The beloved music venue Great Scott has found a new home just two blocks from its original address in Allston.
Great Scott opened in 1976 and served the Boston music scene for more than four decades before becoming one of many small businesses to suffer from the pandemic.
Its owners are seeking a second chance with a new space at Harvard Avenue and Cambridge Street. The property will hold Great Scott and its sister club, O’Brien’s Pub. The owners say the venue will maintain its dive bar vibe while modernizing their back-of-house facilities and improving lighting and sound. The midsize space will be geared toward up-and-coming artists to hone their skills in front of a crowd.
Meghan Kelleher is the lead singer of local indie band Divine Sweater, formerly known as Small Talk. She got her start with the band at the original Great Scott.
Back in 2016, Kelleher saw guitarist Sean Seaver and drummer Chris Southiere perform as the band Small Talk around Boston College’s campus and local bars.
“They had a show at Great Scott, and their singer didn’t show up,” Kelleher said. “And so Sean pulled me aside and said, ‘I know you know all the words to our songs, will you be the singer tonight?’”
Later, bassist Alex Goldberg and keyboardist Steve Lin joined and the band changed its name. But the location was so pivotal to their collective identity that Divine Sweater wrote a love letter to the venue entitled “ Great Scott.”
“It’s the first place where we formed as a band, kind of accidentally,” Kelleher added.
Carl Lavin, the booking manager of Great Scott for 20 years, was the leading force not only in reopening the venue, but maintaining its storied history.
To get Great Scott back on its feet, Lavin partnered with real estate developer Jordan Warshaw and Paul Armstrong, the CEO of Redefined, a company that produces the Boston Music Awards and publishes Vanyaland. Warshaw described Lavin as “having Great Scott in his veins.”
Together, the three hope to create a lasting legacy for Great Scott.
Thanks to advice from Warshaw – the new property was purchased, not leased. Warshaw hopes the change will open the door for long-term investment in the new space.
“Iconic small music venues are sadly a disappearing breed in this country,” Warshaw wrote in a statement to GBH News.
“It was just a magical place. It was a place where I saw so many bands that were so formative for me, just as an aspiring musician. And it was also a place where I was able to feel like I was a serious musician for the first time,” Kelleher said.
With Great Scott reopening, Kelleher told GBH News she would love to play there again.
According to Warshaw, their next steps are to begin the permitting process. With support from the city already, the team hopes for approval by early 2025. The owners expect to have construction completed in 2026.
