After the lights went down on Harpers Ferry club in Allston following its final show on Halloween this year, they will be rising once again Wednesday night as the new Brighton Music Hall holds its first show at the venue.
Harpers Ferry, which was a 340 person capacity nightclub located on Brighton Avenue in Allston, announced that it would be closed after operating at the location for 40 years when the property’s landlord would not renew the lease to the building.
Only two weeks after the owners of Harpers Ferry announced the closure, the building was swooped up by Joe Dunne, Don Law and Declan Mehigan, who are also co-owners of the Paradise Rock Club, which sits at the end of Boston University’s West Campus.
Law has an executive position with Live Nation as the president of Live Nation’s New England operations. The mogul is also a co-owner of the Boston Opera House and the Orpheum Theatre.
Ryan Vangel, a Live Nation concert promoter, will be responsible for overseeing booking the venue.
The Paradise can hold 850 people, more than twice as many as the newly dubbed Brighton Music Hall, which will have the same capacity as Harpers Ferry.
The owners have said that the new venue will serve as a first step for acts hoping to perform at bigger venues such as the Paradise.
Before work could begin on the Brighton Music Hall, the new ownership needed to gain permit approval from both neighborhood and city group as well as acquiring an alcohol license.
After receiving approval, the new management began work to give the club an overhaul, which included new bathrooms, a fresh coat of paint and a new sound system. In trying to make the club into a purely music venue, the owners have gotten rid of facets such as the pool areas in the back and front of the club. The front pool area has been transformed into a windowed box office while the back room pool area has turned into a lounge.
The venue’s old sound system was sold to T.T. the Bear’s, a music venue in Cambridge.
The first group to perform at the Music Hall is Little Dragon on Wednesday.
On its website, Brighton Music Hall has announced a schedule of shows every weekend through the end of April and in the weeks and months following the opening, the venue will host indie rock groups and artists such as Ted Leo, Mission Hill, Hellogoodbye, The Hood Internet and the Greenhornes.
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