LAFAYETTE, La. — A well-known live music venue in Downtown Lafayette has abruptly closed its doors and is now up for sale, leaving local artists and music fans without a beloved space for performances and nightlife.
The Grouse Room, a popular destination for live acts and weekend crowds, announced its sudden shutdown just days before several scheduled shows, including one by five-time Grammy-nominated artist Sean Ardoin.
“I was really, really excited. We were doing a double on Friday night of Festival Acadien, but we got the call saying it was shut down,” Ardoin told KATC.
Ardoin had been scheduled to perform at the venue next week, expecting a large turnout during one of the busiest weekends of the year.
“We were expecting a couple hundred people, and with the festival ending right before, we were hoping for some of the overflow and wanted to pack it out,” he said.
The closure comes as another blow to Lafayette’s live music scene, where midsize venues are already scarce.
“It’s a pretty sad thing to lose another venue,” Ardoin added. “There aren’t that many venues of a significant size that you can play — it’s either really small or really big.”
Despite the disappointment, Ardoin is encouraging fans to stay engaged and support the local music scene.
“It sends a beacon to the people of Lafayette who like live music, if you like live music, you have to support live music,” he said. “If we just put it in our rotation of things we do on the weekends, we can help keep these businesses open.”
Ardoin also wants to make sure other artists stay positive despite the closure.
“I’ve been in this business a long time. One thing you need to know as an artist is businesses open and close, and as long as you don’t quit, you’ll have somewhere to perform."
KATC has reached out to the owner of The Grouse Room for comment regarding the closure, but has not received a response as of news time.
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