether the Southgate House will survive what its owners say will be a temporary closing. Dean noted that famed Corryville music club and laundry facility Sudsy Malone's hasn't come back after several attempts at reopening.

"It nurtured a scene for 30 years," she said of the Southgate House. "You can feel that vibe when you ascend those steps and walk in the porch and go in. That house has something special about it, and very few venues can survive a pause like that."

She hopes that pause won't be long, and that future promoters will have the same experimental ethic.

"That grand old house of music has to stay open," she said. "And I will lead an army to make sure that happens."

http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20111...112030307/

Too bad it's such a short warning, but anyone looking for something to do tonight probably won't find anything better than this concert imo:

Quote:V-Roys to bid goodbye to Southgate House

If you go
Who: The V-Roys
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Southgate House, 24 E. Third St., Newport
Tickets: $30, $25 in advance
Information: 859-431-2201; southgatehouse.com; jbmpromotions.com

There is nothing good about the Southgate House Shutdown. The shock and dismay over Saturday’s closing still rankles music fans, not just here, but across the country.

However, one bright spot emerged: The V-Roys, the Tennessee quartet that played its unique mix of alt-country and garage rock many times during its mid- to late 1990s lifetime, will reunite Tuesday night to say goodbye to the Newport club.

Drummer Jeff Bills recently recalled the first time he walked into the building.

“I was looking around at the bar and thinking, ‘Well, will we set up next to the pool table (in the Parlour) or where exactly?’

“(Promoter) John (Madden) laughed, and then we walked into the Ballroom and it was awesome.”

The band, which had scheduled a one night only reunion on New Year’s Eve in its home base of Knoxville, Tenn., to celebrate “Sooner or Later,” a career compilation that was released in the fall, wanted to pay its respects to what the members have called “... a very special place for the V-Roys, a home away from home in many respects ...”

Guitarist Scott Miller, who continued to play Southgate solo and with his band the Commonwealth after the V-Roys broke up, said the show is also a tribute to Madden and his wife, Brenda, of JBM Promotions. “After they announced it was going to close, John was talking to our agent and said he knew it was a longshot, but did we want to do this,” said Miller, who had agreed with his mates that the Knoxville gig was a one-time only affair and didn’t want to raise the hopes of fans about a more permanent reunion.

“So we spent the better part of a day sending emails back and forth and decided to do it. John and Brenda were a big part of this (Southgate history). They worked hard to make us popular in the area.”

Bills, Miller and Madden remember a two-week stretch of harsh winter weather one year when the band was booked into the area twice. Well, they all seem to recall the details differently, but eventually wind up at the same place.

Miller: “We were booked into Cincinnati at Bogart’s, I think, and only a handful of people came out.”

Bills: “Actually Scott, as I remember it, the weather was so bad that after we set up, the manager came out and said the weather was so bad that nobody was going to come, so we packed up and left.”

Madden: “I’m pretty sure it was Ripley’s (the old club on Calhoun Street in University Heights) because I couldn’t believe they were booked here twice in two weeks.”

Time has a way of tangling the tales. However, the story has a happy ending.

“When we came back through Newport ... there were about 300 people at the Southgate House to see us, which really surprised us,” Bills said.

Madden said the crowd was a bit smaller, but very enthusiastic nonetheless.

Miller didn’t count the door that night, but will always appreciate the meticulous Brenda Madden.

This from a statement promoting Tuesday’s show: “They are the only promoters to send us money later after they recounted the night of the show.”

Miller added, “That has never happened again, that is the only time.”

So many memories, and only one night to add another. Miller and Bills promise to put aside their sadness and will team with guitarist Mic Harrison and bass player Paxton Sellers to send the Southgate out in style. “It might be a little slower and a little grayer, but it will be fun,” Miller said.

V-Roys at Southgate

I saw them play Southgate several times and it was outstanding each time. Should be a helluva show tonight.

Southgate House reopening under a new name
Posted: Mar 19, 2012 9:39 PM EDT

Posted by Chelsey Collins - email



NEWPORT, KY (FOX19) -

The Southgate house is reopening under new management and a new name.

It will now be called Thompson House. It will be a concert hall that will host local, regional and national acts.

The Southgate House closed late in 2011 after hosting punk, alternative and folk music for more than 30 years.

Thompson House will be accepting applications and conducting preliminary interviews on March 26 and 27 from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. They are looking for people to fill over 40 positions including bartenders, cocktail waitress, security, doormen, custodians and management positions.

http://www.fox19.com/story/17195815/sout...ormat=HTML