The newest venue in the city of Brotherly Love brings the traditions of the Williamsburg venue and add its own Keystone flair.

This Fall Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia opened their doors with a three night stand by jazz jam juggernauts Soulive, and from there has brought a star-studded lineup to the new nightclub in Fishtown. Shovels and Rope, DJ Questlove, Breaking Benjamin, White Denim, Melvin Seals and JGB, Ghost Light and many others were among the first to perform.

The flagship venue in Brooklyn was previously ranked the No. 1 Busiest Club in New York City and nominated for Nightclub of the Year at the 30th Annual Pollstar Awards. The Las Vegas establishment has been voted Readers’ Choice “Best Music Venue” the last four years in a row in Las Vegas Weekly’s annual “Best of Vegas” awards. Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, which opened this past June, is already one of Music City’s go-to venues. The opening of Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia is an exciting next step for the fast-growing and most-beloved live music venues in the nation.

Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia is a partnership between Brooklyn Bowl and Live Nation. The partnership acknowledges the work of the City of Philadelphia, Councilman Mark Squilla, and the Fishtown-Kensington Business Improvement District on the Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia.

Here at Live Music News and Review, we want to know more! We want to know what is going to make this venue special, and the philosophy of those running it. Of course this venue is a part of the ever-growing and evolving vision of Peter Shapiro, responsible for so much in live music from GD50 to the Capitol Theatre, to Relix Magazine and this unfurling series of venues across the nation. We caught up with General Manager Chad Peterson and talent buyer Lucas Sacks, who also is on the talent team in Brooklyn.

How will it be different than the original Brooklyn Bowl?

Chad Peterson: We feel very fortunate to partner with Live Nation and be a part of the Fishtown Entertainment Campus which includes the Fillmore, the Foundry, and Punch Line Philadelphia. Working together, we’ve become a destination for pre-event and post-event opportunities.

What is unique about the Philadelphia scene?

Chad Peterson: In addition to being part of the Fishtown Entertainment Campus, we’re not too far from The Met Philadelphia and the TLA. This creates opportunities for artists to move through the city and graduate to different performance venues. It also creates an opportunity for artists to play multiple rooms here in the City during the same time frame.

Philadelphia seems to be a bit of a crowded space all of a sudden between the Ardmore, the Fillmore, Electric Factory stuff, City Winery, Sellersville Theater, what is going to make Bkn Bowl Philly stand out?

Chad Peterson: The partnership we have with Live Nation here in Philadelphia and the reputation of our three other properties sets us apart. Philadelphia has always had an incredible music scene where there is an opportunity for everyone to perform here. We are fortunate to be able to contribute to the culture in our own unique way and be a part of something special here in Philadelphia. Being right next to the Fillmore – and the synergy between our venues – makes us excited about what we’re creating here as a truly unique offering that could become a new model for live entertainment offerings in the future. 

What is on the menu?  

Chad Peterson: The fried chicken is amazing – it’s our signature offering. We also have delicious pizzas that are made for easy sharing…  

What is the vision for Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia?

Lucas Sacks: Since our flagship in Brooklyn opened in 2009, we have grown many strong band & fan relationships by uniquely combining top quality concerts with bowling and our signature food & drink offerings which include fried chicken, french bread pizzas, and frozen margaritas. We regularly program annual multiple night runs of bands where shows are unique night for night, creating do-not-miss concerts. It’s our booking philosophy to extend that to Brooklyn Bowl Philadelphia and our partnership with Live Nation even further allows us more freedom to grow our award-winning model.

We are regularly booking combinations of shows with bands playing in Brooklyn one night, and Philadelphia the next – or vice versa. Our goal is to eventually create a mini-Brooklyn Bowl tour for bands. We’re also developing a strong network of local Philadelphia artists and working with local promoters, as we do in Brooklyn, to plant deep roots in the local music scene.

How will it be different than the original Brooklyn Bowl?

Lucas Sacks: Having two floors allows us to be open downstairs when we don’t have shows playing upstairs, whereas Brooklyn lacks that flexibility. Guests can attend their favorite shows but we have the ability to accommodate a wider group of people with no cover charge downstairs to enter to eat, bowl, and drink. Upstairs is ticketed for shows but also offers bowling, food, & drink while concerts are playing. 

