In 2024, we bid farewell to The B-Side at One Lucky Guitar.
For around 15 years, part of One Lucky Guitar’s workspace at 1301 Lafayette included a large room that embodied the very definition of “multi-purpose.”
While this space’s main use was for large meetings, presentations and workshops, along with occasional photo- and video-shoots, its adaptive nature (and impossible-to-replicate vibe)—combined with some spirited programming—made it one of the most unique performance spaces in the region.
Over a ten-year window during our tenancy, we were able to host 100+ concerts, readings, performances and listening sessions. For those events, our venue-within-an-office took on another name: The B-Side at One Lucky Guitar.
The name was a nod to our musical roots, and the history of 45 RPM vinyl records—where the radio single (“the main thing”) was on the A-Side, and a non-album bonus track (“the other thing”) was happening on the B-Side.
As a venue, The B-Side’s currency was intimacy—our capacity was just a few dozen patrons. And, we weren’t a bar; the art never had to compete with the noise of drinks being ordered or made, or the distracting visuals of an early-in-the-season NBA game on a corner TV, or the sounds of anyone talking over the performance.
(We also weren’t profit-driven. The ticketing fees for every event we ever hosted went entirely to the performer, and OLG subsidized any difference between sales and guarantee.)
In our imperial phase, we hosted 12, 15 shows a year.
Things ground to a halt in the spring of 2020. Turns out, when a cozy, quiet space is your legal tender, a global pandemic that advises against spending time in close-quarters (ie, a cozy, quiet space) with anyone beyond your innermost circle means you take a break from hosting concerts and inviting the public.
And while we’ve presented a handful of shows these last couple years, we just never returned to full stride. Frankly, Fort Wayne’s entertainment and venue options have changed, as have our lives.
So, too, has our business.
I often reflect on an interview with LeBron James, when he left the Miami Heat after the 2014 season to return to Cleveland. When asked about his biggest takeaway from his championship-winning time with Pat Riley (the Heat’s team president), LeBron said, “Pat taught me that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” (It works; LeBron has gone on to win two more championships—so far.)
And indeed, The B-Side’s main thing—to host meetings, presentations and workshops, along with the occasional photo- and video-shoot—has evolved, and is less necessary to our business today.
In the time since we first rented that space, we also expanded our footprint on the east end of our office, and have recently renovated the part of our workspace where the main thing happens.
And so, today, we let The B-Side go.
While it’s tempting to view this decision as a sad one, we make it without regret or remorse. Those 100+ events we hosted moved the artists who performed, moved each of us in the room to experience it all, and, we believe, moved this community forward.
