After 19 years of live musical entertainment, Charlottesville's Trax Nightclub is closing its doors tomorrow.
However, the Main Street venue will continue to have live music performances when it reopens in September, most likely under a new name.
But instead of local bands playing weekend nights, the club will play Top 40 dance music, according to a press release from owner Michael Duchesneau, a doctor in Tampa, Fla.
Duchesneau bought the venue, which has hosted famous bands such as Dave Matthews Band and local bands such as My Dog Lucy, from Dana Murphy in November.
The club, which can hold up to 900 people, experienced a dip in ticket sales over the past year, said Jimmy Wood, general manager of Trax and the drummer for My Dog Lucy.
Wood said the entire country experienced a decrease in ticket sales as well.
"Major bands only come here during the week" because Charlottesville is a secondary market, Wood said.
The nightclub will continue to have live bands perform during the week, said Wood, who is stepping down as general manager because his band has recently received national attention.
Local bands will have to look to venues like Starr Hill Music Theater, which opened in 1999 and can seat about 450 patrons.
Many local bands are sad to see Trax close after such a long run as a prominent nightclub.
"We didn't play at Trax that much, maybe four or five times, but it was an old rock 'n' roll place," said Lydia Ooghe, a singer for local band Buzby and a fourth-year University student. "It was kind of an historical rock 'n' roll venue," Ooghe said.
The nightclub may lose some bands with the change, Wood said.
However, because Duchesneau owns several nightclubs in Florida, he can book bands in a block, meaning those bands will play at all of his clubs. Wood said this may bring bigger names to Charlottesville.
"Clubs are born and die every day. The only thing about it is, its been here almost 20 years," he added.
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