Beloved Atlanta nightclub MJQ Concourse announced it will relocate in 2023.
Owners Ryan Murphy and Ryan Purcell addressed the closure in a post on MJQ’s Instagram account, saying details on the club’s new location would be forthcoming.
The club will host a Final Countdown party from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. on Dec. 31, with music from Kashii, Durrty Martinez, Taradactyl and Sofa King Evil.
Developer Portman Holdings has plans to tear down several buildings along Ponce de Leon Avenue and the nearby Beltline to build a giant mixed-use project, which is in a preliminary design phase and has yet to be rezoned.
Located at 736 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE, MJQ is one of several longtime businesses on a stretch of Ponce between Bonaventure Avenue and Ponce City Market to announce its closure or express uncertainty about its future. Other shops include the Local, Bookhouse Pub, and Friends on Ponce. Restaurant 8ARM shuttered in August, and Charles Kerns, who owns the property under the Local, said the bar would likely close by the end of the year.
In November, Purcell told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he has bittersweet feelings about MJQ’s last celebration in its current space after more than 25 years there.
“You see places get developed and things change, and you hope it’s not coming to you,” he said. “A lot of the classic places that people love are just being taken away ... how do you hold on to this essence of what has been this hole in the wall place? Even when we move, it’s going to be different.”
George Chang opened MJQ, a nod to the band Modern Jazz Quartet, in 1994. In 1997, MJQ, renamed MJQ Concourse, moved into its current location, which was formerly home to a club called Lou’s Blues Revue.
In addition to DJs spinning a variety of different genres through the years, MJQ was also home to live music venue Drunken Unicorn.
Purcell did not immediately respond to the AJC’s request for comment following the statement posted on MJQ’s Instagram account.
Sign up for the AJC Food and Dining Newsletter
Read more stories like this by liking Atlanta Restaurant Scene on Facebook, following @ATLDiningNews on Twitter and @ajcdining on Instagram.
About the Author
