The Boardwalk is an all-ages live-music club at 9426 Greenback Lane in Orangevale, in the Sacramento suburbs, that opened in 1987 and has hosted national touring acts and local bands across many genres since the late 1980s.[1][2][3] Located roughly 20 to 30 minutes outside downtown Sacramento, it is described as a "legendary" and "iconic" all-ages club and a staple of the regional scene.[1][3]
At a glance
- Address: 9426 Greenback Lane, Orangevale, CA 95662.[4][1][5]
- Opened in 1987; celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017.[1][3]
- All-ages format hosting both national touring acts and local bands.[1][3]
- Original owner: Mark Earl, who resumed booking the room in 2017.[3]
- Operated and booked by Eric Rushing and Bret Bair (of Ace of Spades and Goldfield) from late 2014 to 2016/2017.[1][3]
- Genres ranged from punk, hardcore and metal CD-release shows to blues/hip-hop bills, indie-folk and hip-hop.[6][4][7][8][1]
- Closed January 2022 after 35 years; reopened October 2022 under new owners as a hybrid eatery and live-music venue.[9][10][11][12]
History and ownership
The Boardwalk opened in 1987 and has, since the late 1980s, hosted "some of the biggest names in the industry as well as countless locals."[1][3] It is consistently characterized as a legendary, iconic all-ages club on Greenback Lane in Orangevale.[1][3]
Promoter Eric Rushing has a long history with the venue: he steadily promoted shows there for roughly a decade (sources give 2001–2011, and elsewhere "around 2000–2010") before opening the downtown venue Ace of Spades and, later, Assembly.[1][3] In December 2014, Submerge reported that Rushing and his partner Bret Bair — founders of the downtown venues Ace of Spades and Goldfield — were set to take over The Boardwalk, seeking a smaller-capacity room to complement the larger Ace of Spades after vacating Assembly.[1] Rushing framed the move as a "no-brainer" given his history there and described continuing the same booking format used at Ace: a mix of national and local acts.[1]
In November 2016, Submerge reported that major changes were coming in early 2017: the venue would close in January and February for a remodel and reopen in March to mark its 30th anniversary as a primarily 21-and-over room, operated and booked by original owner Mark Earl.[3] Rushing and Bair stepped away to focus on their other ventures and were reported to be looking for a new downtown spot; the pair subsequently announced a separate all-ages venue, "Holy Dive Bar," intended to be comparable in size to The Boardwalk and located in the suburbs.[3][13] Despite the 2017 transition, the venue continued to be referenced as an all-ages show site through at least 2017–2018, with shows promoted via Boardwalkrocks.com.[14][15]
Closure (2022) and reopening under new ownership
According to the venue's official history, founder and original owner Mark Earl — who had established The Boardwalk in 1987 — died in November 2020; that loss, combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, led to the venue's permanent closure in January 2022.[9] CBS Sacramento reported that the club closed in January 2022 after 35 years of hosting bands.[10] (CBS elsewhere described Earl as a "part-owner" who died in 2021, a minor discrepancy with the official account.)
After the closure, Derek Clark and Sara Green, owners of Orangevale's Palm Tree Brewing Company, purchased the Boardwalk property and acquired the intellectual rights to the venue's name.[11][9] The new operators spent months revamping the building and installing state-of-the-art sound and lighting systems before relaunching it.[9][11] The venue reopened in October 2022 as a hybrid eatery and live-music venue: per CBS Sacramento, live performances run Thursday through Saturday nights, with a ribbon-cutting scheduled for October 13, 2022.[11][16] During daytime hours, the reopened space operates as "Palm Tree at the Boardwalk," a Polynesian/American food joint.[11][12] One of the first shows of the new era was The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, scheduled for October 14, 2022.[11][17]
Under the new ownership, the venue donates all door profits from concerts to local and regional non-profits, with a stated focus on helping families, veterans, and pets at risk.[9][18] Named beneficiaries of its charitable giving include the Make A Wish Foundation, the Orangevale–Fair Oaks Food Bank, and the Save the American River Association.[9][18]
