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[Drunk Monk]

Saddle Rack country music club in Fremont closing for good

Bay Area nightlife fixture felled by coronavirus





By JIM HARRINGTON | jharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com and LINDA ZAVORAL | lzavoral@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 8, 2020 at 6:36 p.m. | UPDATED: May 8, 2020 at 8:08 p.m.
Here’s something that Bay Area cowboys and cowgirls never wanted to read:
The legendary Saddle Rack country music club is no more.
The announcement came Friday, via the popular bar’s social media channels:
“Dear Saddle Rack Family — it is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that the Saddle Rack will not be reopening its doors,” the post reads.
The bar, which got its start in San Jose before relocating to Fremont, is yet another victim of the coronavirus pandemic, which has sent countless local businesses into major financial hardship.
“Eight weeks ago, the Saddle Rack suspended operations in an attempt to protect our guests and staff,” the statement reads. “Today we have made the extremely difficult decision not to reopen.”
Thus ends one of the longest runs of any major nightlife spot in the South Bay. The Saddle Rack has been a beacon for country music fans since the mid-’70s, having withstood everything from the disco onslaught and New Wave to the “Urban Cowboy” fad and Garth mania. The club remained open when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. Yet, the one thing it could not withstand was COVID-19. Although, efforts were certainly made.
“The future of the Saddle Rack and our industry is incredibly uncertain during these times,” the post reads. “Over the past eight weeks, our management team has tried their best to evolve our business in a way that stays true to our almost 44-year heritage. We have been unable to come up with a viable solution to reopen the Saddle Rack while ensuring the safety of our family.”

The Saddle Rack was more than just a bar to so many, including one Twitter user reacting to the news of the closure.
“One the the best places the bay has ever seen,” tweeted Brian G (@DJdarkman007).


For many, the country & western music bar scene in the Bay Area will never be the same again.

“We are deeply saddened that we must lose the place that so many of us have called home over the past years, but are also extremely thankful to have created the relationship with everyone who has walked through our doors,” the statement reads. “We have guided each other through some of the best and worst times.”


The Saddle Rack ran from the ’70s until the early 2000s in San Jose, before heading north for Fremont. In 2017, longtime Mercury News columnist Scott Herhold called San Jose’s loss of the club one of the “worst local decisions of the last 50 years.”
Yes, Herhold wrote, it was admittedly a “quirky choice” for his list. “But the loss of the best-known country-western nightclub in the Bay Area in 2001 was a blow to San Jose’s identity. Beneath the high-tech gloss, San Jose’s roots are agricultural, one reason why the nightclub on the near west side was so insanely popular.

“True, the Saddle Rack’s owner, Hank Guenther, might have sold out anyway. But with the adoption of the Midtown Specific Plan in the 1990s, the city decreed that it foresaw housing for the area. The plan virtually made it uneconomic for Guenther — who died in a plane crash in 2002 — to remain in business with the Saddle Rack. Instead, he sold his property to KB Home. In preferring condos to the bucking bull, San Jose betrayed a lack of soul. The Saddle Rack re-opened in Fremont.”
The club had been running in Fremont since 2003.

The lone bastion of Fremont culture that wasn't Indian.

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[img=715x0]https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SADDLERACKINT.jpg?w=620[/img]
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[*]Present site of the Saddle Rack Bar is the future site of a new housing apartment complex along with a park between the town houses that are already making their appearance across the street. This photo was taken on July 25, 2001. (Aimee Santos/Staff archives)

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By JIM HARRINGTON | jharrington@bayareanewsgroup.com and LINDA ZAVORAL | lzavoral@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: May 8, 2020 at 6:36 p.m. | UPDATED: May 8, 2020 at 8:08 p.m.
Here’s something that Bay Area cowboys and cowgirls never wanted to read:
The legendary Saddle Rack country music club is no more.
The announcement came Friday, via the popular bar’s social media channels:
“Dear Saddle Rack Family — it is with overwhelming sadness that we must announce that the Saddle Rack will not be reopening its doors,” the post reads.
The bar, which got its start in San Jose before relocating to Fremont, is yet another victim of the coronavirus pandemic, which has sent countless local businesses into major financial hardship.
“Eight weeks ago, the Saddle Rack suspended operations in an attempt to protect our guests and staff,” the statement reads. “Today we have made the extremely difficult decision not to reopen.”
Thus ends one of the longest runs of any major nightlife spot in the South Bay. The Saddle Rack has been a beacon for country music fans since the mid-’70s, having withstood everything from the disco onslaught and New Wave to the “Urban Cowboy” fad and Garth mania. The club remained open when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2009. Yet, the one thing it could not withstand was COVID-19. Although, efforts were certainly made.
“The future of the Saddle Rack and our industry is incredibly uncertain during these times,” the post reads. “Over the past eight weeks, our management team has tried their best to evolve our business in a way that stays true to our almost 44-year heritage. We have been unable to come up with a viable solution to reopen the Saddle Rack while ensuring the safety of our family.”
The Saddle Rack was more than just a bar to so many, including one Twitter user reacting to the news of the closure.
“One the the best places the bay has ever seen,” tweeted Brian G (@DJdarkman007).
For many, the country & western music bar scene in the Bay Area will never be the same again.
“We are deeply saddened that we must lose the place that so many of us have called home over the past years, but are also extremely thankful to have created the relationship with everyone who has walked through our doors,” the statement reads. “We have guided each other through some of the best and worst times.”

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The Saddle Rack@TheSaddleRack





An important announcement from The Saddle Rack.



31
4:54 PM - May 8, 2020
Twitter Ads info and privacy

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31 people are talking about this

[url=https://twitter.com/TheSaddleRack/status/1258908083570511872]



The Saddle Rack ran from the ’70s until the early 2000s in San Jose, before heading north for Fremont. In 2017, longtime Mercury News columnist Scott Herhold called San Jose’s loss of the club one of the “worst local decisions of the last 50 years.”
Yes, Herhold wrote, it was admittedly a “quirky choice” for his list. “But the loss of the best-known country-western nightclub in the Bay Area in 2001 was a blow to San Jose’s identity. Beneath the high-tech gloss, San Jose’s roots are agricultural, one reason why the nightclub on the near west side was so insanely popular.
“True, the Saddle Rack’s owner, Hank Guenther, might have sold out anyway. But with the adoption of the Midtown Specific Plan in the 1990s, the city decreed that it foresaw housing for the area. The plan virtually made it uneconomic for Guenther — who died in a plane crash in 2002 — to remain in business with the Saddle Rack. Instead, he sold his property to KB Home. In preferring condos to the bucking bull, San Jose betrayed a lack of soul. The Saddle Rack re-opened in Fremont.”
The club had been running in Fremont since 2003

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WTF is going on with this post? I can see the article below when I reply, but not otherwise.

Anyway, it's about th Saddle Rack closing

Saddle Rack country music club in Fremont closing for good

Bay Area nightlife fixture felled by coronavirus