Being located within the Fishtown Entertainment complex, we are positioned to work directly with The Fillmore, Foundry, and Punch Line to cross-book, and cross-market events like our New Year’s Eve weekend happy hour pre-parties before The Disco Biscuits perform next door at The Fillmore. We’re in discussions for multi-venue events for 2022 to make the complex even more of a destination.

What is unique about the Philadelphia scene?

Lucas Sacks: There is a very strong sense of community within the local Philadelphia music scene we’ve been excited to explore deeper as we further plant our roots in Fishtown. There are promoters, artists, parties, and events in every genre at all sizes. Part of our ethos has always been to supplement our national touring programming with local acts and parties. We position Brooklyn Bowl to be an incubator for new recurring shows & events we can grow over time, as well as become a stepping stone for smaller events to expand into our space, like The Jawn.

Tell us a bit about the specs-  capacity?  What is special about the production sound and light here that you are particularly stoked about?

Lucas Sacks: We’re a 1000 capacity building with a unique layout on two floors that allows us to be extremely flexible with our space. We can host events on one floor, or simultaneous events on each floor like a private birthday, holiday, or company party downstairs with a publicly ticketed concert upstairs. We have a custom-specification sound system from world renowned pro audio company D&B Audio, like all of our Brooklyn Bowls, that provides amazing sound quality and clarity that will set us apart from some other local rooms. 

Bands often opt to perform in new rooms to play on the newest and most advanced sound and lighting systems and tap into the fervor and attention new venues receive. We’re very excited to continue to offer the best experience in sound, lights, hospitality, and fan experience for our bands that we think will give us a competitive advantage having opened in a market we’re new to.

UPCOMING SHOWS:

February 4: Star Kitchen with James Casey and Robert Randolph

February 4: The Robyn Party 10th anniversary tour

February 5: Songs in the Key of Purple

February 5: Gimme Gimme Disco (dance party inspired by Abba.)

February 6: Marley Bowl (Bob Marley Birthday celebration.)

February 9: Umphrey’s McGee

February 10: Joe Russo’s Almost Dead

February 11: Emo Night Brooklyn 

February 12: The Floozies

February 13: Music of the Beatles for Kids

February 17: Gangstagrass

February 18: Papadosio

February 19: Dumpstaphunk and the Nth Power

February 20: Simply Christopher, The Phirm, and Urban Gent ent. the RE-UP

February 25: Lana Del Rey night

February 26: Boat House Row: a Yacht Rock Experience.

February 26: Heph, Siroch, Catnip, James

March 2: Kat Von D with Prayers

March 4: TAUK with special guests lespecial

March 5: The Connells and Wesley Stace

March 10: Red Baraat Festival of Colors

March 11: Be Our Guest The Disney DJ night

March 17: Dylan Scott

March 19: Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and D.R.U.G.S. plus SECRETS, Dead Americans, Glasslands

March 20: Railroad Earth

March 23: Dirty Dozen Brass Band + Nathan & The Zydeco Cha Chas

March 24: Band of Changes plus Bogie Band featuring Joe Russo

March 25: Soul Rebels

March 26: Meute

April 1-2: Lettuce

April 5: L’Impératrice

April 7: The Amity Affliction with Archetypes Collide and Sea Floor Cinema

April 9: The Greyboy Allstars 

April 10: Gifts from the Holy Ghost tour featuring Dorothy and special guests

April 11: Animals as Leaders

April 12: Shovels & Rope 

April 15-16: Twiddle 

April 21: Easy Star All-Stars: Return of the 420

April 22: Melvin Seals & JGB

April 23: The Darkness with the special guests The Dead Deads

April 27: Cimafunk

April 28: Kranium

April 29: Lucero

April 30: Drive by Truckers

May 5: Grateful Shred

May 8: The Warning

May 13: Eric Krasno plus Son Little

May 20: Breakbot (DJ Set) 

May 25: Jesse McCartney “the New Stage” tour with Jamie Miller

May 27: Forever Selena: Selena Tribute & Latin Dance Party

June 2: Metalachi 

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