eVocal Closing Down Soon

In today's bummer of the week, Costa Mesa all-ages live music venue/clothing store/art galley eVocal is closing imminently.

Confirmed on their MySpace blog last week, eVocal as a venue on 19th St. in west Costa Mesa will no longer exist, but eVocal as an entity will continue on. From the post:

"We're planning to step out the box, do shows at other venues, go on tour to spread the 'Vocalism' word, gain exposure and launch the eVocal brand.  We need to invest in infrastructure, implement systems needed and generate the revenue needed to sustain and model our program.  We can then reinvest in breeding the culture, offer to support other emerging artists and then look to reopen an eVocal 'Zone' such as we've had (gallery / boutique / event space)."

Though it's nice to see that eVocal will still exist in one form or another, it's a huge loss to the Orange County music community--not only is there now one less place for local bands to play, it's also one of the few all-ages venue in the county. The last show they're promoting on thta site (though there might be a couple more in July) is a "farewell festival" on the 4th of July. I've reached out to eVocal owner Brett Walker and hope to have more from him here soon.