This Thursday, June 6th, Brickyard Bar & Grill in Bearden will close for the final time after eight years as a pillar of the hardcore, EDM, and metal scene.
Randy Schonagen, part-owner, posted the announcement on the bar's Facebook page:
Thursday night, Brickyard will go out with a bang: one last show, black metal featuring Summoners Circle with WoR, Quiescent Mantis, and Psyclops.
Event organizer Blackhearts Productions had this to say about sending off the venue and their plans going forward for shows:
Event organizers with other scheduled shows have been left scrambling to find new venues for otherwise booked shows.
The East Tennessee Hardcore Collective had originally planned day two of their yearly Knoxville Hardcore Fest to take place there, but must now find new arrangements.
Brickyard originally opened in 2016 across Kingston Pike as a much simpler bar concept, featuring mostly beer & wine and a dramatically different vibe than what it would take on through the years.
The bar was named after a nickname given to that area in the early 20th century for the residents, who mostly worked at the local brickyard, as described in a sidewalk plaque outside the original bar location.
Blaine Keller, then part-owner, described the vision for Knoxville Go/Knoxville News Sentinel in July 2016:
I wanted a place with a clean design that was for social gatherings and conversation
By July, Brickyard began offering food in the form of cheeseboards and small plates, a sharp contrast from the bar food they would serve in their later years.
In August of 2016, they held their official grand opening, and for the next year and a half or so would offer a wide variety of craft beers, wine, and food pairings.
In January 2018, Brickyard announced it would be closing its doors on the original location:
A few months later in April, new life appeared on the Brickyard Facebook page: they were reopening.
The location was across Kingston Pike at 4928 Homberg, formerly the location of gay bars Kurt's, Club Exile, and, mostly recently, Kristtopher's.
In June of 2018, Brickyard would reopen its doors, and they would host their grand opening in October of that year.
From there, Brickyard continued to grow and expand it's offering, including presenting bigger shows.
March 2020 saw the COVID-19 epidemic impacting the business (and world at large)
On March 20th, the bar closed due to the ongoing crisis.
In May, after offering to go food for several weeks, Brickyard announced they would be opening for limited reserved dinner service.
For the rest of the year, Brickyard hosted shows on their patio, and even built a new stage.
By December 2020, shows returned indoors and in 2021 restrictions were relaxed, bringing back the shows that would come to define Brickyard and what it meant to the music community in Knoxville.
So that's the short of it. Whatever happens next, the music will go on.
Until we meet again.
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