We just wrapped up an incredible weekend at the 443, and as we say goodbye to February I’m compelled to pause and reflect on the remarkable month we’ve had.
We started off 2022 full of uncertainty.
With COVID cases being so high in our area, we were closed most of January – we only ended up doing three shows all month. I tried to focus on booking from February on out and keep the faith that things would start looking up soon. I knew we had an excellent calendar, but I had no idea if we would be dealing with another COVID curveball that would shut it all down again.
After opening and closing so many times in the last 2 years, I didn’t think anything could surprise me…except what actually did happen.
We gave out a record SEVEN 443 Golden Mic Award trophies in February. Vanessa Collier and Mike Powell each got two and Jocelyn & Chris, Yarn, and CNY legend Ronnie Leigh all received one.
Seven sold-out shows in one month? In February???
CRAZY…but that’s not all.
We beat our all-time high bar/food sales record on February 11 for Jocelyn & Chris, then broke it again on February 26 for Mike Powell and shattered it AGAIN on February 27 with Yarn.
On a cold winter Sunday evening in Syracuse.
I’m in absolute awe of what’s happening at our little live music venue.
I’ve had a few people tell me we would do more business if we dropped our “vaxxed only” policy. But here’s the plot twist – that policy has been a huge selling point for our shows. As it turns out, our crowd is happy to come out and see live music… as long as they aren’t sitting shoulder to shoulder with the unvaccinated masses. I personally believe that everyone should be doing their part to get us to the other side of the pandemic, so I’m relieved I didn’t have to make a choice between keeping our business open and doing what I truly think is the right thing. It’s important to me to do everything I can to keep our industry healthy and working.
None of this would be possible without our rock-star crew. At a time when the hospitality industry is struggling to find people to work, we’re blessed to have an enthusiastic team that is fully invested in our mission. These awesome, hard-working humans bust their asses every single time they walk through our door. They treat our guests like family and our business like it’s their own and I can’t even express how grateful I am to them. We’re currently training a new group of recruits to help us manage our growth spurt.
Our tribe of music lovers is continuing to grow. Our crowd has been so supportive of everything we’ve done and they have hung in there through every twist and turn of the last couple of years. If there is one lesson I’ve learned since opening the 443, it’s that you shouldn’t be afraid to cultivate the audience that truly gets what you’re doing. You don’t have to be all things to all people.
I’m not naive enough to think we’re home free. It feels like we may have turned a corner, but I’m still concerned about selling enough tickets for our March shows. I’m still trying to figure out how to deal with ticket holders not showing up. I’m still worried about the summer season when we compete with festivals, outdoor shows, and CNY-ers soaking up every minute of our brief season of warm weather. And I’m more than a little concerned about what’s happening with the building across the street.
So we will keep on keeping on.
But today… today we celebrated.
We toasted our loyal tribe of customers and friends, our incredible crew, and the pure magic of live music.
CHEERS!
