In the wake of shocking charges, Wilmington's music scene scrambles to recover

Over the past 30 years, Wilmington's music scene has ebbed and flowed, and bands and clubs have come and gone. The scene survived the loss of the Mad Monk in the 1990s and the closing of the beloved Soapbox Laundro-Lounge downtown a decade ago, with both clubs serving as homes for a wide range of local and touring acts.

Since the pandemic lockdown began to wind down in 2021, Wilmington has seen an explosion of young rock bands. Many of them found a home at The Place, a Cargo District spot that burned brightly during the first half of this year before suddenly shutting its doors in July.

A driving force behind The Place was Sean McAdams, who, since its closure, had been booking bands at various local venues with an eye toward reopening the club in a new location. But late last month, McAdams was arrested on multiple assault charges, including felony assault by strangulation, sending shockwaves through Wilmington's music community and leading some to reassess both the scene itself and where it's headed.

A Place-branded show scheduled for last month at the Dead Crow Comedy Room was abruptly canceled, and McAdams remains in the New Hanover County Jail under a $26,000 secured bond.

He has a court date scheduled for Oct. 12.

In the wake of McAdams' arrest, a since-deleted, anonymous Instagram account called "boycotttheplace" posted McAdams' mug shot, along with photos of what the account said was the alleged victim's injuries as well as numerous other posts accusing McAdams of a range of acts.

Multiple bands associated with The Place issued statements on social media, with one from the indie rock band Ridgewood being fairly typical: "Any form of abuse or violence has no place at all in the music scene that our community has worked to cultivate over the last several years," the statement read. "Throughout our personal and professional relationships with Sean, we never believed him to be the type of person who was capable of anything like this … Moving forward, what matters most is for our community to continue to believe & support victims, hold abusers and their protectors accountable, and create an environment where everyone feels safe and respected."

Photographer Luis Mendoza, who shoots concert photos under the moniker VotL, or Visions of the Lens, and has captured images of many shows at The Place and other Wilmington venues, said the news of McAdams' arrest "hit everybody ... We've invested time. We've invested money. It wasn't any one person. It was a lot of people."

After The Place closed, McAdams crowdfunded $6,000 for the purchase of The Place's music equipment, which he had been using to stage shows at various locations.

The Place: Closed Wilmington music venue outlines next steps in search for new home

Christian Ponds is the founder of Immersed Magazine, which runs features on Wilmington artists and covers a range of topics, including environmental sustainability. In September, Immersed had a launch party at Bottega on North Fourth Street featuring several bands from Wilmington's Suck Rock Records, which was largely born out of the scene at The Place.

Ponds, 27, said that especially for some younger musicians and music fans -- some shows at The Place were 18 and over -- the news of McAdams' arrest "is a shock to them. (The Place) was painted as such a safe space. It gave young bands a place to play after COVID."

The incident is a reminder, "Not that we should be guarded, but more on our toes," Ponds said.

Wilmington musician and filmmaker Joshua Sullivan plays bass with shoegaze outfit Doggy Daycare, which played The Place a number of times and also played a couple of Place-branded shows after the venue closed. The news of McAdams' arrest hit the band and the scene hard, Sullivan said, but he thinks both can bounce back.

"Our purpose as a band is to work within the community. Something like this will never take that away. Even if it is heartbreaking on a personal level," he said. "As a band, our broader goal is to create art. Wilmington has a great scene, and it's still a great scene."

Certainly, the scene hasn't shut down. Place regulars like Lawn Enforcement, Beach Tub and Cancel continue to play shows at various venues around town.

"Everybody's, like, settling back in," Mendoza said. "Bands are still playing. That's not going to stop. This thing happened, and the only way to move on is to find better ways to make things safe for everyone."

Ponds said they think that "it's kind of unfair to the bands" to be tainted by an association with The Place, adding that, "Even before the Sean thing, it was like, 'Where's the next place like The Place going to be?' We're lucky that we do have venues like Reggie's, Bourgie (Nights), Bottega" and, somewhat more recently, Varnish downtown, which is largely known as a dance club but which has a stage for bands upstairs.

Bobby Stevenson, who works with Varnish, said the club is looking to highlight local music more often, including at at a two-stage event billed as Fright Fest that Varnish is having at Hi-Wire Brewing on Princess Street Oct. 28. Featured will be such bands as Strangers in Public and Ridgewood, both of which were Place regulars.

"Everyone's kind of searching for that next spot," Ponds said. "We're definitely looking for another venue that has that combination of access, location and space."

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington music groups respond to promoter's assault charges