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Listening is easy at World Cafe Live
New Philadelphia nightspot is a world apart
By Len Righi
The Morning Call
Even at the age of 45, Nat Gutwirth is willing to go anywhere and endure all manner of physical discomfort to hear live music.
''I will stand for hours on a slanted concrete floor waiting to have beer sloshed on my toes by the guy next to me if it's someone I really want to see,'' says Gutwirth.
''I have a real affection for those places,'' he adds. ''But most people my age do not.''
That includes Gutwirth's wife. ''She will not go anywhere where she doesn't have a seat, a sight line to the stage and a modicum of creature comforts,'' he says, chuckling.
Not coincidentally, Philadelphia's newest nightspot, The World Cafe Live, meets all those criteria, and then some. The $16 million, 44,000-square-foot facility, which opened seven weeks ago in the historic Hajoca plumbing supply building near the University of Pennsylvania, is aimed squarely at what Gutwirth, World Cafe Live's marketing director, calls ''that large untapped audience in their 30s, 40s and 50s.''
And so far, so good. ''The audience we had sketched out is the audience that has materialized,'' says Gutwirth.
World Cafe Live includes two outstanding performance areas. The 350- to 500-seat Downstairs Live, which features wonderful acoustics and a terrific, reasonably priced dinner menu, has hosted cult faves such as former Velvet Underground member John Cale, arty pop chanteuse Sam Phillips and psychedelic troubadour Robyn Hitchcock along with such AAA standbys as singer-songwriters Jill Sobule and Cheryl Wheeler and newcomers Ray LaMontagne (''potentially this year's David Gray,'' says Gutwirth) and hotshot pianist Jamie Collum. Tickets usually run about $20.
The 100-seat Upstairs Live has been a showcase for local acts, most of them presented with no cover charge, and serves breakfast, lunch, dinner, late-night snacks and drinks.
Parking? No problem. There's room for 200 cars nearby.
''We have an agreement with University of Pennsylvania to use two of their lots just beyond the entrance on Walnut Street,'' says Gutwirth. ''It costs $5 to park there, which anyone will tell you is a bargain in center city Philadelphia. There's also street parking all around us. The meters go off at 8 p.m.''
And if you want to take a bit of the World Cafe Live home with you, the club has its own retail store just inside the entrance near the ticket counter. ''We have our own brand of coffee, Live Beans; our own brand of hot sauce, Live Heat, and wearables and books about music and CDs by the artists who perform here,'' says Gutwirth.
The facility at 3025 Walnut St. also is home to Penn's nationally influential adult-alternative station WXPN-FM (88.5 or 104.9 in the Lehigh Valley). World Cafe Live takes its name from WXPN's popular syndicated World Cafe With David Dye radio program, but is an independent entity. (The club pays WXPN $125,000 to $150,000 a year to use the name.)
Hal Real, 51, the Malvern real estate lawyer and entrepreneur behind World Cafe Live, says he got his ''first inkling'' 61/2 years ago that a club geared for people who want to listen to music could make a go of it.
''After 20 years of watching live shows deteriorate into less than what people my age wanted, I wanted to change the landscape,'' he says. ''I wanted to get us back to what we so enjoyed 20 years ago.
''There are 80 million people over the age of 30,'' he adds, ''and they have very few places to go, places that are comfortable, where you can have something good to eat and easy parking. … We're just trying to make it easier, a one-stop experience.''
To date, ticket sales have been strong. ''At least half of the shows have sold out,'' says Real.
And while people have quickly acknowledged the rooms' acoustics, Gutwirth says, ''The best kept secret part of our operation is our food.''
World Cafe Live employs two executive chefs and a food and beverage director who oversee a menu Gutwirth describes as ''casual American fusion food.''
Among the offerings in the $8-$10 range are: hummus with olives, feta, roasted bell peppers, grape tomatoes and grilled pita; a chicken cheesesteak sandwich; a smoked barbecue pulled pork sandwich, and a mini-burger duo.
Entrees in the $12-$18 range include pretzel-crusted chicken; paella with seafood; Ahi tuna, and the Vegetable Tower with polenta and herb tomato sauce.
''The menu started out a little too fancy,'' says Real. ''It was a challenge to be able to get the number of meals we needed to get out in the time available , and it was a little too pricey.''
So three weeks in, the menu was revamped. '' The macaroni and cheese dish is still there,'' says Real. ''The crab, lobster and salmon cake trio isn't. It wasn't realistic.''
But when all is said and done, it's the music that matters most.
''One of the inherent advantages of this building is that rare space built from the ground up for the express purpose of entertainment,'' says Gutwirth.
''It's really all about fun,'' adds Real. ''Even old people like us should be able to go out to have fun without having to worry that the kid next to you is going to throw up on your shoes.''
Len Righi, Film/Music Editor |
