In his introduction to the Savannah Music Festival’s finale with the Ukrainian band Dakhabrakha, executive and creative director Rob Gibson noted the sheer quality of the Ships of the Sea Museum’s North Garden as a venue for live music.
The outdoor space at Ships of the Sea is occasionally plagued by crowd noise from chatty patrons who congregate in the back, but the audience was downright reverential during Dakhabrakha and during Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors’ fantastic show on the SMF’s penultimate night.
Gibson also mentioned the fact that the space would likely host more performances if it weren’t in such high demand for weddings. He could have said the same about the Charles H. Morris Center.
It’s certainly no knock on the Morris Center and the Ships of the Sea that they are such attractive wedding venues, but the demand creates problems for music programmers.
The SMF took full advantage of the Ships of the Sea and the Morris Center this year. The festival also used a variety of other historic spaces, especially the Lucas Theatre for the Arts, Trustees Theater and Trinity United Methodist Church.
Really, it’s hard to imagine a better group of venues — or is it?
Interestingly, the Savannah Music Festival did not utilize Johnny Mercer Theatre in 2015. I know the Mercer has its defenders, but I’m among those who find the theatre unremarkable, especially when compared to the smaller but superior Lucas and Trustees. It would be wonderful if the city had a better large venue, but that won’t be happening anytime soon.
The SMF and other organizations could also use a greater diversity of smaller spaces.
In theory, the city’s long-planned cultural arts center will include a state-of-the-art 500-seat theater, but questions still linger about what we will end up with.
The SMF, Savannah Stopover, Savannah Jazz Festival and other groups could also benefit from a type of space that we don’t have right now. We need a room with a capacity of 500 or so that can comfortably accommodate both sitters and standers .
Most of our competitor cities in the Southeast have a venue like that.
Of course, those competing cities also have ordinances that allow patrons under 21 to attend shows even when alcohol is being sold. If the city moves ahead with a less restrictive alcohol ordinance, we could see the private sector invest in larger and more flexible venues.
The SMF and other organizations could also utilize the planned performance space on the hill at Trustees Garden. What a gem that could turn out to be.
While we have some excellent performance venues already, we could see even better ones down the road.
City Talk appears every Sunday and Tuesday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.