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Has The Music Box at The Henry Fonda Closed?!?! [UPDATED]
Music Box marquee in March 2011 (Photo by Lucyrk in LA via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr)
It seems this might be one of those tales of mysterious things that happen in the night: The Music Box theatre at The Henry Fonda appears to have cleared out and shut down out of nowhere. LA Slush has the story about the abrupt shut-down of a beloved local music venue, noting that there is a "Closed for Inventory" sign on the door, and unspecified people "proceeded to dismantle the amazing sound system, astounding in house lighting and bar. Then remove them from the building." Reportedly, promoters and venue employees had not been warned this was going to happen. An image posted to Facebook shows the marquee reads "OUT OF ORDER."
A look at the venue's January events calendar shows only a recurring Wednesday club night booking, but no individual nightly events. However, on Facebook, The Music Box has recently posted a listing for a March event, with tickets on sale via Ticketmaster, and tickets for ATB, promoted by Insomniac (yep, the Electric Daisy folks) are slated to go onsale today.
Right now the speculation is that the current owners are done, but that doesn't mean the venue is kaput, there would just be some issue with reinstating permits for operation. LA Slush addresses this:
After speaking with our sources, they seem to agree that in hindsight there were a couple red flags [about current problems with ownership], but nothing any rational person would have taken to mean the club was closing. The staff had been told that the venue was working on a new agreement with the landlord and it would be settled soon - not uncommon for venues in LA.
Stay tuned...UPDATE 11:44 AM
Buzz Bands has this statementfrom Goldenvoice about the closure:
At this time, it is our understanding that the closing of The Music Box is a short term closure, please be patient with us as we work out the details as they pertain to our previously scheduled shows.
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