New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Live indoor music making its return to Cafe Nine
NEW HAVEN — It’s been a long wait, but live music is returning to downtown New Haven’s roots music venue, Cafe Nine, which will start presenting indoor shows — with some restrictions — for the first time in nearly 13 months when Buzz Gordo takes the stage April 9.
Just don’t tell anyone. Owner Paul Mayer said he is looking to start slowly to increase the likelihood that everything will go smoothly.
“They gave the go-ahead for this” but “it’s still not
going to be easy,” Mayer said. “It’s been a long time since we could even attempt to do this.”
Meanwhile, “People are dying to see some shows,” he said. “It should be a good thing.
“Everybody, get your shots, wear your masks” until you are told otherwise “and everybody will move forward,” Mayer said.
It will turn the lights back on on the indoor stage April 9 with the show from 5-7 p.m. by Buzz Gordo, aka Gary Mezzi, of Bronson Rock, Mayer’s former bandmate in the Big Bad Johns and Gone Native
(and former partner in the bar).
The following days and weeks will feature a number of familiar Cafe Nine acts — all solos and duos, to start — including jazz guitarist Michael Coppola on April 10.
The club will present music three days per week to start, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Mayer said. He said he tentatively plans to resume full band shows in July, with a number of shows already booked.
As Cafe Nine, one of Greater New Haven’s most consistent music venues, eases back into things, shows will be limited to 34 people indoors and another dozen or so outdoors, with artists performing from the rear of the stage to ensure proper social distancing, Mayer said.
“The seating is really very limited and people have to eat,” Mayer said. Food will be provided on Fridays and Saturdays by Firehouse 12 and on Sundays by a food truck that will be parked nearby, said Mayer, who has worked hard to keep Cafe Nine at the ready over the past year without any regular money coming in.
“We’re optimistic that things are going to go smoothly and we’re going to see how it goes,” he said. At least to start, “I want it to be very low-key. I don’t want a ton of people here.”
Cafe Nine will be running lean initially, with minimal staff — and Mayer doing sound himself for some of the shows. As things wind back up, the initial acts will be playing for tips, he said.
To help ensure people’s health and safety, “we’ll probably have the doors open” and Cafe Nine has
“two medical air purifiers going,” Mayer said.
He said he’s grateful for all the support people have shown for the club through the pandemic, both in contributing to the GoFundMe collection to help support Cafe Nine’s laid-off staff and in other ways.
“I can’t tell you how supportive everybody has been to me,” Mayer said.
Prior to resumption of the live, in-person shows, Cafe Nine will feature a Sunday Buzz Virtual Tribute to James Velvet this Sunday, March 28, from 4 to 5 p.m. The show, streaming from the Cafe Nine Facebook page, will celebrate 34 years of The Local Bands Show, which the late Velvet once co-hosted.
It will feature The Birdmen (Velvet’s old band,) Calvin DeCutlass, Shellye & Dean and Shandy Lawson.
The show will be hosted by musician Frank Critelli, who replaced Velvet as co-host with Rick Allison of the Local Bands Show on WPLR and Cygnus Radio. Critelli also booked Cafe Nine’s initial slate of entertainment, sometimes works at Cafe Nine as a bartender and will be playing there as part of The Bargain on April 16.