As we hurdle forward towards a world where venues are starting to re-open for honest-to-goodness, in-person, safe for the vaccinated, events; we’re also going to start seeing the financial pains for venues to actually accomplish that goal. Over the past year, The 5 Spot has raised money to keep their staff and community safe, converted the venue into a livestreaming space and worked diligently to keep people healthy while also beaming music back into our homes. Now they’ve got their eyes on the prize – re-opening to the general public. In order to do so, they need a little financial support.
The Scene has loads of details about the undertaking but, basically, owner Todd Sherwood says they’re looking for assistance to pay staff, order beer and stock up on cleaning supplies. All initiatives any sane person can get behind. They’ve launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $20k to help them accomplish that. Not a small chunk of change but given how hard the club worked over the past year, certainly not an outlandish goal either.
If it weren’t enough to simply support your community, The 5 Spot has added a little additional enticement to win you over in the form of a six hour telethon featuring musical performances, interviews and Sherwood being absolutely delightful. The event itself was broadcast in late May but it’s up on YouTube for your enjoyment at anytime.
The 5 Spot isn’t the first to ask for assistance and won’t be the last. As we’ve seen little movement from Metro Nashville to pitch in directly, these kinds of fundraising campaigns will likely be a bit more common over the next six months to a year. These smaller venues around town are crucial to what makes Nashville great. You may be planning on attending shows in person soon (The 5 Spot itself is eyeing mid-June to give it a go!) but there’s no harm in giving a little boost to these well-deserving spots. If you can afford it, go back them.