Atascadero, California In 2011, the owners of Bru Coffeehouse introduced themselves to the

community. They hosted a weekly open mic night on Thursdays and even held shows for acoustic
bands that were willing to play. The shows would feature young, blossoming artists , giving them a
stage, however small, to display their abilities. After about six months, they stopped hosting the Open
Mic Nights, leaving the young artists to rot with angst and curiosity, potentially robbing them of the
ability to express themselves.
A little more than a year later, Molly Pitcher Brewing Company opened it's doors, again
offering an opportunity for new artists looking to showcase their songwriting skills. The problem with
the bar scene is that it's difficult for minors to actually land a spot in a 21-and-over venue. From 2012
to 2014, it was rather impossible for Atascadero locals to play live unless they had a well known band
or they decided to head down south towards San Luis Obispo where there's about two house shows
every week. At the end of 2013, an ice skating rink was erected across the street from Sylvester's
Burgers that would also be hosting live, local bands, changing the music scene in Atascadero.
I realized that there weren't many places that people could actually play music, Robert John
Vesnaver, the organizer of the few shows that have taken place, said, I wanted to change that.
The first concert that was held at the ice skating rink was on April 26 and featured acts like The
Sleepyheads 5cl, The Spaces Between, Garland Miler, Magazine Dirty and The Monroes, Vasnaver's
freak and reggae-soul project.
Of course, as Robert began openly expressing what he wanted to do with the ice skating rink,
the city of Atascadero determined that a concert would be too much of a fire hazard, despite every
amplifier being rigged to a surge protector that diverts any extra energy to an outlet's grounding wire.