Kirk McNeil, owner of popular restaurant and music venue Area 23 in Concord, New Hampshire, has spent the last seven years building up interest in his establishment and its wide array of musical offerings. All who have been there will tell you it’s a fun place to hang out and to listen to all kinds of music.
The entrepreneur’s vision developed over two decades. McNeil spent 20 years traveling the country as a salesman. He went into a lot of restaurants and bars. He went into places he never wanted to return to. He also went to some places he thought were pretty cool. Eventually, McNeil was at a point in his family life and career in which had an opportunity to own his own venue.
“I picked the good parts to create a location where people would want to be and hang out and enjoy and express themselves, and to eliminate much of the, shall we say, nonsense from the bar and restaurant industry, “McNeil said.
Almost seven years later, McNeil finds success in his numbers and in how well his musical acts and events have been received. He more or less stumbled into his current plan and vision through trial and error at his 254 North State Street location.
“We started up a little less than seven years ago,” he said. “I’ve always enjoyed music, and I hoped we would do some music. But I didn’t really have a clear definition of how that would take shape.”
Kirk McNeil; owner, booker Area 23; Concord, New Hampshire
McNeil did not have to look far for help in fleshing out his vision for a music venue. “I have been both pleasantly surprised and occasionally astonished at the level of musical talent just within a 20 minute radius,” McNeil said. “I realized we have to give them a place to come and play and hang out. My customer base started to respond very positively to that.”
Starting with only one open mic night, Area 23 benefited when another Concord venue had shut down their own open mic night. That was only the beginning of the music program there. Area 23 now has a variety of acts, blues, indie rock, country. Other venues in that Concord area were hosting Thursday night bands and Saturday night bands but nobody else was hosting Friday night bands. So, McNeil decided to host bands on Friday nights.
“Chaz Mitchell and Hank Osborne was the first live performance we had that wasn’t an open mic,” McNeil said. “It just took off from there.”
“Our Friday’s,” McNeil continued, “started filling up. We said maybe we can do Saturday too. Maybe there’s enough business here that we could do Saturday. That started filling up. There were a lot of people who could not come out on Wednesday night because they have to work day jobs. So I figured what if we (also) do a jam session on Saturday afternoons.”
Area 23 interior, busy night
All of those trial and error efforts and learning experiences worked themselves into a business plan. McNeil found he was doing more business on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons than on Friday and Saturday nights and at less cost.
“In some ways the open mics and jams help subsidize the band nights,” he said. One of Area 23’s open mic hosts, Steve Butler, when asked about the venue, couldn’t contain his enthusiasm.
“My favorite thing is the people,” Butler said. “So many different genres, styles, and even skill levels, but the bottom line is the enjoyment on people’s faces, audience and performers. Area 23 is a very friendly place, and that helps everything to be done without it seeming too much like real work.”
Area 23 plays into the Concord area’s demographic groups. An older crowd comes out to the Saturday afternoon jams. They can get home before it gets too dark or too late from them to be out.
“They can spend time, drink a couple of beers, and go home and not have to deal with police roadblocks or other people who don’t know how to handle a couple of pops,” McNeil said.
McNeil has a head for numbers. He has a certain figure he wants to earn each day. He usually hits his Saturday numbers by night fall. Any amount he earns after the jam crowd goes home is gravy. He does not have to spend the rest of the evening worrying about making enough money.
“It kind of takes the stress out,” he said. One of Area 23’s popular jam hosts, Ross Arnold, offered his own take on why the Saturday jam has been so successful. “The vibe is inclusive with a respect and appreciation for individuality,” Ross said.
Area 23; Saturday afternoon jam
McNeil always has a fairly early quitting time for his Friday and Saturday bands, about 11:00 pm. A band crowd tends to stop ordering food and beverage much earlier than a band’s quitting time, so there is no point in keeping the band playing.
“We’re not really doing business,” McNeil said. “Why have the band last longer than that. I thought: let’s put a button that. People can start clearing out naturally.”
It also gives McNeil time to find out who needs a cab and or who needs another cup of coffee.
”I try to do a lot of things in this business that are a little bit different than what other bars and venues do. What I find is it reduces stress on staff and on me.”
McNeil, by removing the usual stressors he can keep everybody happy, and that reflects on the way he deals with customers and the way that customers perceive the establishment.
“It just kind of operates from there,” he said. “It’s one reason I don’t ever do cover charges. If you don’t like it, you didn’t spend ten dollars at the door. If you don’t like it, just leave.”
“I’d much rather create a situation where if you don’t like it, clear out,” he said. “Make room for somebody else who wants to be there. In turn, that gives us a more attentive audience. They’re there because they want to be there. They actually listen to the music. Somebody came up to Hank Osborne the other day and want to apologized for talking during Hank’s set.”
“Hank said, “‘It’s an open mic. I don’t expect you to be quiet here.’ ‘Yeah, but I got about half way through it and realized I wanted to hear everything you’re singing, and I talked over it, and I just wanted to say I’m sorry.’”
