Lexington music club to celebrate fourth anniversary with a concert in their parking lot

It wasn’t the kind of anniversary bash The Burl had initially planned for itself. But when a pandemic crashes the party, you adjust.

That’s what Will Harvey and the staff at the popular Distillery District music venue set out to do when plans were drawn up to celebrate the four year mark for The Burl this weekend. One slight obstacle stood in their way, though. The club, along with every other live music venue, has been closed since the COVID-19 outbreak erupted in March.

The solution? Head to the parking lot. Since The Burl incorporates an expansive chunk of property that includes The Burl Arcade and the recently opened eatery Kismet at The Burl (sometimes referred to as simply The Burl Food), Harvey decided to celebrate outdoors by staging a July 18 show featuring club regulars DeeOhGee (formerly the Blackfoot Gypsies), Johnny Conqueroo and Mojothunder in the parking lot.

“Obviously, this is not how we anticipated celebrating our fourth anniversary,” said Harvey, co-owner and talent buyer for The Burl. “Each year, we’ve tried to do anniversary shows that are bigger than the last one. This year — with no slight to the bands, of course — involved some different formatting than what we would have anticipated. That’s where we are with everything here.”

The solution, one limiting audience numbers while meeting social distancing requirements, meant doing more than simply opening the Burl’s parking lot to the masses. Instead, 45 tables are being set up, each accommodating up to six patrons, with the understanding each group will adhere to the usual six-feet distancing rules. Outdoor bar areas and portable bathrooms will be provided along with a series of shade sails over the lot to offer covering. The latter allows the event to go on rain or shine.

“We’re in a unique situation with an acre of land to work with,” Harvey said. “We’ve always dreamt of doing outdoor shows ever since The Burl started. We thought the parking lot was perfect for it. It just that the situation we’re now in has pushed us to the point of necessity in presenting shows out there.

“It’s challenging, absolutely. We’ve been, for a long time, thinking we can do 1,000 to 1,500 people out there. Now we’re talking about a very limited number of tables with everyone spaced out. We’ve had to really go out of our way to make all these improvements and do things that we normally wouldn’t. But obviously the safety of guests, our staff, the bands — all that is the No. 1 priority. This is not something we would do if we didn’t feel that we could make that the main thing.”

There was also the matter of pricing to consider. Instead of the usual single guest admission at the door, only $75 advance tickets for each of the six patron-capacity tables were made available. The Burl’s website also has a checklist for each guest to follow in order to comply with masking and social distancing guidelines.

So how is this new normal-for-now design for live music going over with prospective audiences? Pretty well, apparently. All tickets for The Burl’s anniversary show sold out in two days. Best of all, the venue plans to maintain the game plan for future performances. It hopes to stage outdoor shows every Friday and Saturday through the fall with the same table set up and distancing concept. Already on deck are concerts by Brother Smith and Eric Bolander on July 24 with Grayson Jenkins and Abby Hamilton following on July 25.

“Obviously, we will continue to improve this as we go along,” Harvey said. “But we feel very comfortable in that we have explored a lot of different areas for this show. It’s a lot more than a normal show. We do 300 nights of music a year at The Burl. That’s what we do. But for this one, it’s definitely taken a lot more energy and some thought to get things to where we feel comfortable. And we feel like we’ve gotten there.”

Coronavirus or no coronavirus, hitting the four year mark is a major accomplishment for any live music hall. Harvey sites community support for the club’s diverse musical lineup as a prime reason for its survival in a business climate that can often be unstable.

“We’re very thankful. The community has been unbelievably supportive every step of the way. The Burl has definitely become a stopping point for a lot of different bands from a lot of different areas and a lot of different genres. That reflects on Lexington in a way we’re really proud of. Having a community that is constantly supportive of whatever we decide to bring in is really what we take away from the whole thing and what we’re especially proud of.

“So, yeah, four years. We feel like we’ve really filled a gap in what Kentucky music is. All eyes have been on this state for the past few years for a lot of different artists. We feel like we’ve been kind of the home base for a lot of those people. We’ve been lucky to have been involved with that.

‘For four years, we have created our own way. That’s also something we’re really proud of. We don’t take that lightly, either, especially since we’re operating in what has become a very serious climate. We’re just going to keep doing the best we can here.”