"It’s been kind of a musical church, if you will."
It’s 4 p.m. on a Friday, and Crowbar owner Tom DeGeorge is very busy.
Outside his office window, roosters crow as local bands drag their gear into the music venue ahead of a January soundcheck. DeGeorge, 52, looks like a rock star himself with his denim on denim and long, grizzled beard. He sips from a Coke can, his other hand tapping away at a flurry of emails on both his desktop and cellphone.
It seems like everyone — bands, bookers, journalists, other people like DeGeorge who run independent rooms across the country — wants a piece of him. Crowbar hosts about 300 events a year, and everybody is dying to get on his calendar one last time.
“The next six months are going to be, in my opinion, the greatest six months that Crowbar has ever had,” DeGeorge said.
Crowbar turns 20 this year. It is the last full-time independent music venue in Ybor City, and it’s going to close at the end of the summer.
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