Great Peacock has solid ties with Birmingham, Alabama. Front man Andrew Nelson grew up in the area and guitarist Blount Floyd is also an Alabama native. They have plenty of friends and family around to make a party of any appearance in the Magic City. The band opened for The Wild Feathers, another band with a loyal Birmingham following, on Friday the 13th at Avondale Brewing Co., a popular outdoor music venue and brewpub just east of downtown. A few hundred fans showed up to help Great Peacock celebrate the release of their new record Forever Worse Better and the band treated the socially distanced crowd to several of the new songs in a solid set. But something just wasn’t quite right. I couldn’t help thinking that the show would have been a REAL party across the street at Saturn, the temporarily shuttered venue that is widely revered by artists across the country for its fabulous green room facilities and loved by fans for its consistently fantastic lineup.

Birmingham has long been a popular stop for touring musicians because of its great location near enough but also far enough away from Atlanta, Nashville, and New Orleans, the city’s history of successful promoters, and also for its amazing selection of venues. It all starts at The Nick (“Birmingham’s Dirty Little Secret”), one of America’s greatest dive bars hosting live music seven nights a week. A long list of some big names got their earliest gigs at The Nick which opened in 1984. You can pack 250 people into the tiny space that used to be a convenience store. But for now the club is only hosting shows on a tiny outdoor stage with a limited attendance of 75. Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers recently did a benefit show to help with the expenses. Owner Pam Stallings says, “Cooley was great. We are struggling, but keeping our heads up. All of The Nick team has been great and stood behind us. They have really stepped up beyond my wildest dreams. We have no definite date of doing live shows inside right now. [Club talent booker] Dan [Nolen] and I address it regularly but we don’t feel it’s time yet. This is by far the most difficult time in the history of The Nick. We are doing our best to hold on.” The Nick has always been THE late-night club with most shows rarely starting before 10pm. But city noise ordinances keep the outdoor stage quiet after 10pm on weeknights and not much later on weekends. With the onset of winter approaching, even in central Alabama, it soon gets too cold for much outdoor activity.

The Avondale neighborhood is one of the more recent additions to Birmingham’s entertainment districts. Bottletree opened in 2006 and began producing shows featuring cutting–edge acts and its famous green room of two Airstream trailers in back of the venue. The success of that club opened up the area for others. When Bottletree closed in 2015, Saturn carried on the tradition of hip entertainment bookings and outstanding artist accommodations. With a standing room capacity of about 500, Saturn fills the space between small club and large room. But the pandemic has kept the venue closed and only a smattering of rescheduled shows dot its concert calendar into 2021. Avondale Brewing Co. opened shop in 2011 with a brewpub and a wonderful outdoor space that has a capacity for a couple thousand people. During the pandemic, that venue has hosted some smaller general admission shows featuring Birmingham acts and others from around the state but also some larger limited-capacity reserved-seating shows featuring local favorites St Paul & the Broken Bones, CBDB, JJ Grey & MOFRO, and Marcus King that have sold out. But, once again, “Winter is Coming” and how much longer will outdoor concerts be viable?

Birmingham’s original entertainment district is the Southside centered around the 5 Points neighborhood. Many music venues have come and gone, but Zydeco is the last one standing. The earliest version of the club opened in 1989 and it has grown to fill most of the huge house in which it is located. It has three areas: the downstairs pub which is the original venue with a small stage and is still a hugely popular hangout for UAB students, the outdoor patio overlooking 20th St with a fantastic view of the iconic Vulcan statue, and the music hall with a capacity of 600. Owner Layne Flournoy was among the first to begin offering live music in Birmingham during the pandemic with acoustic performances on the pub stage from artists on his 65 South Productions talent roster. In October, the music hall reopened with a general admission acoustic show featuring Josh Morningstar and Ward Davis limited to 250 then a reserved seating show with a limited capacity of 125 starring Chris Knight. On Saturday 14 November, Them Dirty Roses, a band originally from Gadsden, Alabama, now working out of Nashville, brought their rock show to the music hall and electric guitars screamed once again at Zydeco for the first time in eight months.

The multi-million dollar WorkPlay complex opened on Birmingham’s Southside in 2001 offering two concert venues, a bar, recording studios, office spaces, and film production facilities. Owner Tom Williams, Jr acquired the facility in 2011 and is trying to come up with ways to keep the business active. He says, “Right now, we’re doing some private events. We have a wedding this weekend in the theatre. We did a live streaming fundraising event last week. We’re offering the opportunity for people to rent the theatre or soundstage for a private party and book your own band or DJ; like having a House Show at WorkPlay.” The theatre holds 450 people standing in the pit area in front of the stage or 290 seated with tables and chairs for a more intimate show. Williams says, “We looked at it with a seating chart and we could probably get about 170 in the theatre with everybody seated and distanced. The soundstage holds 800 standing so we could probably do 350 in there.” Meanwhile, the WorkPlay bar is still not open every day but that may change soon. There are some tenants in the office space which is helping with expenses. According to Williams, they have had a few shows booked over the past couple months, but the bands have postponed those dates each time and still no public events are scheduled for December.

Iron City opened in 2013 just around the block from WorkPlay. The 22,000 sq ft facility has a main event area that holds 1300 standing and a bar & restaurant that seats 90. The venue quickly became the home for many of the top touring artists coming to Birmingham but since the pandemic began, it has been quiet. The only event in the main area has been the club’s annual Halloween party. A Fleetwood Mac tribute band is scheduled to play on 28 November. The restaurant has remained open and has hosted football game “watch parties” on weekends.

While the Save Our Stages Act is making progress through Congress, it still hasn’t been enacted. With no outside help seen in the immediate future, Birmingham club owners continue to do what they can to keep the doors open and live music playing. Let’s hope they are successful, for everyone’s sake.