Outside The 5 Spot during music festival Sweet by Sweet Time in August 2019
The past week of weather woes related to Winter Storm Fern has been rough for a wide array of Nashvillians, and that includes local small-business owners. Things are never easy for independent venues — see The End’s recent crowdfunding campaign. The 5 Spot, an OG of East Nashville’s world-famous music scene, has had an especially difficult 12 months, which included the death of co-owner Travis Collinsworth in April. It seems the ice storm and some other recent troubles have broken the proverbial dromedary’s back, funding-wise.
“Dear Friends of The 5 Spot,” reads a Facebook post, “our financial situation is pretty dire. 2025 was a year of struggles. Now with this awful ice storm causing a week of cancelled shows, 'just barely getting by' is not possible.
“We have staff to help out from a week of no work, large bills piling up, repairs to make, and on top of all that: Our new food truck chef's house caught on fire from a downed electric line while he was sleeping. He lost everything. He is in the hospital. We do not know if he will be able to return. We would like to help him.”
With help from its ticketing partner TuneHatch, the venue has come up with a solution for some short-term monetary assistance. You can now purchase what they’ve called a Support Pass. It’s effectively a way to pre-purchase one, two or five tickets (for $10, $20 or $50 respectively, plus a mega-reasonable $1 service fee for each bundle in your cart) that you can use to get into an upcoming show. The multi-ticket packs can be used on the same show — smart buy for a date or an evening with buddies.
The venue gets operating cash now and you’ve got one or more tickets up your sleeve when a show you want to see comes along (and it will). If you’re feeling extra generous and just want to support the venue, or wondering what to do with that scratch-off ticket that paid out nicely, you can buy a Support Pass and just not redeem it later.
As for picking out a show or shows, check out the calendar on The 5 Spot’s website and follow the venue on Facebook and Instagram for updates.
