Heidelberg's Club Above drops live music, now a poker venue

Big changes are afoot at the Heidelberg’s Club Above.

The venue that formerly played host to live music (upstairs from the Heidelberg restaurant at 215 N. Main St.) is turning over a new leaf — or card, as the case may be.

“We’re going to poker full-time, is the bottom line,” said Heidelberg general manager Mike Holloway. “A company is leasing it out from us. We were doing music and Latin dancing and salsa and all that, but to be honest, it wasn’t going anywhere. It was just the same thing, the same thing. And when things get stagnant, you have to do something to make a change.

“Everybody was doing their best. It’s not that people weren’t pulling their weight, but we weren’t moving further up, so we made the switch.”

The change went into effect last week, and acts that had been scheduled to perform at Club Above have been canceled.

According to No Fun Entertainment/No Fun Records' Claudia Leo, who had been booking acts for the Club Above, performers were lined up for the venue through June, and news of the club's shift came suddenly.

"When No Fun Entertainment was asked to join The Heidelberg, we were given a very strong commitment to building up their rock club on a long-term basis, which we met with equally long-term booking efforts," Leo wrote in a prepared statement.

The booker e-mailed her statement from a music industry convention in Los Angeles, where she is now working to find a new Ann Arbor venue for the performers that had been booked at Club Above.

"The Heidelberg’s reckless actions left everyone in the lurch, completely disregarding the high quality work that both artists and booking agency had put into building up their venue, which had been embraced by the music community as a much needed and promising addition to the Ann Arbor/Detroit music scene," said Leo.

Holloway countered that many nights on the Club Above's upcoming schedule were "to be announced."

"But the reason we did this is because we didn’t see an increase in business," he said. "This was a business decision. … Now the room is rented, we’re being paid, and all we have to do is supply a bartender. That’s it."

Holloway nonetheless expressed regret about having to cancel dates at Club Above (which has now been re-named the Heidelberg Poker Room).

“I felt bad about that, but (the poker room deal) was a signed contract for us, so we had to cancel immediately,” said Holloway.

Currently, the Heidelberg is committed to 2 years of poker, every night of the week, in the space formerly known as Club Above.

Has Holloway heard any feedback from patrons about the switch?

“I’ve heard zero,” said Holloway.

"We have 3 floors, and we want each to be successful," said Holloway. "This is the way we think we can do it. There was nothing vindictive about it. … (Leo) put her heart and soul into (Club Above), and I understand that, but there was no money in it. We were just breaking even at best, and that's the bottom line."

To check out a new web site devoted to The Heidelberg Poker Room, visit www.1800letsplay.net.

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.