Crest Theatre reborn as music venue

Downtown Fresno site could fill midsize role for live acts.

Published online on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2009

The Crest Theatre has found its latest life -- as a concert venue.

What's left to see whether it will have staying power as the medium-sized venue that the Fresno music scene has been missing for years, or whether this is just another attempt to revive the historic downtown theater.

On Sunday, the Crest Theatre welcomes punk band The Misfits (minus its famous once-frontman Glenn Danzig) for a concert that also features a number of local punk bands.

It's the latest in what's been a rather active year for concerts at the Crest, with all-ages rock and hip-hop shows largely fueling the schedule.

Last month the theater hosted concerts from rock bands A Day to Remember and All That Remains. In the past year, the theater has had rock bands Lamb of God, The Used, Five Finger Death Punch, Pennywise, plus rappers such as Ice Cube, Andre Nickatina, Smoov-E and D-Lo. There was also a date with Mexican group the Kumbia All-Stars this year.

"Everybody is welcome here," says theater owner Gloria Leon, who took over the space in 1996.

In that time, the theater has also functioned as a church and a movie theater -- including a run playing Bollywood films in 2007. That, of course, harkens back to the theater's previous life.

Built in 1948, it was part of a once-vibrant downtown theater district, with neighbors such as the Wilson, Warnors, Kinema and Hardy's. It was at these theaters where Fresnans would watch feature films. But as multiplexes arose, and the town moved north, the Crest lost its luster.

Now music seems like a good fit. The theater fits 1,250 people, a prime size for touring acts.

"There really isn't a middle-ground venue in Fresno," says Eddy Numbskull of Southern California concert promoter Numbskull shows. "Meaning the 800-to-1,200-type venue. The Crest really filled that void. You have the clubs, you have the Rainbow [Ballroom] and you have the arenas. That's it. There's nothing in between."

That middle area is key. Up-and-coming bands can play at clubs such as Starline and Audie's Olympic, and draw a few hundred people. But once they get too big for that, they'll pass over Fresno until they get big enough for a place like Rainbow Ballroom (capacity 1,800) or either of our arenas.

For a long time, the Wilson Theatre was the go-to midsize venue in Fresno. And it's those midsize venues that are quite busy with touring acts.

As current theaters go: The Crest is bigger than The Tower Theatre (which remains pretty active with concerts, and has tribute bands Aja Vu and Souled Out on Saturday night), but not as big as Warnors Theatre (which has hosted concerts again recently -- including one Saturday with Christian artist Jeremy Camp). Tower Theatre seats 750, and Warnors Theatre fits 2,300.

What will be important for keeping the Crest busy is getting buy-in from concert promoters. It's been promoters like Numbskull and Bakersfield's Tim Gardea who rent the theater for shows they've booked.

Leon knows this and says, "I invite promoters to come and see the other promotions that people are doing. People keep coming back because the venue is really nice."

Numbskull says the Crest is still a work in progress, but he sees its positives.

"I like the location. I like the art deco, vintage feel of the room and easy access to freeway," he says. "From a production standpoint, the sightlines are good and the acoustics are good.

"We've had great success thus far," he says. "And the people who come have been really excited."

All sides know the work is not done. Leon has been working to refurbish the theater. Now she's trying to figure out where she can get $100,000 for fa-çade improvements. But concert promotions can be a turbulent world and the phone could stop ringing any day. For now, Leon is happy to be fielding calls.

"We have a lot of calls from different promoters," Leon says. "We have three or four new promoters who are interested in doing big things here. I'm very excited about all this new interest."