“This is a super important room for smaller artists to get their start,” says Cat Ridgeway of The Social in Orlando. “Being able to get a foothold in a room that has this much respect and notoriety around town. It creates a sense of community that snowballs over time.”
“It's a good energy,” adds Natty Knox. “Tonight I got to experience my first performance at the social. You can feel the vibes and the love. So it's just a joy being here and seeing the people loving the music.”
The Social is intimate live music room founded in 2001 on North Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando, FL. Six years earlier, Shayni Rae and Jim Faherty opened the Sapphire Supper Club in this same location, which soon became a gathering place for Orlando's alternative scene, with early appearances by Seven Mary Three, My Friend Steve, and Matchbox 20. The room is next door to the Beacham Theater, which opened in 1921 and as artists develop they often move from The Social to the adjacent venue.
The Social is the final independent facility featured in the Raise The Stage series, created by Jai Alai IPA, the flagship beer from Cigar City Brewing in partnership with the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). In the first Raise The Stage video, Marco Benevento and Karina Rykman shared their thoughts on the Bearsville Theater. In the second, Tom Hamilton offered his perspective on the Ardmore Music Hall. CJ Johnson of Oh He Dead appears in the third, speaking about Washington, DC’s Songbyrd. Guitarist Tom Hemby spoke about Nashville independent venue 3rd & Lindsley in the fourth.
The Social is one of seven venues along a stretch of North Orange Avenue operating together as The Block, offering everything from dining and craft cocktails to live music and late night dance floors. The district hosts more than a thousand events and welcomes over half a million people each year. In the decades since this area was designated a historic district, these businesses have helped turn the corridor into a nightlife engine, employing hundreds of local workers while contributing tens of thousands of dollars each month in fees to the city.
Ridgeway says of The Social and its role: "It's a foundational place to be a musician, to come to shows and meet other people within the scene. That's how bands form. You meet people at shows."
Owner Michael McCraney observes, "NIVA is our mouthpiece for venues like us around the country. Look, we're not trying to change the world. We're just trying to change our little corner of it."
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Raise the Stage is giving away five complete sets of the posters associated with the plus the limited-edition Raise the Stage vinyl and a branded slip mat, and you can register to win here.
