Hat Factory Under New Management, Gets Act Together (Hopefully)
October 31, 2011
Ever since Toad’s Place closed and Hat Factory opened in its place, I’ve had trouble pinning down how I feel about this venue. It’s like they can’t decide whether they should be a live music venue or a club. Being one or the other (or even both) is perfectly fine, but you could never tell who they were trying to target. Was it the 18+ college crowd? The West Enders? The spillover from Current and Off the Hookah? Every time I was ever there, the crowd was always a weird mix.
It always seemed like shows were hastily put together or canceled without notice, making it very hard to figure out when things were happening. Case in point, there is a free show on Friday Nov. 4 featuring synthpop band Gentlemen Hall, post punk/indie band Dead Fame and a new RVA art/party band called Whoa! – nowhere to be found on Hat Factory’s website schedule, just on a Facebook invite.
Last week, Hat Factory announced on its Facebook page that the venue is now under new management and things will be changing. Roundup country night will be a monthly event instead of weekly, Friday nights will focus on live music and Wednesday will be college dance night. They are apparently looking into booking live shows but as of now, nothing has been set, however Hatebreed and All That Remains, two of the few shows planned have both been moved to Kingdom.
I really hope that Hat Factory gets its game together. Right now, it seems to be wasting so much of its potential. Bring the venue back to the standing it should be. Huge acts like Guster, Rooney, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Wu-Tang Clan and Hanson have all graced Hat Factory’s stage and Richmond wants to see that kind of caliber again. RVAlution and Brain Drain seem to be pulling in the crowds and that’s great. Keep that going too. No reason we can’t have both.
But above all else, I just hope they can keep up a simple schedule of their shows. I hate missing a good show because of bad publicity.
