Sam Norton
A&E Editor
For many students, downtown Keene is more than just a strip of shops and local businesses-it’s a place to perform, a place to show their true talent. Downtown Main Street offers a variety of live music nights, from karaoke, to student DJs, to live bands and even open mic nights.
According to Todd Tousley, owner of Penuche’s Ale House, there is live music on Thursday nights at the local bar. Tousely said this live music series started nine months ago as a way to increase the foot traffic in the bar on Thursday nights. “Thursdays started to slow down from competition,” Tousley said. Tousley said that every Thursday night a total of two student bands will perform at the local bar–on Nov. 8 Jake McKelvie and The Countertops will be performing at Penuche’s on Thursday night.
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Nick Votruba, who plays bass for The Countertops said that among the local venues downtown, Penuche’s is his favorite to play at. “It’s a welcoming atmosphere for very different genres of music,” Votruba said. Votruba’s first show with TheColorOrange at Penuche’s is his favorite memory of performing at that venue.
“There was an enormous crowd, people were dancing, there was so much going on at once,” he said. For Votruba, Penuche’s provides a small enough space that allows not only him to enjoy the show, but the audience as well.
However, Penuche’s is not the only local venue that offers live music night: Fritz’s Belgian Fries offers an acoustic night on Thursdays starting at 7 p.m. where four musicians are given the opportunity to play, according to Emily Cobb, general manager. On Friday night, one to two bands play at Fritz’s on Friday nights starting at 6:30 p.m.
In addition to Fritz’s, Brewbakers offers a 15-minute time slot for five to ten artists to perform at an open mic night, held on the first Wednesday of every month, according to Brewbakers worker, Tyler Milliken. For many students, the music scene in Keene has not been the same without the existence of a popular venue for student musicians.
This past summer, The Starving Artist closed their physical location on West Street and has become a pop-up venue. However, for junior Tim Gagnon, the general manager for WKNH, his favorite memories of live music in Keene are all from The Starving Artist. Gagnon said that even though The Starving Artist has closed, their shows at Heberton Hall are still his favorite to attend.
Since The Starving Artist has closed their physical location, Gagnon said that this will help make students pay more attention and get more involved with the local music scene. “I think people will pay more attention to The Starving Artist and see if they want to get more involved. People will now realize how important a place like The Starving Artist is,” he said.
However, no matter what type of music is offered, downtown Keene offers a diverse music scene–it’s a matter of tuning in.
Sam Norton can be contacted at
snorton@keene-equinox.com