Great Scott and T.T.’s join forces with all-access pass

SCENE & HEARD

January 05, 2012|By Luke O’Neil

The band Freezepop performed on stage at Great Scott. The new Bridge Badge,… (JOSH REYNOLDS FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

The traditional path to getting on the permanent guest list at a rock club takes a lot of work - what with the long hours of required schmoozing, the late nights, and probably more cans of cheap beer than are advisable.

A new promotion from the indie-rock clubs Great Scott and T.T. the Bear’s Place called the Bridge Badge aims to streamline that process for avid showgoers and would-be scenesters. The badges, which went on sale last week (at $149, available through www.cqpresents.com), will provide holders access to any show or event at either club through June 30.

It’s an experiment in cross-venue synergy devised by CQ Presents, the booking company behind the programming at the two clubs in question, as well as O’Brien’s Pub and others around the area, explained Carl Lavin. The longtime Great Scott booker, responsible for turning it into one of the city’s hippest rock clubs since he took over in 2004, partnered with Josh Smith (previously of Mass Concerts) to form CQ in February 2011.

The idea was to expand the reach of the size and type of shows they could put on by combining forces, using Great Scott and O’Brien’s as an anchor, and Smith’s experience from placing shows in larger venues all around New England.

“Carl and I partnering up came naturally, because of our commitment to treating bands right, giving fans a great experience, and keeping costs low,’’ Smith explains. The co-owners of CQ have also recently enlisted the help of Kevin Hoskins, former talent buyer for the Middle East. They’re putting on an average of 12 shows a week at this point, many of which badge holders will be able to attend.

Smith had been wanting to try a similar access pass program at venues in Worcester in recent years, during his time placing shows at the Palladium, but the volume to make it a good value for fans wasn’t in place.

“We tried to make every aspect of the Palladium shows unique and different, offering cool giveaways, limited edition merch, early entry, meet and greets, you name it,’’ says Smith. “So the Bridge Badge came from that way of thinking, trying to make it more than just a rock show, trying to include the customers and make it a great value for everyone. Now that we are booking smaller clubs seven days a week, we have the volume necessary to try a program like this.’’

For music fans who already spend a significant number of their nights out seeing shows at either venue (whose average covers tend to fall between $6 and $13) it’s an idea that makes sense financially.