NEWS
New Club Majestic on tap
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Also by Courtney Johnson:
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- Woods ahead in fundraising race (March 28, 2007)
- E-mail sparks privacy concern (October 9, 2007)
- Big Ten Network reaches deal with UW housing (August 31, 2007)
- City agency to run Halloween entertainment (May 10, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Majestic Theatre reopens this week (September 24, 2007)
- Young music investors buy Majestic nightclub (March 2, 2007)
- City allows new bars to drink up (April 19, 2007)
- New Majestic gets input (April 17, 2007)
- Curtain falls on struggling Majestic Theatre (August 30, 2002)
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by Courtney Johnson
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
The new owners of King Street's Club Majestic applied for a liquor license Monday evening, putting them one step closer to their goal of turning the infamous club into a live music venue.
Matt Gerding and Scott Leslie, who also own the Café Continental, held a question-and-answer session at the Majestic Tuesday, where residents and media could come and pose questions about their project and liquor license application.
The new owners, who say they particularly like the building's historical significance, plan to renovate the more than 100-year-old club and return it to its original appearance. When renovations finish, the club will be a live music venue, primarily featuring rock, folk-rock and acoustic acts.
"Ideally, we always, I think, wanted to run a concert venue with a kind of theater-style setup," Gerding said. "We love the classic theater vibe of this place — it's obviously got a lot of history."
Gerding and Leslie did express concerns that the stigma associated with the club may prevent them from being granted a liquor license.
The Majestic was a source of controversy last year after a series of violent assaults occurred outside the club.
"We know that it's a sensitive building, and we know that the liquor density issue is a sensitive issue," Gerding said. "I think that once we get off the ground, when they see the programming is a complete 180 from where it used to be … that will help sort of change the community perception of it."
Gerding also said the name of the venue will be changed from Club Majestic to The Majestic Theater, which might relieve some of the negative associations residents have with the space.
Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, whose district includes Club Majestic, said he is hopeful Gerding and Leslie will get their liquor license.
"I certainly don't think that anything should be held against them because of the problems that occurred at the Majestic last year," Verveer said.
Verveer said he has met with the new owners several times, as have Alcohol Policy Coordinator Joel Plant and members of the Madison Police Department, including Central District Police Captain Mary Schauf.
"They've been bending over backwards to do everything they can to try to address the concerns that are out there regarding the Majestic," Verveer said. "And they have certainly convinced me through our several conversations that we have nothing to worry about."
The owners have presented city officials with a safety plan for the club, which includes security measures such as using an ID scanner, installing security cameras and sending updates to the MPD on the status of their safety measures. The owners also plan to have one security guard for every 50 patrons.
Gerding said the venue would never be open just to serve alcohol — the club will only be open if there is some sort of event taking place.
However, the venue will not only host concerts.
"There is going to be some alternative programming types of events," Gerding said. "We want to do a weekly film series, we will have a jazz or blues or art gallery night from time to time."
While both owners are from the Midwest, they are new to the Madison area. The two met in Los Angeles, while working in the music industry — Gerding as a booking agent for the Creative Artists Agency and Leslie as a touring musician.
As a musician, Leslie said he sees a lot of potential in the club.
"Short of building our own venue from scratch, this has the ability to be very artist-friendly and to have a lot of nice amenities for the artists," Leslie said. "So for our goal, it was perfect, which was not to run a bar with live music, but to run a real venue."
The owners said they believe there is a void in Madison for a medium-sized venue, and that many acts pass over this city because they are too large for a small venue and too small for a large venue such as the Kohl Center.
Verveer said he is excited about the prospect of this new venue, especially that the owners are planning on having as many all-ages shows as possible.
"It really could end up being a very cool venue for those that are under 21 and don't have a good fake," Verveer said.
Gerding also said he and Leslie plan to close the Majestic May 19 to do renovations during the summer. They hope to reopen in September, in time for when students return to Madison.
The new owners' meeting with the Alcohol License Review Committee will take place April 18.
Correction: Due to a reporting error, this article should not have said that Matt Gerding and Scott Leslie also own Café Continental. They bought the Club Majestic from the Schiavo family, which owns Café Continental. We regret the error.
Anonymous (March 23, 2007 @ 9:22am):
Gerding and Leslie are good peeps. They will turn the Majestic into something Madison can be proud of. I was hoping that Gerding would stay in KC and revitalize the music scene here, but he chose Madison because he loved the vibe of the city and the people. He knows that there are plenty of music lovers who crave new music. Congrats Madison you have a winner in the Majestic Theater and Gerding and Leslie will not let you down.
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