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In Milwaukee, the recent decision to allow all-ages shows at more venues came from a simple question: If people under the age of 21 could be trusted to not drink at fairly large venues like Turner Hall and Milwaukee Bucks and Brewers games, then why not at smaller places like the Cactus Club and Walker’s Point Music Hall?
The resulting ordinance change, adopted last fall, established a license allowing venues with stages with less than 1,200 square feet of space to sell alcohol at shows with underage people in the audience. Although no license has yet been granted under the new ordinance, the interest in all-ages shows is definitely growing in Milwaukee—much of it driven by the success seen at the X-Ray Arcade live-performance venue in Cudahy.
Justin Wexler, one of nine owners of X-Ray Arcade, says a big reason his business partners and he decided to go to Cudahy was the absence of any ordinance in that city banning all-ages shows. With only large venues in Milwaukee opening their doors to minors, Wexler knew there was an untapped market in the greater Milwaukee area. Wexler says several of his fellow owners and he had grown up around Chicago, and many of them had fond memories of attending all-ages shows, “but we came to Milwaukee. Our choice was to go just outside Milwaukee or be a 21-and-up venue,” Wexler says. “At that time, it didn’t look like they were going to change the law.”
X-Ray Arcade immediately began offering all-ages shows upon opening its doors in February 2019, and Wexler says his partners and he have had no reason to regret that decision. Concertgoers have to produce identification if they want to drink and then are given wristbands marking them as being age 21 or older. Shows have to stop at 11 p.m., and anyone who is underage is not allowed to stick around for after-parties. Throughout it all, Wexler said, the Cudahy police have been cooperative and have had to intervene in only a handful of minor incidents.
‘We Want People of All Ages to Come Out and Be Part of Something’
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One thing all-ages shows haven’t been, Wexler added, is a big money-maker—a development that wasn’t entirely unexpected. In opening the business, Wexler and his partners recognize they’d be making less money from alcohol sales than venues of a similar size. Charging a cover at the door can help make up lost potential revenue, he said, but making money also isn’t the ultimate goal. Neither Wexler nor any of his partners depend on X-Ray Arcade for a living.
“We are doing this in large part to support the arts,” he says. “We want people of all ages to come out and be part of something.”
Although X-Ray Arcade might not have been taking business away from Milwaukee venues, the example it was setting did make local promoters and owners start thinking that they might be missing out on an opportunity. According to Nik Kovac—the Milwaukee alderman largely responsible for the ordinance change allowing all-ages shows at small venues—X-Ray Arcade was frequently brought up by advocates of the new rules. Kovac says the Milwaukee Licenses Committee, which he chairs, has yet to grant a small venue a license permitting all-ages shows. Interest is strong, though, and it’s only a matter of time before many clubs and performance venues around the city start opening their doors to minors.
The previous ban on all-ages shows at small venues was, itself, not especially old. It came about in 2003, in part in response to local officials’ worries that a perceived loophole in state law would allow strip clubs to become licensed as performing arts centers. The resulting ordinance allowed the simultaneous presence of people under age 21 and alcohol sales only at venues that either had stages with at least 1,200 square feet of space or regular art displays. Some places went so far as to put up permanent art exhibits that complied with the rules; most, though, simply gave up on all-ages shows.
Kovac said it has since become apparent that the ban was too far reaching. If having proper safeguards could prevent minors from drinking at big venues, then why not also at small venues? “You don’t create the law for law breakers,” he explains. “You create the law for people who are going to follow it.”
Many event promoters are eager to secure one of the new licenses allowed by the recent ordinance change. Jim Rice, owner of Walker’s Point Music Hall just south of Downtown Milwaukee, said he looks forward to the day when he will no longer have to tell bands that want to play before all-ages audiences they’ll have to seek out a venue in the suburbs. “You have this whole generation of younger artists and younger fans who, until now, had no places, except at school or in a church basement, where they could do shows,” he says. As far as making money, Rice adds that many venues are trying to see how they fare with non-alcoholic drinks. Juice, tea, coffee drinks and alcohol-free “mocktails” are all becoming common at shows.
Some venues will, no doubt, rely on cover charges, but even this is not a given. “There’s a lot changing in how bands are paid,” Rice says. “A lot of time, they receive a percentage of overall sales. A lot of things are being reevaluated to make sure everyone’s being accommodated.” One thing Rice doesn’t expect to see is cutthroat competition among venues offering all-ages shows. Milwaukee, he said, has enough distinct entertainment districts, performers and concertgoers to make sure everyone can stay busy without having to worry much about what the other guy is up to. “Many places will focus on a specific type of music, which is another reason why there isn’t a great sense of competition,” he says, “because if performers are offering something we don’t feature, we can send them somewhere else.”
