Philly Underground Music Venue Spotlight: The SODA Bar
- Noah Crowley
- May 12, 2020
- 2 min read
A staple of the North Philadelphia basement show scene, the SODA Bar has hosted a diverse amount of acts and audiences in its 2-year run as a house venue.
The SODA Bar: Humble Beginnings and Ends
Dreamt up by four friends during their freshman year at Temple University, the SODA bar was a venue whose sole purpose was to provide a safe space where listeners could enjoy live music. The venue was created and managed by Sidra D, Owen B, Danielle H, Angel Y, John F, and Ethan Z. Running from Fall 2019 to Spring 2020, the SODA Bar has seen a house change, a mini festival, and plenty of concerts throughout its operation.
Show Spotlight: SODA Fest
In Spring 2019, the SODA Bar staff in conjunction with WHIP Radio decided to throw a music festival. This festival involved two stages, a photo booth, giveaways, and six bands playing in one night. To say that this was ambitious was an understatement; it was borderline impractical. The night of the fest, more complications ensued. A thunderstorm wreaked havoc on the outdoor stage, and all bands had to be moved inside. However, through careful planning and incredible efforts on parts of the SODA staff, WHIP staff, and the bands, the festival went on, with every band playing before the noise cap at 11pm. A testament to the inventiveness and purpose of the SODA bar and WHIP staff, the festival was a true success.
Venue Change: The Soda Bar Part 2
Coming into Fall 2019, the owners of the Soda Bar moved houses to a larger space that was more capable for hosting larger audiences. With this venue change came an incredible boost in the quality of the shows that were hosted at the Soda Bar. This saw the venue play host to local acts such as Carly Cosgrove, Dogs in a Pile, Kinda Alright, Ryan Leahan, Rubber, Beach Fuzz, among others. The music was loud and the crowd followed suit, these shows were truly something to behold.
Unfortunately, this haven for local music was shut down prematurely by the forced quarantine associated with COVID-19 in Spring 2020. However, the music lived on through livestreams on the Soda Bar's instagram page, the last of these being held May 13th, 2020. The Soda Bar had quite the run, and many of its staff are continuing involvement in the Philly local music scene in the future. The Soda Bar set out and proved that music spaces can be fun, safe, and local while always providing a great product to their audience. It will be dearly missed ❤️.
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