TempleLive at the Cleveland Masonic Lays Off Entire Staff, Cancels Several Upcoming Concerts

TempleLive at the Cleveland Masonic received a multi-million dollar makeover a few years back. Credit: Mark Oprea

Earlier this week, TempleLive at the Cleveland Masonic laid off its entire staff, a former employee told Scene. They said the phone call caught them and the other employees by surprise.

The venue has also begun cancelling and re-ticketing several upcoming shows.

Saturday’s concert featuring trap pioneer Jeezy has been cancelled. The Australian Pink Floyd show that was to take place on Sept. 11 has also been canceled. The band put out this statement: “We are sorry to announce that our show in Cleveland has been cancelled. It was a shock for us to find out that the venue is closing and the promoter has abruptly pulled all shows at that venue. We apologize that we can’t perform for you all on Thursday evening but hope to visit Cleveland again. Refunds will be processed at point of purchase so please contact your ticket vendor for more information.”

The Sparks show slated for Sept. 15 will now take place at the Agora, and the Waxahatchee concert scheduled for Sept. 16 has moved to the Roxy at Mahall’s 20 Lanes in Lakewood. And Indie rockers Blue October took to social media to announce that their November show has been cancelled. Given the situation, other concerts are likely to be cancelled or move to other local venues.

TempleLive, which also recently pulled out of operating its Scottish Rite venue in Peoria, IL, reportedly sunk $8.1 million into the Masonic and recently overhauled its sound systems and redid electrical and plumbing. The company also upgraded its green rooms and its roof during those renovations that took place over the past couple of years.

A request for comment from management wasn’t immediately returned.

In a city that arguably now has too many local music venues, TempleLive at the Cleveland Masonic had recently made some inroads. The venue hosted a sold-out Devo show this past summer and had just booked indie rockers Cage the Elephant to play the venue in October, which would have been the venue’s biggest show to date.

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