Last August, Waiting Room owner Chris Ring closed the doors to his popular Buffalo venue after four years in the business. Almost a year later, Ring and restaurateur Dale Segal are joining forces for The Rec Room, a new live music venue in Downtown Buffalo.
The two hope the new project will give Buffalo a new “intimate” space for live music shows.
The new venue will be located at 79 W. Chippewa St. in Buffalo’s entertainment district. The address was once home to local clubs Bayou, McMonkees and The Lodge. The venue will bring more national tours, local acts and a karaoke series which was once popular at the Waiting Room, to Buffalo, according to a press release from After Dark Entertainment.
The Rec Room will be open for two August shows — The Fallen Dreams on Aug. 8 and Mixtape Reunion on Aug. 24 — before the official grand opening in September.
This fall, the venue will host shows by Andy Grammer, Shooter Jennings and Said The Sky among others, with more to be announced in coming weeks.
Brenton J. Blanchet is the 2019-20 editor-in-chief of The Spectrum. His work has appeared in Billboard, Clash Magazine, DJBooth, PopCrush, The Face and more. Ask him about Mariah Carey.