Entertainment venues in shake-up

A Club isn’t what it used to be.

At the end of December the downtown music venue closed its doors suddenly, leaving an uncertain fate to shows booked there as far out as May.

Quinn Tanzer, the former talent buyer for the 300-capacity concert house, said he is taking his booking and promoting operations to the Northwest Event Center, 6425 N. Lidgerwood St.

“They shut their doors last week and they are supposed to reopen next week as a dance club called 412. That’s what I was told by management,” said Tanzer, who runs Oly Rose Concerts.

Located at 416 W. Sprague Ave., A Club was a regular stop for touring bands of any and every genre. It catered to a variety of audiences, booking up-and-coming punk and indie acts alongside veteran performers such as Robert Wynia (of Floater) and James McMurtry. Aside from the Oly Rose shows, it was also a recurring location for all-ages metal shows put on by the likes of Monumental Booking. The Knitting Factory routinely farmed out more obscure shows and co-sponsored events at A Club.

Tanzer said he will continue to do a wide variety of shows at the 500-capacity Northwest Event Center. He is also working on rebranding it The Center.

“I’m going for a family-friendly Hard Rock Cafe vibe. The place has a nice layout, so we can have all ages all downstairs and nobody has to walk your drinks to you like we did at A Club,” Tanzer said.

Upcoming shows transplanted from A Club to The Center include The Portland Cello Project on Jan. 27, California rock band Dada on Jan. 28 and Las Vegas one-man-experimental band That 1 Guy on May 1.

“I’m still going to be the same person,” Tanzer said, “open to every single kind of music. We have everything at The Center, from hard rock to renting the venue out for weddings and private parties.”

A Club’s operations manager, David Lewis, did not return calls on Friday.