There’s more drama happening at the World Cafe Live.
The University City music venue has been racked by labor strife since staff members walked off the job in June to protest what they said were unfair working conditions under the longstanding club’s new leadership under CEO Joseph Callahan.
The concert schedule has grown sparse at both the WCL’s intimate upstairs Lounge and larger downstairs Music Hall.
The one reliable highlight has been the Friday Free at Noon series presented by WXPN-FM (88.5), the University of Pennsylvania radio station that’s also located at 3025 Walnut St. but is an entirely separate business.
Now, you can’t even get a drink at World Cafe Live. At least, not an alcoholic one.
According to public records obtained by The Inquirer, the venue’s liquor license lapsed at the end of last month.
Word of that lapse this week coincided with XPN moving the Free at Noon series — at least temporarily — out of West Philly to the Main Line in Montgomery County.
Friday’s Free at Noon with Philly songwriter, guitarist, and protest singer Ron Gallo will be staged at Ardmore Music Hall. And next week’s Black Friday FAN with another local band — rock and roller Nik Greeley & the Operators — will also be held at AMH, which has periodically hosted the lunchtime concerts in recent years.
Reached for comment about the temporary move, WXPN general manager Roger LaMay did not say whether the decision to move the FAN series — which celebrated its 20th anniversary earlier this year — to Ardmore was specifically based on the lapsed liquor license.
Multiple attempts to reach World Cafe Live management for comment on the status of the liquor license and the Free at Noon shows were met with no response.
As of Halloween, the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Broad’s site has listed the entry for Real Entertainment Philadelphia, Inc. as “EXPIRED.”
The company’s license still bears the name of Hal Real, who founded WCL in 2004 and later converted it into a nonprofit before stepping down in the spring. He was replaced by Callahan, the Philly native technologist and entrepreneur who was responsible for bringing the Portal to Center City last year.
When he took over from Real in May, Callahan said that the venue had accumulated $6 million in debt and was losing up to $70,000 a month. He told The Inquirer in June he was dedicated to putting the venue on sound financial footing and vowed to utilize virtual reality technology “to bring the world to World Cafe Live, virtually and digitally.”
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania LCB confirmed that the license is expired and said “its renewal is pending the receipt of information from the licensee, the licensee does not have operating authority at this time.”
Since the WCL’s license expired, alcohol sales reportedly continued at some shows, such as the Josh Ritter Free at Noon performance in the Music Hall on Nov. 14, according to patrons.
But at Wednesday night’s show in the Lounge with Montclair, N.J., bandleader Lily Vakali and Philly guitarist Mighty Joe Castro, all beer taps were turned off. No booze was served, a World Cafe Live staffer said, adding that the venue expects to have a BYO policy for the next few weeks until the license is renewed.
This weekend, the WCL has a busy schedule. Contemporary Christian singer Terrian was scheduled for Thursday night in the Music Hall, Philly Irish music singer John Byrne Band is set to play in the Lounge on Friday, and salsero Alex Moreno Singer will sing in the Lounge on Saturday.
However, Thursday’s show in the Lounge with Kaleb Cohen has been postponed and rescheduled for April 9 next year.
At a Town Hall meeting in July, then-World Cafe Live president Gar Giles — who has since left the company — publicly recognized Philly unions Unite Here Local 274 and IATSE Local 8 to represent World Cafe Live workers.
Since then, “World Cafe Live has refused to come to the bargaining table,” said Mat Wranovics of Unite Here, which represents food service and front-of-house workers at the venue. “Despite the announcements and promises they’ve made, not one of the workers they’ve fired has been given their job back.”
In September, Callahan stepped aside as CEO and president, though insiders say he remains atop the World Cafe Live board and in charge of the venue. Callahan has been replaced J. Sean Diaz, a Penn grad who is a former DJ as well as a music producer and entertainment lawyer.
“Whatever financial concerns that this place has had, I’m very positive that we are going to connect with all of the resources, all of the partnerships, all of the organizations that we need to be successful,” Diaz told the Daily Pennsylvanian in September. “I’m here to be that agent of change.”
At time of publication, neither Callahan nor Diaz had responded to requests for comment for this story.
