Scott McCannell spent years booking other people's venues before he opened his own. Snug Harbor launched in 2007, in a stretch of Plaza Midwood that hadn't yet become one of Charlotte's most sought-after neighborhoods — the venue got there first.
The lineup refuses to specialize: punk one night, hip hop the next, drag and burlesque after that, karaoke twice a week, folk and metal and country and electronic all rotating through the same small room. A dive bar with genuine range is rare; a dive bar that's kept that range for nearly two decades is rarer still. When the city floated noise ordinance changes years back that would've squeezed venues like this one, Snug Harbor was already older than most of the residences suddenly complaining about it.
It's not just music, either — shows here regularly double as fundraisers for people in the community who need it, proceeds going straight to whoever the night's raising money for.
1228 Gordon St, Charlotte. Doors most nights around 8 or 9pm — check the calendar, because there's almost always someone playing.
