In the ashes of the location that was the Tomato Palace restaurant has risen a phoenix that hopes to alight the Columbia waterfront anew with music and ambiance. The Soundry is a music venue that attracts smaller acts in a more intimate setting. While Columbia and the surrounding areas has other music venues that probably attract “better” acts, it doesn’t do The Soundry justice to compare it to Merriweather Post Pavilion or even 9:30 Club in D.C., why?
It’s really apples and oranges, Merriweather is a huge venue that attracts major acts, while The Soundry is much more of music club that allows artists to take some more risks and gives fans an opportunity to really interact with the musician. The drawback of The Soundry is that it doesn’t attract many artists that you have heard of, so you run the risk of just ignoring who’s there until you recognize the act (which is what I did).
I visited the venue this past week to see Josh Rouse play, if you’re not familiar with Josh Rouse I recommend you listen to his entire 1972 album as it’s a damn joy to listen to. He’s a talented musician with a long track record of quality music, he often blends acoustic melodies with folk and pop hooks that will leave you singing along no matter how old or young you are. If I had to give you a Josh Rouse primer, I would say listen to the following tracks: Directions, Slaveship, Love Vibration, Dressed up like Nebraska, and Salton Sea.
When you walk into The Soundry you’ll notice the entryway is very similar to the old Tomato Palace set up, but once you pass that it’s completely different inside (obviously by design). Where the old open kitchen used to be is the stage, which is no bigger than 30 feet wide and 15 feet deep.The small stage allows for a large amount of seating should the show require it, but the bigger positive is that it forces the artists to have a more stripped down approach to their music. The end result is better music and better ambiance. Black paint prominently throughout the space and pink neon back lighting radiating out from the bar create a shadowy atmosphere that lends itself to a music venue. As a music venue, The Soundry hits the mark when it comes to sound, it’s not overly loud where it bursts your ear drums and it’s not overly quiet where you’re struggling to hear, it hits the mark. I would love to see more acts like Josh Rouse there, folks who are seasoned and have had some sort of sustained success because the end result is a really fun night.
As you approach the seating area you’ll notice an elevated seating area that has two person seating for those folks who want to take in the show but don’t want to be apart of the show. The same can be said for the half booth/cushioned seating area that allows for folks to sit back and be a little more comfortable. The main seating area is comprised of six 12 person tables with chairs that will punish your sit bones like a medieval torturer, if your gluteus maximus is of the bony variety, prepare for hell on your tailbone. The seating area loses some charm in my opinion with the carpet flooring, making it feel more like a hotel than a concert venue. The carpet I’m sure was used for better acoustics because a hard floor would cause the sound to bounce all over the place, but other acoustic options such as sound panels and acoustic spray along the ceiling would’ve aided such concerns. Either way, the carpet takes away from the coolness factor and makes you feel more like you’re in your parents basement. Better yet, it’s as if your parents tried to make a really cool basement for you and hung up framed pictures of musicians on the wall (that’s literally what they did).
My biggest gripe with The Soundry is not the fact that it’s limited in what acts it gets or that it’s a smaller venue, because both of those can be positives if leveraged properly, my biggest gripe is that it still tries to acquiesce to Columbia too much. What do I mean by that? The place has an identity crisis in my opinion, there’s no grit to it and it’s a little too lame (drinks in a juice box & carpeted!??) to attract the millenials that Columbia is so thirsty to attract and keep (as evidenced by their numerous focus groups to find out what millenials want in their living area).
While on the flip-side the generation X and baby boomers of Columbia might not know many of the acts and the food is essentially Clyde’s food (i.e. meh) since they share the same kitchen. In my opinion they should have gone all in, in one direction or the other, but this half in/half out is a recipe for disaster, I hope it isn’t. Personally, I think they would be better off going all in on trying to attract a younger crowd, but millenials don’t pay the bills so I can’t fault them for wanting to please the majority of folks who live in Columbia. I can’t fault the people at The Soundry for trying, as a Columbia resident I’m still happy that there’s some where to go on a Friday night that isn’t Clydes or Union Jacks. Also, this isn’t to say The Soundry is bad, it’s not, I had a great time but that had more to do with Josh Rouse than the venue itself. The venue has a lot of potential, but again like I said before potential doesn’t pay the bills and that corridor of the waterfront has been a graveyard for businesses, so I get it.
All this being said, The Soundry is still worth a visit and it was a good time. With all my complaints about the corny decor and carpeting, I’ll still come back. It still is a great addition to Columbia, because beggars can’t be choosers, and when there is literally nothing else to do in Columbia, something is better than nothing.
