Some things are just too damn good to be true. In a nutshell, that’s the story of the Golden State Theatre—at least over the past couple years.
The venue has featured the likes of Patti Smith, Band of Horses, How to Destroy Angels (Trent Reznor), John Prine, Bob Weir, B.B. King and Yes over the past year—future acts on tap include Iris DeMent on June 27, Spyro Gyra on June 28, Weird Al Yankovic on July 10 and 11, John Hiatt on Sept. 9 and AdamAnt on Sept. 18.
And while it's likely some of those larger shows coming down the pike will continue as planned, it’s looking grim for the historic theater and the debt that’s been accumulating at an exponential rate for some time now.
Manager and booker Scott Grover revealed theater owner Warren Dewey evicted him from the space on June 4, and bookers around the state are scrambling to find new venues for some of those acts. Dewey has had the building up for sale for some time now, first at $8 million and now at just under $5 million. Grover says he's trying to put together a group to buy the building, but he's also facing a number of financial and legal hurdles.
Matt Hable (Gus Madsack Presents)—who’s brought Soft White Sixties, The Growlers and Jeffrey Lewis—is frantically trying to relocate shows scheduled for the Lobby: So far, he’s moved The Donkeys and The Silhouette Era to Jose’s Underground Lounge 8pm, June 13 ($10) and the Dani Paige Band to at CRBC 9:30, June 8 (no cover). Also Ty Segall and Mike Donovan have been moved to Fernwood on Aug. 4 and William Tyler to the deck at the Henry Miller Library (100-person capacity) on a date yet to be announced.
Monterey native George Edwards, of Delicate Productions—a full-service, San Francisco-based production company that has handled the likes of the Foo Fighters, Cher and most recently produced the massive Bottle Rock Festival in Napa—remembers with fondness watching movies at the Golden State Theatre as a kid. It's why he was more than happy to consult with Grover on bringing the venue back up to show-ready standards when he was approached.
Edwards, who’s behind the upcoming Americana Fest at the Fairgrounds and has been in the biz for 30 years, brought in structural engineers and acoustic experts and found that the theater wasn’t initially safe for hanging sound equipment. The power also had challenges that needed to be addressed. Grover had everything fixed and under Edwards’ guidance, the historic venue was brought back to where it should be as far as electricity and the ceiling’s structural support.
“I won’t sell them or rent equipment to anyone till I know it’s safe,” Edwards says. “Safety first, then bitchin rock shows.”
Edwards was hired by Grover to consult for the first few shows at GST and the former owner of Alt Café seemed to already be in over his head.
“[Grover] wasn’t aware of all the expenses when he jumped in, he just took into account what the acts needed to be paid,” Edwards says. “It’s a little different than bringing music to a café. Scott has a genuine passion but he’s a bit naïve. I tried to give him all the tools to put shows together and bring in the acts. The money you make at the door has to pay the bills. You cannot rely on food and beverage if there isn’t a full house.”
When asked about what Grover owes Edwards, he doesn’t want to get too much into specifics.
“I was thinking legal action until a couple weeks ago because [Grover] wasn’t returning calls,” Edwards says. “I called him Monday and he genuinely said he had a plan to clean up everything.”
Edwards felt Grover was sincere so he gave him 30 days to come up with a plan while continuing to be supportive of him.
“I have a passion for the [GST] and I want to pay it forward,” Edwards says. “But after 30 days, if Scott hasn’t cleaned up his mess, I go legal. I think the man needs the opportunity to prove to the community that he was ignorant and not evil. I want him to succeed but I have 60 employees I have to pay. Either [Grover] is going to come clean and do the right thing or not.”
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