THE RECENT CLOSING OF STRANGE MATTER HIGHLIGHTS A PROBLEM FOR RICHMOND HIP-HOP

A few years ago, I remember hearing that the legendary CBGB music venue in New York, which closed in 2006, had become a John Varvatos store. I remember thinking to myself: Is New York really letting this happen?  

As I have gotten older, started paying more attention to things like the economy, started promoting local concerts in Richmond,  I realized how small music venues struggle, even those with a famous reputation. 

Last week, Richmond said goodbye to their own version of CBGB. The music venue Strange Matter, on West Grace Street, closed its doors after being a solid home for Richmond’s underground music scene for nearly four decades [1]. 

While Strange Matter will always hold an iconic place in the history of punklore, sporadically, throughout the ’90s, and particularly over the last decade, Strange Matter has been a welcoming home for Richmond’s growing hip-hop community. 

The first show I ever photographed was a Face Melt Friday show at Strange Matter in 2011. The most successful show The Cheats Movement Family Podcast ever hosted was Oddisee at Strange Matter.  Some of the most exciting gatherings of independent hip-hop I’ve ever been a part of were outside Strange Matter. 

Over the last decade, Strange Matter opened its doors to Richmond’s hip-hop community in a way that made it a top destination. And its closing highlights a challenge that Richmond’s hip-hop community will need to overcome. 

Richmond only has a limited number of music venues. And of that limited number, only a few embrace Richmond’s independent hip-hop community.  The Camel and Gallery 5 have been great (under 200 capacity) music venues for hip-hop. Places like Emilio’s, Baja Bean, McCormick’s, Black Iris, and Brewer’s Cafe have all done good work with Richmond’s hip-hop community and deserve recognition, but the challenge with those places is that they’re not true music venues. The lack of small capacity music venues for hip-hop has always been a challenge in Richmond but the closing of Strange Matter really highlights the need for more venues willing to open their doors to hip-hop events. 

Mark Obsorne and his Strange Matter team has been amazing to Richmond’s hip-hop community since they took over the venue. I truly wish Mark much success as he moves forward. The closing marks a true end of an era but it’s understood. Thank you, Strange Matter. #WESEEIT  

1. And several names: The Back Door, Twisters and the Nanci Raygun to name a few.