If you follow the Bend music scene closely, you probably know there’s been some turnover at Players Bar & Grill.
And even if you don’t, you may have seen the words “THE SHOWS WILL GO ON” on the west-Bend bar’s marquee and wondered what’s up.
Rumors are flying, but here’s the scoop, straight from former manager Buck Bales and new manager Chrissi Thompson:
No, Bales is no longer working at Players, and yes, he took his sound system with him. But no, all the shows he booked were not canceled. And yes, Players has a new manager and new booking person – Thompson – and she’ll still be booking bands, though she’s going to take the entertainment in a slightly different direction.
Bales, 39, was let go – neither he nor Thompson used the word “fired” – on June 3. (We’re not going to get into the reasons why here. This blog is about music.) He’d been booking bands at Players for more than a year, getting national and regional acts like Psychostick, M.D.C., The High Strung, The Lonely H, 800 Octane, The Pink Snowflakes and the Dry County Crooks, plus countless shows by Central Oregon’s punk and metal bands.
The bar’s reputation as a venue for live music was growing, he said.
“Bands were calling me up, (saying) ‘Hey, we heard you guys are a great place to come play, and we really want to play in Bend. Can you hook us up with a show?’” Bales said. “In June, I had almost every Wednesday, every Friday, every Saturday and a couple Mondays (booked). In July, it was pretty much the same thing.”
Bales was trying to book a range of bands, he said. “I wanted all different kinds of music instead of just (punk and metal),” he said. “It’s always a challenge to get people in because everybody thinks, ‘Oh well, if they’re playing at Players then it’s gotta be (punk and metal).’”
After Bales and his sound equipment left Players, though, word of his departure spread quickly, and rumors flew that all the bar’s shows were canceled. Bales says he didn’t tell any bands their shows were canceled, only that he would have no control over their shows if they chose to go ahead and play.
“When I worked there, I took care of the bands. I made sure they had a good time and that I gave them everything I told them I was going to give them,” he said. “Now whatever they’re doing over there at Players, I have no idea. I can’t vouch for how they’re going to be treated or what kind of music they’re going to want to bring in.”
At Players, Thompson said she was left with no way of knowing what shows were booked when.
“Whatever was booked, they were told not to play and that we were closed,” she said. “So that Friday night, we didn’t have anything because nobody showed. I was just sitting there waiting to see if some band showed up.”
The transition has caused plenty of confusion, Thompson said.
“The next night, I got a phone call and the person was asking me who was playing that night, and I said, ‘I don’t know. Do you know?’ Because I have no information in my bar that’s telling me what’s going on, and I don’t want to not honor bands that were booked there, but then I can’t have an empty bar either.
“And the kid goes, ‘Well, I’m with one of the bands that was supposed to play there tonight, and we thought you were closed and we were told all the shows were canceled,’” she continued. “I said, ‘No, if you want to play here tonight, get your butts in here and start playing.’ So they came in and we had a good night.”
Thompson is 49 and booked music for Bend’s Timbers bars for 10 years, she said, so she knows the ropes and has “pages” of bands she can call. She has already brought back ’80s night and ladies’ night (hosted by Spice Trader Records) and plans to do more contests, dance nights, fundraisers and other types of events. “It will be more varied,” she said.
Players has access to a rental sound system if needed, Thompson said, and she’ll continue to book bands, though she’ll probably aim for what she considers a more diverse slate of acts in an effort to bring in a different crowd and more money.
“We have a little bit of classic rock kind of thing on one night, and then we can still do whatever kind of show that they were doing, but a little more mellow,” she said. “I’m kind of gearing more toward (people ages 30 to 50).
“The kids don’t spend any money,” Thompson continued. “I love those kids to death. They’re good kids. But they’ll sit up there on those couches and drink water and the bar isn’t making any money.”
That being said, Thompson will honor previous bookings, she said, as long as she knows about them. So if you’re in a band and you think you have a show at Players and you want to play, call her at 541-389-2558 and talk to her about it.
“The issue is right now it’s just so squirrelly because I don’t want to be this bad guy and wipe out what I have scratched on a little calendar there in the back,” she said. “If I don’t hear from somebody by, like, (the Tuesday before the weekend they’re supposed to play), I’m going to book something else because I can’t have an empty bar. I’m just not going to do that to the business.”
As for Bales, he says he’s directing bands to other venues if they don’t want to play at Players. (”If Players will still honor them being booked, that’s cool,” he said.)
He hopes some of the more twangy and poppy acts can find a home at Silver Moon Brewing or The Summit, and he thinks Timbers South and Reed Pub are open to punk and metal.
“It’s really hard, though. I know some of the shows have been canceled because I haven’t been able to find a venue where they could play,” he said. “It’s tough when (the shows) are this close because places that’ll book music are already booked out.”
Bales is open to the idea of moving his booking operation to another bar, or booking independently. For now, though, he’s going to take a break from the business.
“I’m going to hang out with my family and enjoy the summer. The kids are out of school now, so we’re going to be doing a lot of family stuff,” he said. “But I think down the road once this settles down a little bit, I’d definitely want to keep in the music scene.”
Tags: Players
