The Outpost revamps operations after more than half a century in business. See what's new

The Outpost has seen many changes over the years.

For more than half a century, the Kent concert venue has hosted live entertainment − typically metal and country acts in recent years.

Now it's expanding its offerings, partnering with a food vendor and upgrading its facility and equipment to try to diversify its audience and thrive during a challenging time for live music venues.

Manager Fran Bishop said the business is doing whatever it can to be one of the best venues in Greater Akron.

"We've got hip hop now. That's not something we did before," Bishop said. "We've got a lot more indie rock and alternative. Like when you have metal and hard rock, you kind of have a certain crowd, but indie and alternative expands that a little bit."

Bishop began officially managing the venue in May after working as an assistant manager with the Outpost beginning in December of last year. Before that, he booked shows at his house in Kent and at the Roy Smith Shelter.

He's been working to help the Outpost bounce back after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered venues across the nation.

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But getting audiences out to shows has been difficult lately, he said.

Initially, people were eager to get back out to events after the pandemic shutdowns, he said. But the continued economic hardship facing average people is keeping audiences at home.

"Right now, we're living in a time where you're getting charged ridiculous amounts of money for eggs and bacon," Bishop said. "It's tough to get people to go out and get their mind off of their daily lives, but if we can just keep providing more and more, and better live entertainment, we can keep going with this."

Food, club nights among new offerings

To attract more customers, the Outpost − located at 4962 state Route 43 − now has Tasty Encounter Catering Company serving up food Tuesday through Saturday at events.

It also recently started offering monthly club nights, complete with DJ and new black lights.

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The schedule also includes a once-a-week showcase of local bands appropriately named Local Band Thursdays, as well as Emo night and Disney night for concertgoers looking to relish in the nostalgia evoked by music from their younger years.

Club night has been especially popular.

"We literally sold out the first two weeks," Bishop said, adding that there were 500 tickets available each week. "After that, we decided to keep doing this. It was a good fit."

Chartered party busses were dispatched downtown, to dorms, and apartments, shuttling the people they picked up back to the Outpost.

At first, the Outpost was doing this weekly, but it became costly to charter the busses and pay a quality DJ.

"It was a lot," Bishop said. "This time around, we'll probably do it once-a-month. It'll probably be back Sept. 1, actually." The event is 18 and over, but anyone under 21 will have to pay a $10 cover charge.

Of course, the Outpost also has stayed true to its more recent heavy metal offerings. On Saturday, a band called the Four Horsemen is playing at the Outpost. Bishop said it's an album-quality Metallica cover band.

"Our tributes are some of the best tributes that you can get around here," Bishop said.

Facility upgrades

Along with the work being done to expand the Outpost's clientele, the physical space also is being upgraded.

The venue has replaced some of its subwoofers and Bishop said the staff is experimenting with the indoor stage lighting as well.

"We'll probably have six moving heads, and a bunch of front wash lights. We're trying to do some kind of spotlight effects," said Bishop. The black lights hanging above the floor are new as well, installed specifically for the club nights.

New lights have been installed on the freshly painted outside patio as well. Behind the patio is a stage constructed in a fenced in yard-like area. Bishop said that they're currently working to put a roof on the outdoor stage, a project he anticipates will be done in time for the Four Horsemen show.

All of these changes are a way to harness what Bishop sees as the untapped potential of The Outpost. It can hold almost as many people as the Kent Stage can, he said. The Kent Stage has a 660 person capacity, while the Outpost can only hold 500 people. However, with the outdoor patio and stage, Bishop said they can push their capacity to 600 or even 700 people once they install a couple more bathrooms.

"We're two miles from one of the biggest state schools in Ohio, and we have a pretty big capacity, so we should definitely be getting better and more acts here," Bishop said.

Moving foward, there aren't any genres or acts that the Outpost will stray away from booking, according to Bishop.

"It's really anything and everything," Bishop said. "If there's something that people like, we're going to try to have it in here."

Contact reporter Derek Kreider at dkreider@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: New music, new equipment: Kent's Outpost Concert Club evolves again