Fans of live music still have to wait to go to concerts, as the reopening of coronavirus-impacted businesses rolls out slowly across Utah — but until then, they can revel in memories of shows past.
The folks who own two of Salt Lake City’s popular concert venues, The State Room and The Commonwealth Room, are catering to those fans — and raising some money to fill in the revenue gap caused by the closures — with an online poster auction, starting Monday.
“The wheel has certainly seized up on so many industries,” said Chris Mautz, co-owner of The State Room Presents, which owns the venues and books shows for other Utah locations. “Live music is one that hasn’t been able to grind at all.”
(Image courtesy of The State Room Presents) A poster promoting a concert by Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers is one of the items on sale at The Poster Project, an onine auction starting Monday, May 11, 2020, to benefit The State Room Presents.
Mautz said his business partner Darin Piccoli and general manager Sierra Batey hatched the idea of plowing through dozens of old posters from The State Room’s 11 years in operation.
Going through the posters, Mautz said, “what strikes me is, it’s a lot of damn shows.”
The acts cover many genres — rock, folk, pop, jazz, country — and represent acts before they hit it big and veteran performers. The artwork varies from publicity photos to locally produced graphic art.
Proceeds will go to support The State Room Presents and the artists that usually perform at the venues.
The auction starts online Monday at 9 a.m., at TSRPosterProject.com.
(Image courtesy of The State Room Presents) A poster promoting a concert by The Black Pumas is one of the items on sale at The Poster Project, an onine auction starting Monday, May 11, 2020, to benefit The State Room Presents.
