Feedback about the closing of BoAs/Club Elite

Hi Friends,
Here are a couple of emails Matt and I have received about the closing of BoAs/Club Elite. Feel free to join in the discussion if you like:

Mr. Kitagawa - I think you are the right person to contact, but I'm not sure. I am hoping that by writing the entertainment department at the Merc, I will be able to encourage more people to attend live performances. If suspect that people in your department are already sold on them, but it so easy to just pop in that DVD or CD that live performers have a tough road to hoe. Also, I'm convinced that by not attending live performances, people miss out on the very best of what human society has to offer. My own journey into live performance started reluctantly by being pressured into chaperoning for school field trips. Figuring I might as well try to enjoy myself, I just relaxed and found that I was blown away. Between Arts Express (City of San Jose) and Stanford's Lively Arts student matinees, I've attended Indian Dance, Taiko drumming, Chinese acrobats, Silicon Valley Symphony, a saxophone quartet, solo pianists, poets, musicals, choirs and Bobby MacPheron. It takes a while for our neurological system to register the difference between a live and a recorded performance, but once it does its like going from black and white to color. Who wants to go back? Not me. Over the years I've started to reach out on my own and see what's out there. I've attended everything from opera in San Francisco to free solo singers at the park to rock concerts to bistro jazz. Though there were a few exceptions, the more obscure and "home grown" the event, the better it was. The best full productions I have attended have been with West Bay Opera. However, the most exquisitely pleasurable sensory experience I have ever had was an evening spent listening to a jazz combo at BoAs in Cupertino. An experience like that leaves you positively euphoric. As I listened, I couldn't help but think, "Now this is why I put up with the maddening hordes. its experiences like this that justifies the existence of cities." It is also an experience I wish every one could have, and I think they can. The cost was dinner and a $5 cover. Listening to music on the radio while I drive doesn't do it for me any more. Music coming out of that stereo is just a cheap trick. Yes, I listen to the stereo. But I now know what real music is about and I will no longer settle for less. Yours Truly - Deborah G.

So, John, if Boa's was such a success, how come it closed????
Mike V.

Hi Mike,
BoAs and the Club Elite were separate entities. The club was doing very well but the restaurant was having problems. The club was often sold out on weekends and would help the restaurant by bringing in customers for them. Sounds strange but the end result was the restaurant was losing money while the bar flourished. The bar flourished because Matt would bring in quality entertainment on a consistent basis and when the word got out, people would flock to the club.
Considering that Club Elite was a destination spot rather than one supported by foot traffic such as Pearl's in SF, they did very well.
John
Too bad about BOAS. You had a good run there...hope you can find anothervenue. Your band must have gotten to a new level, being able to play togetherso much..... That's all for now,Jim N.

Hi Johnny W,Nice message - well put! BBLV