Hotel RL’s Rhythm and Brews concert series canceled

A new owner and nontransferable permits have brought an abrupt end to the Hotel RL’s Rhythm and Brews concert series, leaving musicians and some community members frustrated.

Worthy Hotels Inc. bought the Red Lion Hotel at the Park for $35 million earlier this month.

Worthy Hotels Inc., run by Walt and Karen Worthy, now owns and operates five Spokane hotels, including the Historic Davenport Hotel, the Davenport Tower, the Davenport Lusso and the Davenport Grand.

On Wednesday, two days after news of the sale broke, Craig Heimbigner, who booked the concert series, was told by Joe Owens, corporate director of food and beverage at the Davenport, that the series would continue.

But the next day, Heimbigner said he got the sense that the hotel would only try to hold a few of the concerts.

“I was like, ‘Well, that’s not great, but maybe they’ll see what it is and how successful it is,’ ” he said.

On Friday, Heimbigner got word that, after attempts to relocate the concerts failed, the rest of the series had been canceled because the new owners wouldn’t be able to secure a permit from the city of Spokane in time.

Many of the Hotel RL staff Heimbigner had been working with on this series no longer work at the hotel, and it would appear as if there are too many loose ends still to tie up.

The following concerts have been canceled: Abbey and Friends, featuring director/actress/vocalist Abbey Crawford (Friday) and Soul Proprietor (Saturday); Trego (Aug. 3) and Atomic Jive (Aug. 4); Paperback Writer performing a Beach Boys tribute (Aug. 10) and Paperback Writer performing a Beatles tribute (Aug. 11); Shakewell (Aug. 17) and Christy Lee (Aug. 18); and MasterClass Big Band Rhythm and Blues Revue (Aug. 24) and Peter Rivera and Celebrate! with an opening set from Sidestep (Aug. 25).

Crawford’s show will now take place Friday at 6 p.m. in the Georgian Room at the Spokane Club. Tickets are $10.

Lynnelle Caudill, managing director of the Davenport Hotel Collection, is sympathetic to the musicians who lost out on the chance to perform, but said because the permits the Hotel RL had in place don’t transfer to the new owners, there’s little they can do until they get the necessary entertainment licenses and permits, a process which usually takes between 30 and 60 days.

“Once we get them though, we can start working on it and work together, but as of right now, we cannot honor the program that the Red Lion put in place because our company doesn’t have the right to do that,” she said. “The city has not authorized us yet to do a music program, and obviously we’re not going to do anything against the law.”

Heimbigner said he worries that the cancellation reflects poorly on the community, especially after Elkfest was canceled earlier this summer.

“This is its fourth year,” he said. “It’s not like we’ve never done this, or this was an experiment and ‘Let’s see if it works’ or anything like that. This is year four. It’s a very successful series.”

Caudill understands and agrees, but her hands are tied until the proper permits are in place.

“I do feel badly for everyone, and honestly I do hope we can reinstate a great music program there, but we cannot do it without the proper licensing and permitting,” she said. “That takes a fire inspection, a police inspection. I want to be frustrated, too, but I can’t be. It’s just the process. That’s how that works.”