Redwood City's Club Fox going strong

A sellout totals about 250 tickets and the venue sees around 30,000 people each year. Lochtefeld attributes the growing numbers to a dedicated local fan base, his staff and strong partnerships with various bands and promoters. The gradual revitalization of downtown has also helped.

“We’re growing as a scene as more people come downtown and there are more restaurants and reasons to be downtown,” he said. “We expect for this to continue and it’s a shared opportunity for all businesses in Redwood City.”

The venue typically hosts three to four shows a week and it has presented just about every genre one can think of at least once. High energy funk, soul, salsa, Latin rock and blues bands are regulars at the venue, as are jam bands and tribute bands playing hits from anytime between the 1960s and today. And it’s not uncommon for the calendar to feature local bands, metal, acoustic guitar acts or traditional music from the Middle East, Russia or Jewish culture.

“We are open to all genres and delight in the local diversity of choices,” Lochtefeld said. “Our philosophy is a little for everyone. We have a tremendous diversity of programming.”

Every Wednesday, the club hosts Blues Jam, in which established blues musicians round out their performances by jamming with amateur players. That tradition, which began years before Lochtefeld took over the club, celebrated its 13th anniversary the other week.

The venue has also welcomed plenty of big names to its stage over the years, including Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Nils Lofgren from the E Street Band, Carl Palmer, Jorge Santana, Neal Schon of Journey, Elvin Bishop and Montrose.

“It’s not unusual for us to have people who’ve played stadiums,” Lochtefeld said.

Moving forward, he’d like to book more bluegrass as well as original acts, and as much as he’s a fan of jazz, he doesn’t book it much because it’s not the most lucrative genre, he said.

The club features a sizeable stage and dance floor plus a wrap-around balcony above offers unique vantage points of the performers below. The venue is also equipped with a “top of the line” Meyer sound system plus delay speakers for other parts of the room.

“It’s designed from the stage out so the musician gets the best [audio] experience and the next best sound is for the dance floor,” Lochtefeld said. “We don’t oversell, it’s a comfortable experience and we provide a really nice time for people to dance at a high-energy event that can complement a night out on the town.”

Lochtefeld emphasized the growing downtown as a key to success and he’d even appreciate another music venue to bolster nightlife in the city.

“As crazy as it sounds I wouldn’t mind another 400- to 500-seat music venue that could be more attractive with bigger bands,” he said. “Redwood City is great because people don’t have to drive to San Francisco for a high-level meal, nice walk in a beautiful area and then go to the club to dance your ass off for hours — it’s a great and wonderful thing.”

Lochtefeld, who currently lives in Santa Cruz, has been in the music business since the mid-1990s and has worked in many facets of the industry. He got his start tracking for radio stations and record labels, and he’s been a tour and production manager, started his own booking agency and for awhile produced 120 venues a year for pianist George Winston.

While Lochtefeld looks to book more original performers in the future, he said tribute bands, which are always popular with fans and lucrative for performers, offer memorable experiences for audiences, especially the seasoned audiences to which Club Fox caters.

“People feel like they’re 18 years old again with a jam band or tribute band like when they first heard live music,” he said. “That’s what music can do.”

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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