National Independent Venue Association (NIVA). The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and its associated foundation, started at the outset of the pandemic to support and advocate for aid for independent venues, is searching for its next executive director. NIVA and its fundraising branch, the National Independent Venue Foundation (NIVF),…

 The Independent is one of 10 independent venues nationwide participating an an NFT auction fundraiser for the National Independent Venue Association, which includes tickets to all events at the venue for a calendar year. The “Golden Ticket” auction will also raise money for all of the venues participating,…

Editor Daniel J. Willis’ reaction to just about everything this year. Here’s his 2020 in review. The last couple years I’ve done a column of the Worst of the Year in Music. This is not a normal year. It’s been so bad that the worst of music is, at…

First Avenue in Minneapolis photographed on May 19, 2020. Photo: Todd Johnson. While most headlines about the newly-passed, long-awaited second round of COVID relief are focused on the $600 individual payments, it also includes help for the nation’s independent venues. According to a joint statement by Nancy Pelosi and…

The UC Theatre photographed on Sept. 27, 2020. Onome Uyovbievbo/STAFF. The National Independent Venue Association has reorganized, with a separate nonprofit National Independent Venue Foundation (NIVF), whose mission will be to partner and fundraise through individual, corporate and foundation donations to expand upon NIVA’s mission to save music venues, as…

First Avenue in Minneapolis (photographed on May 19, 2020) will host Dizzy Fae as part of #SOSFEST this month. Photo: Todd Johnson. YouTube Music and the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) today announced the Save Our Stages Festival (#SOSFEST), a virtual three-day music festival with new performances and other…

The Uptown Oakland. STAFF. For the second time since first opening its doors in 2005, The Uptown nightclub in Oakland has closed. The club, across the street for the Fox Theater on Telegraph Avenue, had already been shuttered since March. Its owners, Robbin Green-Yeh and Ray Yeh, announced the…

Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco. Courtesy: Wikicommons A wave of independent concert venue closures swept through Texas this month, including the well-known Barracuda and four others in Austin and several in Dallas—all due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This follows the closure of other clubs like the Great…

The Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Courtesy. More than 800 concert venues nationwide, including 25 in the Bay Area, have joined forces under the umbrella of the National Independent Venue Association, and are lobbying Congress for financial assistance in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. NIVA, based…