Witch Room was a short-lived Midtown Sacramento live music venue at 1815 19th Street, occupying the former Bows and Arrows space, that operated for roughly ten months in 2014.[1][2] It featured local, national and international bands on a new in-house stage and quickly became a favored room in the local scene before closing at the end of December 2014.[1][2] The full street address was 1815 19th Street, Sacramento, CA 95811, and the entrance was tucked in the alley across from the Safeway at S and 19th streets.[3][4] According to the Sacramento News & Review, the room held approximately 150 people.[4]
At a glance
- Located at 1815 19th Street, Sacramento, CA 95811 — the ex-Bows and Arrows space.[1][3]
- Entrance in the alley across from the Safeway at S and 19th streets.[4]
- Capacity of roughly 150.[4]
- Opened with its first show on March 25, 2014.[5][1]
- Co-founded by Olivia Coelho with Liz Liles, Liz Mahoney and Mark Kaiser.[1]
- Shows were typically 18-and-over (some all-ages); venue open only on event nights, with beer/wine and bar food.[1]
- Closed end of December 2014 after about a 10-month run.[2]
- Sent off with the two-day, all-local, free "Sac Go Home Fest," Dec. 27–28, 2014.[2]
Founding and origins
Witch Room grew out of the closure of Bows and Arrows. After Bows and Arrows closed, one of its co-founders, Trisha Rhomberg, planned to reopen Bows and Arrows in a new location along the R Street corridor, while the other co-founder, Olivia Coelho, partnered with friends to open a new entertainment venue in the original 19th Street space.[1]
Coelho described the plan as unpremeditated and fast-moving, saying it came together after she ran into Liz Liles at a house party in Davis.[1] Her co-founders brought deep scene experience: Liz Liles played in the band G. Green, Liz Mahoney played in Screature, and Mark Kaiser was a musician and founder of the record labels Omnibus and Mt. St. Mtn.[1] Beyond his label work, Kaiser had also played in the band Mayyors.[3][6] The founders, with help from family, built a new stage, painted and rearranged the space to give it a new identity.[1]
Layout, format and crew
Witch Room operated only on event nights, offered a selection of beer, wine and bar food, and ran most shows as 18-and-over, though some bills were all-ages.[1][7] Submerge described it as a strong place to see live music, citing its great sound, a "legit stage," good beer and booths to sit in.[8] The interior matched the venue's name: walls were painted plum and black, seating was dark leather and wood booths, and the room was lit with gel-tinted overhead lights and candelabras.[4] A pie-slice-shaped stage sat in the southwest corner, backed by hung red-velvet curtains.[4] The space also included a green room for bands and a photo booth.[4] Sound was handled by Drew Walker, described as the venue's "beloved sound guy" and himself a local musician (projects DoofyDoo and Gentleman Surfer).[1][2][9]
Programming and role in the scene
The venue presented a mix of local, national and international acts.[1] By opening week it already had multiple shows booked, and Submerge attended two shows during opening week.[1][8] Beyond indie rock, its bookings spanned a wide range of genres including rap, noise, death metal, bluegrass, deejays, comedy and burlesque.[10] Documented bills across 2014 included:
- Opening night, March 25, 2014: Darling Chemicalia, Wax Idols, Wreck and Reference, So Stressed and Hollow Sunshine.[5]
- April 19, 2014: Le Kelton's album release for Saint, with Ghetto Ghouls and Baus.[11]
- June 7, 2014: Los Angeles garage band Wounded Lion (touring).[12]
- June 26, 2014: Louisville, Kentucky's White Reaper with Young Widows — White Reaper's first West Coast trek.[7]
- August 14, 2014: Folsom-rooted band Brown Shoe with Daniel and the Lion (all-ages).[13]
- August 30, 2014: G. Green's release show for Area Codes, with Rat Columns and Violent Change.[6]
- September 20, 2014: Exquisite Corps' release show for their sophomore album Vignettes (with full string section for the night).[14]
- October 4–5, 2014: Days two and three of NorCal NoiseFest, the experimental/noise festival that began in 1995 (day one was at Luna's Cafe).[15]
- November 18, 2014: Wild Ones with Radiation City.[16]
Beyond the bills Submerge covered directly, touring acts that came through Witch Room during its run included Tera Melos, Two Sheds, King Tuff and Shannon and the Clams.[10] Concert-tracking service Songkick documents 58 past events at the venue.[16]
The venue thus functioned as a hub for the local indie, punk, garage and experimental communities while also hosting touring acts, several of whom used it as a release-show or West Coast-debut stage.[11][7][6][14]
Closure and "Sac Go Home Fest"
Witch Room announced it would close at the end of December 2014, making it (by Submerge's count) the fourth Sacramento venue to shut down within a year, following Luigi's Slice and Fungarden, Marilyn's on K, and Assembly Music Hall.[2] Co-founder Olivia Coelho said the venue could not sustain enough revenue to cover expenses and adequately compensate its founders, and that they had wanted to give it "a good 10-month shot."[2] She added that the founders expected to maintain their interest in the city's cultural life.[2]
Submerge reported that Eric Rushing and Bret Bair, owners of Ace of Spades and Goldfield, were rumored to have considered purchasing Witch Room to keep it a live music venue, but Rushing said they "walked away from the deal."[2]
The venue closed with "Sac Go Home Fest," a two-day, free, all-local music event on December 27–28, 2014, organized by sound guy Drew Walker, featuring 20-plus local bands including Pregnant, Lite Brite, PETS, Removed, Cove, Honyock, Musical Charis, Fine Steps, Appetite, Dad?, Dog Party, The Kelps, Squidz, Instagon and Walker's own project DoofyDoo.[2] In March 2015 Walker released a free live compilation album recorded during the fest, collecting 20 live tracks from the locally tied bands as a memorial document of the venue.[9]