From rock to indie, hip-hop and reggae, the demolition of the live music venue, known by different names in different eras — Cow Haus, Beta Bar, Engine Room, and more recently, GVO (Good Vibes Only) and Sidebar — has many residents mourning its loss.
Here’s why: The venue has been razed and the 1.09-acre lot will be transformed into a five-story student housing development.
More: Four-tiered development set to transform Railroad Avenue amid student housing boom
The music house on Railroad Avenue near West Gaines Street was a fount of memories for those who traveled from near and far for the live music events, late nights out and good vibes the space offered.
Whether you were standing at the crowded bars waiting for another round of drinks or catching up with friends over the loud tunes that filled the garden area, the venue served as a place for many to gather.
“It was nice to be able to bring all kinds of shows like that to this town,” Brian Giblett, the former owner of Cow Haus and Beta Bar said in an email exchange with the Tallahassee Democrat. “It was a great room for shows and lots of bands played there before they got really big.”
The diversity in entertainers booked at the venue include Fall Out Boy, Band of Horses, Peaches, Talib Kweli, New Found Glory, Iron & Wine, Mastodon, The Avett Brothers, Mountain Goats, They Might Be Giants, Lydia Lunch and more recently a notable list of local DJ’s.
Mark Hinson, the Tallahassee Democrat’s longtime entertainment and pop culture writer, said “it was a place known for booking a wide variety of live acts,” mentioning his own memorable nights attending live shows including a “blistering show” from L.A. punk band X and a heavy metal band dressed as characters from a McDonald’s commercial, Mac Sabbath.
Hinson, who retired in 2019, added: “Waterworks closed in January. A tornado shredded Railroad Square in May. And now The Beta Bar lies in rubble. Tallahassee is slowly losing its offbeat soul.”
The project to come is one of several adjacent developments planned for the area that are all being built by the 908 Group, a boutique real estate development services firm in Tampa. The projects are referred to as 908 All Saints Sites 1, 2, 3 and 4, permit materials show.
Despite sitting vacant for two years and garnering a tarnished reputation resulting from gun violence in its later years of operation, fans posted photos of the building’s demolition on social media page “wuzhadnintally” on Monday.
The comments were filled with people expressing their dismay over the destruction of the local landmark. Most comments identified the location as the nightclub GVO, the building’s final form.
The music and club venue served as a middle ground for neighboring universities, Florida State and Florida A&M, whose students could easily walk from their dorms to the site.
From R&B nights to homecoming events, the colorful and unique hotspot was a gathering space for students to party and unwind, away from the nearby campuses. In recent times, however, there had been instances of gun violence nearby.
From 2022: Gunfire outside GVO nightclub: 1 dead, 2 seriously injured; 2nd shooting in less than 10 hours
Others bemoaned the loss of the building’s 12 murals handcrafted by local artists. Don Ruane, the founder of Tallahassee Art Walk, wrote in a column last August, “… it pains me to think the murals could go. They add to the quirky character of the All Saints neighborhood.”
Kyla A Sanford covers dining and entertainment for the Tallahassee Democrat. New restaurant opening up, special deals, or events coming up? Let me know at [email protected]. You can also email your suggestions for a future TLH Eats restaurant profile.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Well-known Tallahassee music venue demolished for student housing
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