 | ||
|
|
|
| ||
 |
||
|
Lucas School House: The Hot Spot for New Music in St. Louis
By Suresh Mohapatra St. Louis’ Lucas School House recently celebrated its first anniversary. The event center, music venue, and eatery is located in Soulard in downtown St. Louis. Situated at the spot of the historic 1880s St. Lucas Church complex, Lucas School House has quickly become one of the best venues for new music in the St. Louis area. The venue features artists covering a wide range of musical styles ranging from blues to folk and indie rock. The music hall holds a capacity of 250 people and has already been host to numerous local and national acts including Asobi Seksu, Maria Muldaur, Erin Bode, and Ghost in Light. Lucas School House features a club room located directly across the street from the main entrance, a banquet room (fitted with leather chairs in a lounge-type atmosphere) located below the music hall, a 1,400 square foot courtyard ideal for enjoying a meal as well as the music from the venue, and of course, the music hall. The music hall, outfitted with state of the art audio and video systems, has plush seating along the sides and back of the venue with an open area for listeners to get close to the artists. The stage area is reminiscent of Chicago’s venue Schubas but adds the class and sleek style of The House of Blues, all while maintaining a great St. Louis feel. While many venues in St. Louis are known more for being rooms to pack in groups of people and blare loud music, Lucas School House prides itself on being a customer-friendly, upscale venue and club with great acoustics. Owners Dan and Mia Jameson purchased the historic Soulard property in 2004 and have worked hard to turn Lucas School House into a successful entertainment and music complex. When asked about their approach to opening the complex, Dan Jameson states, “I started out as a customer myself and asked what would I want as a customer if I were attending the venue. I would want comfort, quality, ambiance, great sound, a friendly staff, and a non-smoking venue.” “Rather than trying to differentiate Lucas from any other establishment, it is more a question of doing things our way, some things work and some don’t. The key is to learn from our mistakes and act quickly on them. In the end we want people to feel like they are at home, like the artists are performing in their own living room, in an intimate and comfortable surrounding.” Another reason for the success of the Lucas School House is the sound quality and relationship that the venue has with the bands that play there. Sound Engineer Dave Ashauer, who has been working at the venue since it first opened, meticulously and methodically sound checks bands prior to the show and works hard to tweak in a perfect sound (as well as adding visual effects). Several artists including Geoff Koch and The Bottle Rockets have released live CDs recorded at the Lucas School House. In addition to the sound quality, the musicians that play at the music hall are treated more as guests than a group of strangers coming to play the venue for a night. As well as offering a great venue for music, Lucas School House functions as an event center hosting everything from St. Louis charitable events to private parties. Lucas School House has recently begun to offer a great selection of food including an excellent brunch on the weekends, as well as live music. Plans are currently in the works to add a weekly happy hour. Lucas School House is quickly becoming the premier venue in St. Louis and is playing host to more and more national acts. It is one of the few venues where patrons and music fans alike have commented that it is worth going to just to see the venue. With the closing of Mississippi Nights, The Hi-Pointe and several other venues over the past few years, it is refreshing to see that there is still a great venue for musicians and fans alike to enjoy local and national music. Lucas School House
|
|
|
||