The Grape Room in Manayunk Has Closed Its Doors
The Grape Room on Grape Street in Manayunk – which hosted many WMMR events over the years – has closed. The club has long been a destination for live music in Philadelphia and is popular with up-and-coming rock bands and indie music enthusiasts. The news came as a surprise to the Philly music scene, as the venue and bar had been promoting upcoming events in the days before they posted the news.
A post on the Grape Room Instagram says: “We didn’t think the day would come where we leave one of the loves of our life. They say, “the show must go on,” but today it will not. Sometimes a change is necessary and we hope one day Grape Room and @badhabitsbooking will host amazing local concerts again. For now, we have to think of the shape of whats to come.”
RELATED: More from the MMaRchives
They added: “Thanks for the memories that we’ve all shared together along the way, as there are many eras of the Grape for each of us to remember, some spanning decades. The music, the friends, the lifestyle that was the Grape, it was a dream come true.”
The venue noted that the closing of their doors is effective immediately, and as a result, all upcoming shows there have been cancelled.
The Grape Room Over the Years
There have been multiple iterations of the Grape Room since 1984. Until the early 2000s it was known as the Grape Street Pub. They later switched locations and dropped the “pub” to become Grape Street, and in 2010 returned to its original location and rebranded as the Grape Room. The venue is currently owned by Brian ‘Scooter’ Hassinger. They have yet to comment on the closing beyond the initial Instagram post.
WMMR has a history with this place. The Grape hosted Jaxon’s Local Shots Live, a weekly local music showcase, for several years. The Philadelphia radio station also hosted a now-legendary MMaRchive Session at Grape Street with Chris Cornell (seen below with Pierre Robert) and has done live interviews and performances at the Grape with acts like Seether and Staind.
We’ll keep you updated with more info as it becomes available, and we wish the staff at the Grape Room all the best. In the meantime you can head to MMR’s Official Concert Calendar for upcoming shows in our area.
MMaRchive Session at Grape Street Pub April 2007. Photo courtesy Douglas Lockard
This article was updated with date corrections on 4/24/24. Thank you Tom Hill for the tip.
RELATED: Local Shots Artist of the Month
FLASHBACK: Pearl Jam Rock the Spectrum One Last Time
