Saint Rocke rock’s back
A veteran management crew brings back the best of the old Saint Rocke, and reimagines it
by Garrick Rawlings
Saint Rocke is under new ownership, and new management. But they are picking up where the previous regime left off. Through the end of March and into April Saint Rocke is presenting a variety of soft-opening shows as they dial in a new sound system, and stage lighting as well as opening up the main room.
Saturday night’s (March 25) show was a South Bay Punk Rock triple threat, with All Over, One Square Mile (1SM), and Farmers.
Saint Rocke general manager Michele Gutierrez describes her club as music driven, with great drinks, and not the other way around. Photos by Philicia Endelman (PhiliciaEndelman.com)
General manager Michele Gutierrez, and talent booker/marketing director Reid Clow, who booked this night to celebrate his birthday, explained how the reopening came together.
“It all started in January when I received a phone call from my buddy Nick Aguilar who books/markets for Alex’s Bar in Long Beach. He told me he just got a call from Larry Little, part of Saint Rocke’s new ownership. They were looking for someone to do his job at Saint Rocke, and asked him to do it. But he said that I’m more qualified because he’s super Long Beach now and I’m South Bay. He asked me if I was interested. I said absolutely. Larry introduced me to his business partner, Dani Grant, who is based in Fort Collins, Colorado. She owns the Mishawaka Amphitheater in nearby Bellevue, along with several other venues. Larry is the music director of the company. They have a number of partners, including Kevin Lyman from the Warped Tour and Jim Lindberg of Pennywise.”
“I really hit it off with them,” Clow said, and asked if they had a GM picked out. They didn’t, so I mentioned Michele. We’ve done a lot of local music work together.
One Square Mile’s Vanessa Kaylor was the highlight of Saturday at Saint Rocke. Photo by Garrick Rawlings
“I had a great video chat interview with them,” Gutierrez said. “Dani told me she knew she was going to hire me within the first two minutes of talking with me. She empowers women and she’s taught me a lot. This is what I want to do and this place is perfect. Five years ago I told Steve (Aguilar, her significant other) that I’m going to run this place and now I am. It’s the first thing in my life I’ve ever manifested.”
“We’ve changed the aesthetics of the building,” Gutierrez said, “and it’s going to change even more. The new lighting gives us the ability to change the mood however we like, whenever we like. Tonight it’s black and red. We had a musician’s night a couple weeks ago where Little and Grant invited basically the entire city of Hermosa and they sat down and asked questions like ‘how can this place be better?’ We got a lot of really good feedback and that helped us get going on the right track as well.”
Saint Rocke’s quirky corner entry has been moved to the center of the building. Photos by Philicia Endelman (PhiliciaEndelman.com)
“We changed the main entrance,” Clow said, “from the corner of PCH & 2nd Street to PCH under the marquee. We used to be (Clow also worked at Saint Rocke under the previous regime) a very dinner and a concert-centric venue. Now we’re working on giving locals a chance to sit down for more quiet shows, like our Jazz show Sunday night. Tonight we removed half or more of the seating for the punk show, which is mostly a standing room only crowd.”
“The difference between Saint Rocke and 95 percent of other bars in the South Bay is they are watering holes where you may see a band over a few beers. Saint Rocke is a music venue, you’re coming to watch a show. We’re very music driven here, and with great drinks”
Gutierrez spoke of another important part of the club.
“Something I am really proud of is that I hire really good staff! I’ve got the best bartenders in the South Bay. They worked for me before, and came back because they want to be a part of it. And my security team is amazing. It took a long time to find them, and now they go where I go. Reid is doing a great job with promoting, marketing and booking, along with Adam Spriggs [Head Talent Buyer] who is also really great.” ER