MA venue Great Scott reopening in new location

After shutting down, like everything else did, in March of 2020 due to the Covid pandemic, Allston, MA venue Great Scott announced that May that after over 40 years in operation, they wouldn’t be reopening. Longtime booker Carl Lavin went on to acquire the rights to the venue’s intellectual property and liquor license, and launched a crowdfunding campaign to save it, but despite the campaign reaching its financial goal, the owner of the building took another offer for the property at 1222 Commonwealth Ave. Lavin, along with Redefined CEO Paul Armstrong and the Noannet Group’s Jordan Warshaw, have now found a new location for it, however, and announced that it’ll reopen “just up Harvard Ave from its original location,” in a redeveloped building with both Great Scott and its sister venue, O’Brien’s Pub, along with retail space and rental housing. It’s currently expected to open in 2026.

“Since Great Scott closed four years ago, there has been such an outpouring of support for its reopening, but we live in a difficult economic climate where in the past few years more small venues have closed than have opened,” Lavin says in a statement. “This partnership with Paul and Jordan has enabled us to create an economic model that will not only allow a new Great Scott to be built, but for it to be successful for many more years.”

A message on the venue’s Instagram reads:

We’re coming home, Allston.

Great Scott, the legendary live music venue that has been a cornerstone of Boston’s music scene since 1976, is set to make a highly anticipated return just up Harvard Ave from its original location.

When Great Scott closed in 2020 due to the pandemic, it left a significant void in the Boston music scene. The community’s love for Great Scott poured out immediately: a petition for its return gathered over 25,000 signatures within days, and a crowdfunding campaign shortly thereafter raised over $300,000. But finding the right spot for such an iconic venue, and locking that spot down in a way to ensure against a repeat of 2020, was not easy. Today, we are excited to announce that a partnership of Great Scott’s long-time booking manager Carl Lavin, Redefined CEO Paul Armstrong and Jordan Warshaw of The Noannet Group have entered into an agreement to purchase a property at the intersection of Harvard Ave and Cambridge St in Allston. By owning our home, we will be our own landlord.

The new club will retain the intimacy and feel of the original venue, but with behind-the-scenes improvements such as modern back-of-house facilities and state-of-the-art sound and lighting to attract the best local and touring talent. The redeveloped property will also include Great Scott’s long-time sister club, O’Brien’s Pub, as well as additional retail space and much-needed rental housing, ensuring that Great Scott and O’Brien’s Pub remain cultural landmarks in Allston for decades to come.

Vanyaland reports that after sitting empty for three years, a Taco Bell Cantina opened up in Great Scott’s former location last year.