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Farewell to Johnny D's
By adamg on Sun, 03/13/2016 - 7:09pm
Mark Novak was among the people who crowded in front of Johnny D's to say goodbye this evening.
Jean Nagy shows us some of the dance party in the street:
.@JohnnyDs is closing and the party is getting real @universalhub pic.twitter.com/IxyqnqRpgd
— Jean Nagy (@jeannagy) March 13, 2016
Wild times in Davis for @JohnnyDs closing party @universalhub pic.twitter.com/w5AoY9YNNz
— Jean Nagy (@jeannagy) March 13, 2016
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Comments
I liked Johnny D's as much as anyone else...
But really, is it this big of a deal?
Yes, it's that big a deal
When I moved to this area in the 70s, one of the joys of living here was the plethora of small venues in Boston and Cambridge. Today, most of them are gone. The loss of Johnny D's means we have that many fewer left, and that's a great loss.
agreed
Small, authentic venues that represent the artistic side of the community... sadly a thing of the past. Banks, chain fast food.. thats all we have now
Do you even live in Boston?
Boston has to be the least chain restaurant city east of Portlandia.
You went to the club
These folks are the community that it supported.
I mean....
Why isn't it?
She sold out
She sold out.
Her excuse.. "Time for a change" which translates to "I'm going to make bank on selling this building". She'll never go on record stating that at all, but seems like she's already done that.
It's not like that place was a failing night club or had issues. No, it was very popular, but she realized she was sitting on a high valued piece of real estate in Davis Square and cashed out instead of keeping the club open. So much for the "community".
https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/music/2015/07/19/johnny-music-club-plan...
Bitter much?
Her family had run the place for 46 years. So she wants to do something else? Good for her.
She's not selling the building
She's keeping the property and redeveloping it. I wish she wasn't doing this, but I can't blame her for wanting to do something else with her life now.
Also, in her goodbye speech she said she wants to continue producing music shows in this area.
Spin
Doesn't matter if she's selling or 'redeveloping', she's going to make bank on that redevelopment.
You can spin the "27 years" as much as you want, but she stands to make a bunch of cash off that land. If she cared that much about the music and the club was too much for her to manage, she could have let someone else manage the day to day operation of the club and walked away. But no, she saw a way to cash in on the gentrification of the neighborhood, and is doing so.
No, Adam, I am not bitter, but I find it funny how there's such a big deal about Johnny's is closing and its such a loss. Yet I bet the same people who are all in those crowds are the same people who complain that places like Davis and Harvard Squares are losing their uniqueness. Yet they all came out in droves to support closing of a venue when the owner of that venue is doing exactly what all the other 'local and unique' businesses that were once in Davis eons ago have done which is move away and make bank on real estate.
Should we start taking bets to see which bank, froyo place, chain burrito place, or chain coffee shop will take its place? Because you know that's what will happen.
I'm not sure there was a good choice to make
From what I heard, she plans to live there and take care of herself and family. Her health would not support running the club, a household, etc. anymore.
Private decision with private property.
There was an option
Its called hire management to manage the club and come in once a week to clean out the cash register like most people who have a stand off approach to business ownership. Like I said, it's not like this was a failing business or one that probably lost a ton of money. It was a very popular club with a large customer base from all walks of life. I bet if she decided to hire someone, she'd have a line of people waiting to manage this place.
But no, she cashed out and moved on. Yeah her health may have dictated what she did with the property, because if she has health problems that comes with a price, so cashing out the building would insure that she had the funds for her healthcare for many years to come.
I'm not trying to ridicule her for her decision, you're right, it's her business, her choice. But my main point is about the people celebrating in the streets like it's such a sad thing, when in reality, she's just doing what all her other neighbors have done (and left). They should be more outraged that she's a sell out and just further the already very gentrified Davis Sq than trying to make it work for the community she says she cares so much about.
"selling out"
Meaning she doesn't want to run the club anymore, is sitting on prime real estate that she has to do something with, and made the decision to redevelop it and get out of the club business. That's her choice. If you don't like it, raise a couple million bucks and buy the property.
Sad to see it go
the way of Nightstage and Jonathan Swift's as well as many others.
Run by great, dedicated family for many decades.
End of an era. Saw a lot of great shows there. Performed at a few. loved that place.
We had our wedding reception
We had our wedding reception there, with Babaloo as the band. Couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate. Sad to see the place close.
Brighton Center
Luckily, Johnny D's in Brighton Center is still open, so I still have a good neighborhood place to by fresh produce.
The other Johnny D's on
The other Johnny D's on Harvard street is long gone too, that was a drinking joint!
and it was also a music club