Music is returning in a big way to the former Tralf Music Hall.
A new entertainment venue, to be called Electric City, will open Feb. 23 in the fully renovated former music hall space, with 12 shows already announced and many more to follow.
SaveLive, the new owner, formed in 2020 to bring independently promoted shows to secondary and tertiary markets such as Buffalo.
The company works with a dozen booking agents around the country, including Buffalo promoter David Taylor, and will help book other upstate and Western New York venues, including Artpark, UB Center for the Arts, Shea’s Performing Arts Center and the Kodak Theatre in Rochester.
The Tralf will reopen in September, with plans to present shows there through March of 2022, when it will close temporarily for expansion and remodeling.
“We have access to acts that typically would drive right through Buffalo to go from Boston to Toronto or Detroit,” Taylor told The Buffalo News. “We’re a pass through, and now we intend to be a stop for them.
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“I think it’s going to be one of the best concert venues, if not the best of its size, in the Northeast,” said Taylor, a longtime concert promoter who in August 2021 brought “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” to the Eastern Hills Mall, drawing more than 130,000 people during its six-month run.
Electric City’s name is a nod to Buffalo’s role in the early use of hydroelectricity and for the excitement its leaders hope to bring to downtown.
“The venue is going to be electrifying,” Taylor said.
The reimagining of the Tralf space, along with state-of-the-art equipment, will make the Electric City a premiere live venue, he said.
“It’s brand new and so everything is going to be modern and up to date,” Taylor said. “The sightlines are perfect, the sound is going to be incredible, and the location – we’re in the same building essentially as Shea’s and we’re part of the Theatre District.
“I just think artists are going to absolutely fall in love with the venue,” he said.
A slate of opening concerts being announced Tuesday includes DJ James Kennedy on Feb. 23, Meshell Ndegeocello on March 12, Hippie Sabotage on April 17, Living Colour on May 16, and Echo & the Bunnymen on May 22.
Also being announced are Sammy Rae and the Friends on March 10, Kitchen Dwellers on April 3, Yachtley Crew on April 11, Larry Fleet on April 13, Dying Fetus on May 5, the Chats on May 7 and Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes on May 18.
“There are many other shows that are confirmed, and will be announced in the new year,” Taylor said.
Presale begins Thursday to newsletter subscribers and on Friday to the general public. To become a subscriber, go to electriccity.com.
The Tralf opened in 1982 at 622 Main St, next to Shea’s Performing Arts Center. It closed for good last year.
The new entrance for Electric City, where the box office, a bar and coat check will be located before patrons take stairs or an elevator to the venue’s second floor, will be 433 Pearl St.
Electric City may look unrecognizable to those familiar with how the Tralf was set up. The kitchen is gone and the stage is now at the back of the room. The venue’s three tiers will include a mezzanine level for an added VIP experience.
Capacity will be 750, which could still rise, an official said, more than the Tralf’s 450 limit. There will be chairs and tables for seating events and standing-only for some general admission shows.
“Doing something in Buffalo has been in the planning stage for years,” Taylor said.
SaveLive was co-founded by Marc Geiger, former global leader of the William Morris Endeavor Music Division from 2003 until 2020, and co-founder of Lollapalooza. The company includes a number of former LiveNation executives.
The company’s model, according to SaveLive’s website, is “to bring scalable services and advantages to independent venue owners and secondary markets.”
The company, with a pot of money secured from four venture capital funds, began by seeking to acquire 51% ownership of financially hard-pressed independent music venues after the pandemic began, which some lauded as a way to keep them afloat and others saw as taking advantage of their situations, according to Variety.
That’s not what’s happening in Buffalo.
This is SaveLive’s first venue redone from the ground up, with construction expected to be completed next month, said Michelle Riggi, Electric City’s marketing manager.
Comedy, podcasts, Latin acts, electronica and private rentals for weddings and other events will also be part of the programming mix, Riggi said.
Rep. Brian Higgins, incoming president and CEO of Shea’s Performing Arts Center, recently said revitalizing the Theatre District will be one of his top priorities. Marc Violino, Electric City’s general manager, was most recently director of customer experience at Artpark. He said he’s excited for Electric City to be part of the district.
“There are great venues here already,” Violino said, “and we’re just happy to be one of the new teams joining the block.”