“It’s about the show. You’ve got to have energy. What’s the story the next day that people are going to be talking about?”

That question guides the way Andy Doty books bands, reads a room and thinks about the experience people have at The Vibe.

Andy never planned to own a venue. After losing the career he had spent decades building, he was sitting inside a packed 900-square-foot club when the owner said he needed to sell.

“I said, ‘Really? How much?’ He told me the price, and I said, ‘Sold.’ I really didn’t have a plan.”

At the time, Old Town had become what Andy remembers as a ghost town. The streets were so empty that you could stand in the middle of one for nearly 10 minutes without seeing a car. Looking at the club’s new patio, Andy made a decision: “Screw this. Let’s just do it outside. Let’s do a Beatles rooftop thin ...