Once upon a time, the food court at Montclair Place was the home of businesses like Hot Dog on a Stick and Great Khan’s Mongolian Festival.
Soon the space will be a concert venue hosting performers such as Berlin and Ambrosia.
“As soon as I walked into this space and saw the 60-foot ceiling, it was like, ‘I want this,’” said promoter Lance Sterling.
Sterling was part of the House of Blues in the ’90s and was tasked with opening their venues. Striking out on his own, he opened his own place, the Canyon Club, in Agoura Hills in 2001. He owns or operates five existing concert venues in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
When it opens, The Canyon Montclair will be his first business in the Inland Empire.
“I had the advantage of building all the House of Blues,” he said. “I can do all this stuff in my sleep.”
Surveying the construction site, Sterling said he is shooting for Nov. 30 to have the restaurant and bar open, with concerts starting shortly thereafter, even though at the moment the 17,500-square-foot space is virtually empty.
The mall demolished the food court and opened a trendier food hall, Moreno St. Market, in a different location in 2017.
The Canyon Montclair is on the top deck of the west side of the mall, which is anchored by Macy’s. Sterling said it won’t have an outdoor entrance and it will be fully enclosed in the shopping center.
Among The Canyon Montclair’s features:
- Intimate concert space for an audience of 1,300 people, with nobody farther from the stage than 72 feet, Sterling said. There will be some standing room availability, but those tickets won’t go on sale until the seats are filled. There is also an elevated VIP section.
- A $1 million JBL sound system.
- A full-service restaurant that will seat 163 diners, plus bar seating.
- A mechanical bull, which was an attraction for country acts at his first venue in Agoura Hills. The bar will also be equipped for karaoke.
The business model of booking rock bands into suburban malls hasn’t been widely tested, but Sterling said that’s where his audiences are.
“Demographically I skew from 18 to 70, so I match the demographics of the malls.”
He has two other shopping center locations, The Rose at Paseo Colorado in Pasadena and The Canyon Santa Clarita at Westfield Valencia Town Center.
“I’ll tell you what the agents and the managers say: ‘Being in a mall is unhip.’ But it’s a clean, safe place,” he said.
Sterling’s strategy is to bring headliner performers to concertgoers, giving them an alternative to driving to huge Los Angeles venues like Staples Center and the Greek Theatre.
He said he can give audiences the same caliber of show for $70 a seat. Seats near the stage at the Greek can run $300-$500.
One of his strategies is to book artists such as Motley Crue frontman Vince Neil, who will appear at Agoura Hills on Nov. 30 “performing all the Motley Crue hits,” according to the show description. Tickets are $58-$78.
“You may never see the whole band Motley Crue here, but you will see all the pieces of Motley Crue,” Sterling said.
Three of Sterling’s six venues nibble on the outside edges of L.A. County, including Montclair, just over the San Bernardino County line.
He said he was originally considering Ontario for an Inland location, but liked Montclair Place.
“I’ve got a loading dock down below me, I’ve got my own parking. I have all of this frontage,” Sterling said.
Sterling said he is also looking at opening venues in Bakersfield and Sacramento. His string of venues essentially enables him to compete with promoters such as AEG and Live Nation by having his own circuit, which he said also books independent venues in Southern California, including The Coach House in San Juan Capistrano and The Cave in Big Bear.
Although Sterling doesn’t have a firm opening date for The Canyon Montclair, he said he is already booking talent for next spring. He said he should have a better idea when the Montclair concert space will be ready by the end of September.
Sterling said he’s confirmed 20 shows for the new venue, including blues guitarist Jonny Lang, Berlin featuring Terri Nunn, Ambrosia, and the tribute band Boogie Knights.
“I love everything having to do with the ‘80s. But I have a personal affinity for Berlin because my customers love Berlin. And every time she plays, my customers come back,” Sterling said.
Lance Sterling’s venues
The Canyon Agoura Hills: Sterling’s original venue. 28912 Roadside Drive.
The Rose: In Paseo Colorado, a shopping center across from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. 245 E. Green St.
The Canyon Santa Clarita: Sterling’s newest venue is in Westfield Valencia Town Center.
The Canyon Montclair: Under construction, 5060 East Montclair Plaza Lane. 24201 West Valencia Blvd.
The Saban Theatre: Historical, art deco venue that was originally the Fox Wilshire Theatre. 8440 Wilshire Blvd.
The Libbey Bowl: Outdoor stage in Ojai. 210 S. Signal St.
Information: wheremusicmeetsthesoul.com
