2008 Woodie Awards
Bringing the beats to the bar
Cassie Bottge
Issue date: 11/28/06 Section: News
When Geoff Rifkin began working at Santa Fe Café in 2002, the college bar was what one might expect: Lots of booze, lots of 20-somethings and some bands that beer guzzling students mostly turned their noses up at.
Rifkin vowed to change that when he took over as a floor manager in 2004. He wanted bands that weren't forgettable - up-and-comers, nostalgia-invoking '90s bands and crowd pleasers unafraid to crank out some classics. He wanted Santa Fe to compete with major market towns such as Washington and Baltimore.
"There was no where to see live music except to go into D.C.," Rifkin said. "So that was my goal, to try and make music happen here."
Now, at least three nights a week, a musical act takes the stage and rocks College Park harder than downtown has seen in several generations, and students have taken note. As bands such as Everclear, The Wailers and The Pat McGee Band have played gigs at the Fe, patrons have gone from disinterested to bobbing their heads along with familiar melodies - and that's boosted sales by as much as 30 to 40 percent, Rifkin said.
Area music hounds have noticed as well. After Santa Fe underwent a renovation and received an updated sound system and professional lighting, the bar was spotlighted as a viable music venue in On Tap magazine. It also attracted the attention of DC101 promotions director Dave Hennessy, who saw promotional potential.
"It's a win-win for both parties," said Hennessy. "They're getting commercials run on a pretty widely listened-to radio station, and then we have the promotional aspect of things that we can wrap our hands around."
With its current renovations, Santa Fe is now capable of competing with regional venues such as the 9:30 Club, Hennessy said.
And although those venues may have more money to attract certain acts, Santa Fe has something those venues don't: Audience intimacy in a booming college town with an unusual stage that looms over the heads of bargoers.
Rifkin vowed to change that when he took over as a floor manager in 2004. He wanted bands that weren't forgettable - up-and-comers, nostalgia-invoking '90s bands and crowd pleasers unafraid to crank out some classics. He wanted Santa Fe to compete with major market towns such as Washington and Baltimore.
"There was no where to see live music except to go into D.C.," Rifkin said. "So that was my goal, to try and make music happen here."
Now, at least three nights a week, a musical act takes the stage and rocks College Park harder than downtown has seen in several generations, and students have taken note. As bands such as Everclear, The Wailers and The Pat McGee Band have played gigs at the Fe, patrons have gone from disinterested to bobbing their heads along with familiar melodies - and that's boosted sales by as much as 30 to 40 percent, Rifkin said.
Area music hounds have noticed as well. After Santa Fe underwent a renovation and received an updated sound system and professional lighting, the bar was spotlighted as a viable music venue in On Tap magazine. It also attracted the attention of DC101 promotions director Dave Hennessy, who saw promotional potential.
"It's a win-win for both parties," said Hennessy. "They're getting commercials run on a pretty widely listened-to radio station, and then we have the promotional aspect of things that we can wrap our hands around."
With its current renovations, Santa Fe is now capable of competing with regional venues such as the 9:30 Club, Hennessy said.
And although those venues may have more money to attract certain acts, Santa Fe has something those venues don't: Audience intimacy in a booming college town with an unusual stage that looms over the heads of bargoers.
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