Area 23; guitarist tuning up, jam
Concord alone might be not be large enough to keep a venue like Area 23 in business. Luckily, People in New Hampshire don’t mind getting on the road to visit a place like McNeil’s.
Some of McNeil’s bands come from Manchester’s scene. Some of those Manchester bands bring their fans up to Concord. Yet, McNeil does not try to compete with Manchester as it has its own festive scene. He does advertise in the Lakes Region during winter and summer season.
“In the winter time, half the stuff up there is closed, so the locals are looking for something to do,” McNeil said. “In the summer time those beach houses are inhabited. If we catch a rainy weekend, I can fill the place up with people from Boston who are looking for something to do.”
McNeil has other strategies for dealing with the weather.
“In the winter time, I won’t book a band that’s more than 15 minutes out of town,” he said. “Part of that is because we’re in New England. The weather’s going to be the weather, and I don’t close when it snows. So, I expect the band to show up. But, it’s not realistic for me to expect a band from Nashua to show up in a snowstorm, so I don’t even book then during that three and a half months when we might have a snowstorm. By the same token, my crowd knows I don’t close for weather. So, a lot of time I’ll get a three quarters crowd during the middle of a blizzard because every other bar in town is closed.”
Professor Harp; performing at Area 23
McNeil has run the numbers for how many of his customers are coming in from outside the greater-Concord area: On a Tuesday 21%, Wednesday 18-34%, Thursday 9%, Friday 10-54%, Saturday early 67%, Saturday late 11-47%.
Another part of the draw is that musicians know McNeil will host them no matter what. One night, after the power went out, the innovative venue owner lit candles and asked the band to go acoustic. He put a candle in the front window which drew people in who saw it burning. It’s that personal touch, cultivated over the last seven years, that contribute to the vibe at Area 23.
“We’re going to figure out a way to make it work,” he said. “Little things like circuit boards and electricity are not going to stop us. We can still pour beer. We’ve got candles. We’ll just keep on doing, and people respond to that.”
Area 23; Saturday afternoon jam
One of McNeil’s latest packages is to have a singer-songwriter or solo acoustic act open on a Friday or Saturday night from 7:00 pm. to 8:00 pm. Then, at 8:00 pm., a band will take the stage. The owner-booker also brings in acts like Chris Fitz, Professor Harp, and Faith Ann Band who play out all over New England.
“Faith’s Manchester crowd will come up,” he said. “She also has a Concord following. Professor Harp, he’s been playing out since ‘75. When he’s coming to town, I’ll let Granite State Blues Society know. They’ll help spread the word. McNeil books Boston area blues man Chris Fitz the same nights he books blues organist Ken Clark. McNeil pairs them up, letting them take turns before having them play together at the end of the night.
Professor Harp looks forward to many returns to the Concord venue. “It’s fun,” Harp said. “Hope I can build something up up there.”
“I don’t tell the bands what to do,” McNeil said. “Like with Faith Ann, I tell her this is my budget. Tell me what you want to do. Sometimes she’ll bring in the Faith Ann Band. Sometimes she’ll say ‘I want to play solo and I’m going to bring in my buddy Dank Sinatra’. I’ll say, you’re in charge of the budget, and I need three hours of music and I just leave it up to her.”
Liam Spain, another local artist that Area 23 works with, might wish to bring in his twangy rock and roll band, scalawags Sometimes Spain brings in his brother Mickey and they’ll play Irish music.
“I’ll tell Liam, here’s your budget and I need three hours of music and a good show. He loves it because I’ll give him thee dates and tell him he’s not allowed to do the same thing twice. Then, he can decide what he wants to do.”
Area 23; jammers
That format is fun for the artists as they use their creativity. It is also fun for McNeil’s patrons as they have a good idea what they’re getting but not exactly what they’re going to be getting. “They know it’s going to be good,” McNeil said.
Sometimes McNeil’s regular players can bring in a fresh face musician who has not gotten any gigs of their own yet. McNeil only makes sure the players get paid and they get fed. “I don’t charge the band for food or drinks, within reason,” he said.
McNeil’s other main goal was to make certain he and his staff did not end up hating the experience of being there. He wanted to create an environment that would make his employees want to be there. That is because of what he had seen in the bars and restaurants he had frequented around the country. He does not want his staff to be worried about whether a crowd would show up or if they’re going to like the food menu. McNeil wanted to remove all of that from the equation. It’s his employees that McNeil appreciates the most.
“The biggest factor for us has been having a really great staff,” the venue owner said. “I’ve got two people who have been there since the very beginning. They’re phenomenal. We have a ridiculously low turn over rate with our staff. We treat them like human beings. We listen to them. I think our average staff member has been with us at this point close to two years, which in the restaurant business is a lifetime. They know their job backward and forward and they know the customers. That just helps with the vibe.”
