We’ve heard whispers for several weeks and, while we still haven’t gotten official confirmation from the current owners, it appears that Players Bar and Grill is ending its long run as a destination for fans of live metal, rock, hip hop. Players is apparently putting on its final shows over the next few weeks, winding down its live music by the end of the month as the new ownership takes the reins at the hard drinking and hard rocking nightclub, according to one local bandleader who has been working with the club recently.
No official word on what will become of the bar, which is being acquired by the same ownership group that controls The Mountains Edge and the Timbers locations, but one rumor is that Players will be supplanted with a restaurant.
While the loss of any venue is never a good sign for the local music scene, there are indications that Century Drive is thriving. In addition to the recently completed Show Us Your Spokes Series at Parrilla, the Hump Day Hash series at the new Century Center, formerly Brightwood mill, is generating a solid buzz. Next month the Century Center will host the Bend Roots Festival, which is moving from the area around Victorian Café and Parrilla Grill where it has outgrown its makeshift festival grounds.
Word is that the Century Center will debut a new stage at Roots that could position the multi-use complex as one of the new go-to venues for local bands and smaller traveling acts.