Role in the scene
The Boardwalk functioned as a key proving ground for Sacramento-area bands and a regular tour stop for national acts. Local punk band Another Damn Disappointment (A.D.D.) played its first show there and, in its first year, performed there roughly once a month and "packed it in," which is how the band built its reputation with promoters.[6] The venue regularly hosted CD-release and farewell shows for local and regional metal and hardcore acts, including Havenside's 2012 release show for Nemesis, Deadlands' 2013 release party for Evilution, Graveshadow's 2015 release show for Nocturnal Resurrection, and Conducting from the Grave's 2016 farewell show.[7][8][19][2]
The room's programming has historically centered on metal and rock acts, with some hip-hop, and per the community-edited LocalWiki it is the default Sacramento-area stop for touring bigger-name metal bands; the same source notes that Sacramento radio station 105.3 has sometimes hosted shows there.[20][21]
Programming spanned many genres. The room hosted indie-folk (A Fine Frenzy, 2009), acoustic roots/punk-adjacent sets (Chris Shiflett of Foo Fighters with Tony Sly, 2010), metalcore (Alesana, two nights in 2010), a combined blues-and-hip-hop benefit bill ("Backyard Blues and Hip-hop Review," 2012), post-hardcore (mewithoutYou, 2015; Sianvar, 2016), death-grind (Cattle Decapitation, 2015), Irish punk (ONOFF, 2017), and hip-hop (OMB Peezy, 2018).[22][23][24][4][25][26][27][28][14]
Submerge coverage shows the room's reach extended back to at least 2008, when Mukilteo, Washington progressive-rock trio The Fall of Troy stopped there on Dec. 10, 2008 during a West Coast tour for Phantom on the Horizon.[29] The Fall of Troy returned for an October 2009 show alongside post-hardcore band Thursday and The Dear Hunter.[30] Other documented appearances include reuniting local screamo band Mozart Season with Dance Gavin Dance and Consider the Thief in January 2009,[31] solo singer Jonny Craig (ex-Dance Gavin Dance) in December 2009,[32] Sacramento punk veterans The Secretions for a record-release show in July 2009,[33] Sacramento pop-punk band Not Your Style's In Season CD-release show in February 2011,[34] and Lodi progressive-rock band In Oceans.[35] The Boardwalk also recurred in regional event roundups as a no-cover New Year's Eve metal-show destination ("Sac of Stars," 2014).[36]
When Rushing took over in 2014, he stated he was looking for "talented bands that actually get a crowd," emphasizing that local acts needed to do the promotional work and build a following to earn a gig.[1] He also tied the venue to a broader concern about Sacramento venue closures, saying the local scene needed rebuilding and that The Boardwalk would give local bands "their shot."[1]
Connected operators and ventures
The Boardwalk is part of a cluster of Sacramento music-business ventures associated with Eric Rushing, who Submerge described as also being behind Artery Foundation Artist Management, Artery Recordings, Ace of Spades, Goldfield, and the Gold Standard Sounds recording studio.[28][3] In 2016, Submerge noted Rushing's companies represented national acts (Alesana, Chelsea Grin, Attila, Vanna, Anvil) and local/regional bands (Will Haven, Hoods, Hail the Sun, Horseneck, Graveshadow), with touring artists routed through the venues he owned, including The Boardwalk.[28]
Notable shows (selected, as documented in Submerge)
- A Fine Frenzy (Los Angeles indie-folk), Nov. 13, 2009.[22]
- Chris Shiflett (Foo Fighters) and Tony Sly, Feb. 9, 2010.[23]
- Alesana (metalcore), two nights, March 5–6, 2010.[24]
- "Backyard Blues and Hip-hop Review," a James Allen Productions benefit for Sounds of Heaven, Jan. 7, 2012.[4]
- Havenside Nemesis CD-release show, April 27, 2012, with Hoods, Hammerfist and others.[7]
- Deadlands Evilution CD-release party, March 16, 2013.[8]
- mewithoutYou (Philadelphia post-hardcore), June 24, 2015, with Foxing and Lithuania.[25]
- Cattle Decapitation (San Diego death-grind), Sept. 15, 2015.[26]
- Graveshadow Nocturnal Resurrection CD-release show, Dec. 20, 2015.[2]
- Conducting from the Grave farewell show, Jan. 23, 2016.[19]
- Sianvar (post-hardcore supergroup) Stay Lost release, Aug. 5, 2016.[27]
- ONOFF (Irish punk), Sept. 15, 2017.[14]
- OMB Peezy (rapper), Jan. 5, 2018.[15]
- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Oct. 14, 2022 (one of the first shows of the reopened venue).[11][17]