COLUMBIA, S.C. — The New Brookland Tavern is settling into its new location in Five Points after months of planning and eventual departure from West Columbia.
The notorious sound of New Brookland Tavern is now ringing through Five Points. Manager Carlin Thompson says heading into their second weekend in Columbia, it's been a story of support from regulars and newcomers.
"Everybody has super support, we've raised almost $40,000 on the GoFundMe. That helped us a lot with getting things taken care of here, getting new PA equipment, and getting things updated here where they needed to be," he said.
New Brookland Tavern was a staple in the West Columbia music scene for twenty years. In August, they announced it would be moving to five points after the building it sat in, along State Street, was placed on the market. The last show in West Columbia was played on Dec. 29, with their first Five Points show played the next day on Dec. 30. They're testing their process and learning in the previous Cotton Gin building.
"This first two weeks have been like our trial run to see how everything is going to go. When the college kids come back from winter break that's when we're going to see if there's any other issues. We spent the first week dialing in," he says.
Inside, the bar looks fairly similar to the Cotton Gin. Thompson said the upstairs performance venue will be geared to people of all ages, with the downstairs bars designed for older audiences. He said many factors moved them across the river, one of the biggest being foot traffic and surrounding business.
"There's just more to do for everybody. There's more restaurants, more local businesses that people can go to before the show," he said.
One of those businesses is the BlueTile skate shop across the street. Owner David Toole said he's been following the New Brookland Tavern move since it was announced.
"I think it's really cool. I love that on the sign it says 'Live music back in Five Points.' It's been a long time since we've had like a proper music venue. I think there was like a hardcore last night, a metal show or something, and we haven't had that," he said.
Moving forward, Thompson said New Brookland faithful can expect more of their wide variety of music bookings.
"It's just a bigger building, different area, but the same stuff that we've always done," he said. "We book everything, country to metal, rap hip hop. We'll do anything."
