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Tom DeGeorge at Crowbar in Ybor City, Florida on July 3, 2026. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\nTom DeGeorge at Crowbar in Ybor City, Florida on July 3, 2026. Credit: Dave Decker \/ Creative Loafing Tampa Bay<\/p>\n
Four days away from turning the page on a 20-year chapter of his life, Tom DeGeorge<\/a> has worked for 21 days straight and more or less eats all his meals standing up. He\u2019s lost 12 pounds, too, but he\u2019s not exactly proud about it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s because I haven\u2019t slept. This is not the way you want to lose weight,\u201d he tells Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. \u201cBut I do feel strong. I feel rested. I have energy.\u201d<\/p>\n Inside, homegrown filmmaker Dylan Melcher is hosting the soundtrack release for \u201cJellyfish Season,\u201d<\/a> his indie project shot on 16mm Kodak reels. Chance Reynolds, a bright young drummer from St. Petersburg, who scored the movie, leads a quartet. It\u2019s the last jazz gig Crowbar<\/a> will ever see.<\/p>\n And 2,322 days after Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered nightclubs like his to close due to the coronavirus<\/a>, the 52-year-old co-owner of Ybor City\u2019s most beloved performance venue looks\u2014for at least a moment\u2014like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel good,\u201d he adds. That\u2019s a relief to hear.<\/p>\n DeGeorge\u2019s last six years have been nothing short of a whirlwind. There was the long<\/a> road to reopening<\/a> where he and those fuckers<\/a> from the then-nascent National Independent Venue Association<\/a> (NIVA) secured a $15 billion bailout<\/a> for indie rooms across the U.S. There have been profiles in national publications<\/a>, a risky lease extension,<\/a> the failed<\/a> bid for Tampa City Council<\/a>, and a May trip to Capitol Hill <\/a>where DeGeorge stood tall as lawmakers asked for guidance on how the hell to deal with Live Nation and Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n As guests inside dance around in illuminated jellyfish headwear, DeGeorge says it\u2019s nice to have an atypical Monday crowd in the building. He goes into the part of his stump speech about how all these folks spent money at surrounding businesses. His room is an anchor in the district, but navigating the waters has become impossible.<\/p>\n Crowbar is closing, DeGeorge has said, because he can\u2019t afford to do it anymore given the rising costs of rent in Ybor City and monopolistic practices of corporate ticket sellers and venue operators.<\/p>\n \u201cHosting this was a no-brainer,\u201d DeGeorge explained about the show in front of him. \u201cBecause Dylan understands the struggles that independent artists and creators deal with in modern America today.\u201d<\/p>\n And in the days leading up to this last week, DeGeorge started to realize just how intense closing the door on Crowbar is going to be.<\/p>\n During last Saturday\u2019s Americana hootenanny<\/a>, and for the last hip-hop patio party the night after, memories from his entire life started to flood his mind.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was as close as I could imagine to when somebody\u2019s about to die, and they say they see the bright light, and all of a sudden they\u2019re surrounded by everyone they\u2019ve ever loved. That\u2019s literally how I felt,\u201d DeGeorge said. \u201cEvery song they sang felt like my heartbeat, it felt like the soundtrack of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n Tomorrow, the club that\u2019s been a haven for local hip-hop will tap the Bay area\u2019s best rappers to set the stage for a shutdown orchestrated by New York emcee Talib Kweli<\/a>.<\/p>\n Come Saturday though, the countless bands\u2014both national and local\u2014who\u2019ve found quarter on the Crowbar stage will have to seek new life elsewhere. And next week, as the moving company comes to take the posters off the wall at Crowbar, DeGeorge\u2019s journey, personal and professional, will go on, too.<\/p>\n In spring interviews with CL and filmmakers who just released a documentary about Crowbar<\/a>\u2019s exit, DeGeorge said July 31, the venue\u2019s last day, also happens to be the first anniversary of the passing of his father.<\/p>\n In a eulogy last year, DeGeorge called Thomas DeGeorge Sr. his family\u2019s hero. \u201cIf he was afraid of moving on you\u2019d never notice,\u201d DeGeorge wrote.<\/p>\n It was moving on after a tragic incident <\/a>and the closure of Ybor City\u2019s Masquerade, where he was GM, that led DeGeorge to his own space, after all.<\/p>\n When Crowbar opened in 2006 with a rager headlined by Earl Greyhound, the address had already been home to many failed nightlife endeavours like Jelly Rolls, On The Rocks, Earthquakes, and others long forgotten. Ahead of that show, DeGeorge told CL that those misses were part of why he and his business partner Devin Norton wanted to go for it.<\/p>\n \u201cI kind of knew that no one had been able to make it work, and I liked that kind of challenge,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n DeGeorge poured himself into Crowbar. And as pieces of him started embedding themselves into parts of the venue, the room became a living, breathing entity of its own. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t spend as much time away from my own family if I didn\u2019t think of it as its own life form,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Safe to say, the devotion boomeranged. Crowbar\u2019s run has been inarguably legendary. <\/p>\n It\u2019s hosted countless album releases for homegrown acts, pop stars on the rise (hi, Chappell Roan<\/a>), plus massive underplays from the likes of Doechii<\/a>, Underoath<\/a> and even Kenny Chesney<\/a>. In 2011, Kweli played a no-cover Ol\u2019 Dirty Sundays DJ set that included an impromptu appearance by Mos Def.<\/p>\n Lessons learned at 1812 N 17th St. should inspire other venues as they find their own way. There\u2019s work to be done at NIVA, where he is the Southeast Director. Festivals around the country consult DeGeorge for security. And through his newish company FMAM, DeGeorge will start to book shows at other venues like the emergent Coppertail Brewing loading dock, New World Tampa, and Microgroove. He\u2019s even hinted at finding a venue that he can own outright so he never gets priced out again.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the end, and that\u2019s OK, because the future, I think, will be good,\u201d DeGeorge said. \u201cEverything comes to an end. Nothing lasts forever.\u201d<\/p>\n And while Crowbar certainly won\u2019t be here anymore, it\u2019s quite possible that DeGeorge\u2014and perhaps the entire Bay area music scene\u2014is just starting to take flight.<\/p>\n Pitch in to help make the Tampa Bay Journalism Project a success.<\/a><\/p>\n Subscribe to Creative Loafing newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>|\u00a0BlueSky<\/a><\/p>\n This article appears in Jul 30 \u2013 Aug 05, 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n \n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n \t
DeGeorge told CL that he had a chance to extend the lease at Crowbar even further, but the universe was telling him not to.<\/p>\n