The Cave: A place to play

Over the years, the local art scene has dramatically exploded while the music scene has struggled to emerge and exist in the Yuba-Sutter area, where we live, where we work, and where we play. But we have to search hard to find safe places to play. Most of the live-music in our area takes place in bars, bringing with it drinking, fighting, and other drama.

Music is something to be enjoyed by everyone, but there aren’t many venues considering the younger crowds for fun.The Cave, a new live-music venue on the corner of Bridge and Second in Yuba City, opened February 15th with an incredible show featuring Cadence, Anthem, Causa Mortis, Vitality, Lost in Lights, and Crossface.

Thanks to the determination of Michael Flanagan and Jerami Bullard, twenty-six-year-old entrepreneurs who are aware of the need for family friendly entertainment in safe places for young adults as well as the over twenty-one crowd, The Cave is open to all ages.

Although The Cave is an alcohol-free venue, for those who want to grab a drink before or in between shows, The Corner Bar is nearly next door. The flyer for the first show at The Cave emphasized the wish to keep patrons out of harm’s way, by explicitly saying, No fighting, No drugs!

Flanagan, founder of The Cave, says, “We want to offer music lessons and to rent out rooms for bands to practice. We also hope to host a three day music festival sometime in April. We’re trying to create something for the community – something bigger than just one or two people. We know we aren’t going to grow old here, so we we’re starting something that, when we eventually leave, will get carried on by someone else who wants to step up.” Prior to owning the original venue for The Cave in Sacramento, Flanagan interned for a few record labels, and also did some band management.

Bullard, his business partner, formerly played guitar and sang for a band called Longbottom Leaf, in Portland, Oregon. He has also done a lot of band promotion in the past. He wistfully spoke of a time when the Yuba-Sutter area used to have a lot of shows. “I moved away and came back eight months ago and everything was dead. Instead of complaining about that, I jumped on board with Michael. It’s crazy how the opportunity just fell into my lap. Kids don’t have much to do in this town and we have no plan to sell alcohol because we want parents to feel safe sending their kids here. We plan on using talent from different genres to stay away from doing the same thing over and over. We want to keep it clean and fun for everyone and keep our focus more about the music.”

The Cave will start off with 2-4 shows a month, most likely on evenings during the weekends. According to Flanagan, “There are only so many local bands so we hope to swap talent and bring in bands from the Chico, Sacramento and Roseville areas as well, to keep things fresh.”

Tickets are affordable, running a mere $5 unless it’s more than a one day event. The Cave will also be open during the day, displaying art and selling merchandise, music, and memorabilia to help fund the cost of keeping the doors open. Viriginia Kambanis, who is the property manager of the building that The Cave is housed in and the owner of Modern Relics, the vintage-item specialty shop next to the Cave, is another business-minded person to help with the day-to-day operations while Flanagan and Bullard handle booking and running the shows. “We don’t do this for profit; it’s a lot of work, with minimal, if any, payout. All the money goes back into the business,” says Flanagan. “The Cave currently offers a ping pong table and we hope to get a pinball machine as well. We welcome feedback and suggestions from others; if we aren’t doing something it doesn’t mean we are against it, we just probably haven’t thought about it yet or found a way to make it work.” They also just took on a fourth partner, Paul Collier. Collier is a local musician, formerly a member of At Dawn.

The Cave can be a better option for people, rather than driving to other towns for music and shows. They also encourage kids to volunteer by helping to promote music. It’s mutually beneficial, because word of mouth is the best advertising, and it gives kids opportunities to get involved and meet people and bands, in exchange for free entry to shows and free snacks. There is an events calendar on their Facebook page, listed as The Cave Live, or pop into 200 Bridge Street to check things out. There are several upcoming shows you don’t want to miss!