Tonight I went down to the industry preview of the new Mercury Club located in the space many remember as The Future goth club in Kenny’s Alley in Underground Atlanta.
Mercury’s owners are familiar names around town in the Clear Channel/Concert Southern world - Premier Events Management. Previous to opening the Mercury Club, their focus revolved primarily around concert vending opportunities (The Tabernacle, Roxy, Chastain Amphitheatre, Music Midtown, Atlanta Jazz Fest, etc).
Booked by an Atlanta-based event production agency, Mad Booking (mostly commonly known for the former On The Bricks concert series at Centennial Olympic Park), Mercury already has at least one show on the way:

March 17 - Grand Opening featuring Tora Tora Tora & Sovus Radio - FREE

Imagine a smaller Roxy setup-wise for the main house. One bar on each floor. Some characteristics from The Future are still found (the robots on the wall of the balcony you can see from the bottom bar and the silver walls) but Mercury’s followed a very CC approach for the new venue - the glossy feel with rock memorabilia adorning the walls and stairways.
Local Sam Thacker performed for the modest opening, open bar and finger food. Typical industry party. Can’t comment on drink prices because of this but great bartenders. Plenty of room to lean against a wall, sit down for a few (booths, sofas, tables/chairs) or have a smoke. Sam wasn’t the most impressive but I’d hate to be hard on him based off the circumstances of his performance.
I’m interested to see how Mercury’s going to play their cards out of the box. Will the locals go to Underground? It all depends on the talent they bring in there. They could pull a Rival (The Loft, Vinyl, Earthlink Live) who draw hundreds of people out to Midtown almost every night of the week. Can they secure the talent necessary to give locals an incentive to venture downtown and actually *gasp* pay for parking? (Note: There is a $3 lot adjacent to Kenny’s Alley - best price downtown.) And hell, you can drink til 4AM!

Psst - Photos of Mercury (Sorry about the quality.)

www.mercuryclubatlanta.com

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