NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — After hosting dozens of bands during its soft opening, The Annex in Norfolk is firing off its three-day grand opening this weekend, featuring seven bands.
The venue has its own brewery and restaurant in one half, with the stage on the other. They are now able to serve alcohol, and the full menu, featuring many chicken and vegan recipes, is now in action.
Booking shows since he was 15-years-old, opening The Annex is a lifelong dream for Josh Coplon.
“It’s honestly kind of like a rush to have it,” Coplon said. “It’s nice to have a new home, and it feels really good to have something that is mine to walk into and not something different every time.”
It has now been three months since its soft opening inside the section of an old Norfolk warehouse. They have a keen focus on promoting local music while also hosting touring bands. The venue has a capacity for 460 guests.
“So far, we’ve had a little bit of everything,” Coplon said. “We’ve had indie music, hip hop, metal, punk, some country, and we’ve had kind of a wide array of stuff.”
Since the soft opening, they tested the waters with a few shows per week. This upcoming grand opening will be different, fully realizing the vision for The Annex.
It has made tweaks such as adding dampening panels to help with acoustics, as well as sorting out their alcohol license hiccups with the city, allowing it to serve craft beer from Young Veterans Brewing Company. The three business partners who spearheaded this project put in years of work to make it all happen.
“Even when we came to Norfolk, they didn’t have like a playbook on how to open this kind of a place, or even where to put us, and what kind of a category,” said Thomas Wilder with Young Veterans Brewing Company. “We kind of fit three categories.”
Wilder is bringing in his beer, while Chris Holyfield brings his recipes.
“The big difference is, in a normal restaurant, people casually come in and steady waves,” Holyfield said. “In a venue, it all gets dropped on you at once. It’s just kind of all hands on deck. We have people cross-trained in different areas.”
It means many of its staff members may be helping with ticketing during part of their shift, while helping with food order rushes at other times.
Friday will feature Spirit Gun, Lesabre, Broken Beaches and Zac Plastic. The Norfolk-based Grateful Dead cover band, “Grateful Jed,” takes the stage Saturday. Ekoh with Ryan Oakes is set for Sunday.
After the grand opening, the restaurant and brewery portion will be open Thursday through Sunday, with scheduled shows at night. Their regular hours will be Thursday from 4 to 9 p.m., Fridays from 4 to 10 p.m., Saturdays from noon until 10 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 8 p.m.
Click here for a complete list of upcoming events.