The Boston Globe reported over the weekend that the Beachcomber in Quincy has been sold to a local businessman, who plans to demolish it and build a new, high-end restaurant, also called Beachcomber.
The Wollaston Beach bar and music venue has hosted acts such as Louis Armstrong, Loretta Lynn, Jay Leno, and the Dropkick Murphys since opening in 1959. In recent years, it was mainly a venue for DJs, Irish music, and tribute bands, the Globe notes.
The Beachcomber was put on the market last year for $1.6 million, but owner Sean McGettrick declined to share the details of the sale with the Globe.
McGettrick inherited the club from his father, Jimmy, who founded the Beachcomber 56 years ago with a partner he eventually bought out. The patriarch of the family-owned venue died in 2011.
The announcement of the Beachcomber's closure comes just two weeks after the owner of Johnny D's Uptown Restaurant & Music Club shared plans to shutter in early 2016, and just one week after T.T. The Bear's Place hosted its final shows in Central Square. But an industry veteran who has booked shows at several local venues told the newspaper this shouldn't be a sign of end times for the Boston music scene.
"Mom-and-pop stores are going under. There’s nothing different about it, but it is weird that they’ve been clustered together like this in Boston," Randi Millman said. "I don’t think live music is dying. Things are just shifting. There are still plenty of places that support local bands. If anything, I think the scene will become more fertile as people stop looking to clubs and find alternative spaces for the arts."
McGettrick said the Beachcomber will close in early September. "56 years of memories!!!! None of this would have been possible with out our customers who came out and supported us all these years," the McGerrick family wrote on Facebook.
UPDATE, 8/24: Boston Restaurant Talk reported the Beachcomber plans to stay open through September. The club shared on Facebook that the extended run will give bands that have played there over the years a final chance to play the Beachcomber.
[Photo: The Beachcomber, Facebook]
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