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In this interview, Chris Copen, owner of Pittsburgh's legendary Bottlerocket Social Hall, shares with Opendate team member Heidi Gluck how he’s crafted a vibrant community hub that’s equal parts comedy club, dive bar, and unique event space. Known for its eclectic programming—from "fake company Christmas parties" to Mario Kart nights—Bottlerocket offers an inclusive space where creativity thrives. Chris dives into his approach to curating memorable experiences, building audience trust, and the essential role of technology in running a small, dynamic venue.
(See Bottlerocket's latest venture, Bottledogs, a mobile hot dog cart that sells printed tickets!)
Venue: Bottlerocket Social Hall
Pittsburgh, PA
Capacity: 200 standing, 140 seated
Chris Copen, Owner
Heidi Gluck: Thanks for taking the time to chat and share about Bottlerocket! There are so many great venues and operators, but sometimes it’s easy to get stuck in your own little bubble. I think people are craving community around this kind of thing.
Chris Copen: Totally. I’m always looking for new ideas and love hearing how other people run things.
Heidi: You were a panelist on our webinar about unique and themed events. The Wedding Party event idea really stuck with me!
Chris: Yeah, the wedding was fun. We’re about to do another version of it for Christmas—it’s going to be a fake company Christmas party gone wrong.
Heidi: Oh my God, that’s hilarious. Are you hiring an act for it?
Chris: We’ve got a cast, like the HR rep, the boss... it’s going to be ridiculous.
Heidi: What’s Bottlerocket best known for in your region?
Chris: I’d say we’re probably one of the premiere alternative comedy clubs in the country. We get a lot of comedians who work outside the traditional club setup.
Heidi: What’s the ratio of comedy to music to other events?
Chris: We do a mix—about one-third comedy, one-third random stuff like movie screenings or Mario Kart nights, and one-third music.
Heidi: I want to come to Mario Kart! We need to plan an Opendate all-hands in Pittsburgh.
Chris: Yes, yes, yes. I’m sure Jeb [Opendate CEO] would love to come out.
Heidi: It’s been decided.
Heidi: You’ve got a calendar full of fun, creative programming. I assume those ideas come from your team, plus people pitching them to you. When do you say 'no' to an idea?
Chris: We say 'no' to most things. We’re really selective. I’d say we book about 10% of what’s pitched. We’re always trying new ideas, workshopping them. If they work, they make the calendar; if not, we move on. We’re constantly workshopping ideas, trying ideas. And if they're good, then they make their way to the calendar and if they're not then they're just kind of dropped and okay, moving on to the next thing. So, I think at this point we've kind of gotten it down to where, when we hear an idea, we can tell Maybe within two questions whether or not. It's a good idea.
Heidi: Almost like a writer’s room…
Chris: Yeah, that’s how we approach it sometimes.
Heidi: I see you’re designated the Best Dive Bar in Pittsburgh. It’s unusual for a so-called “dive bar” to have so many ticketed events. How did that start?
Chris: Yes, so I mean we got named the best dive bar in the city by the City paper Readers poll. There's not necessarily a designation that I would have bestowed upon us but that is the category that they deemed us eligible for. So that's what we told people to vote for and that's where we won. So I think it does fit in that. The bar certainly looks like a dive bar. But I've always approached it as: what's the next generation of a dive bar? It’s the community place that you go out to. What’s the stuff you’d do in a bar and how can we take that to the next level? Out here a lot of bars have Bingo. So we have Elvis Bingo, with an impersonator doing Bingo, and he's like running around through the crowd and doing songs and stuff. So that's really fun. Or like, bars do Open Mic nights - we elevated that by doing Live Band Open Mic. So in some sense I think aesthetically we're definitely a dive bar. And for our members it’s still a cheap place to get a drink. It's still a neighborhood spot to come and hang out. But I also know that we're not a two dollar beer bar and we do have shows every night and we do have tickets.
Heidi: Right, you’re intentional and specific with programming. Okay, on that topic: Have you adapted to shifts in how much people want to drink anymore or inclusive spaces, more attention to wellness and so on?
Chris: We weren't open before the pandemic, so I can't really comment on what it was like during the salad days when everybody was drinking and going out. I think for us we opened with a very specific concept. And I don't drink so drinking was never at the forefront of the experience. For me, I was really focused on how to build great events that are fun to go to and enjoy? And I figured if I enjoyed them and I don't drink, if you drink they may be even better.
Heidi: I love that method!!
Chris: We’re focused on building great events, and building an inclusive space. I mean that's something I'm really passionate about personally. It wasn’t about sitting in an office saying “we need to be inclusive” - it’s just who we are. I think we do it in a way that's like, Yeah, it just is what we are, it's what we believe in and it's something we program towards naturally. We have a really diverse staff. They have a lot of really diverse interests and that trickles down.
Heidi: That’s great. I’m curious about your membership program. How does it work?
Chris: We added it about six months after opening, and it’s become a big part of what we do. It’s $10 a month or $100 a year, and members get three free shows a month and happy hour pricing all the time. It’s about building a dedicated, recurring audience. Right now, we’ve got about 670 active members, and it’s really helped us build a community.
Heidi: Wow. Do they get a card or?
Chris: Yeah, they get a member card. They have an online QR code that we scan when they come in. It's a great thing. I really love it. I think we're still working at testing it and poking it being like, How can we further monetize this? How can we use this? Does it even make money? I don't know.
At Christmas time we sell a bunch of memberships. People buy them as gifts for each other and it builds a community. And I feel like that's what really is important.
Heidi: That’s awesome. What’s coming up that you’re excited about?
Chris: We’ve got this fake corporate Christmas party coming up, and I’m really excited about comedian Julio Torres next month. We’re also doing a premiere for a local filmmaker, Boys Go To Jupiter, with a Q&A. It’s got a bunch of comedians who’ve played here before, and we’ve already sold out two screenings.
Heidi: That’s so cool. What was your career path before running a venue?
Chris: I was managing actors and comedians in LA. When the pandemic hit, I lost my job and moved back to Pennsylvania. I wanted to bring comedians to Pittsburgh, but no one was doing comedy here. Then I found this bar that had fallen apart and pitched the development company on my idea for a venue. I didn’t know anything about running a bar, but they took a chance on me, and it just kind of took off.
Heidi: What advice would you give to other venue owners?
Chris: Don't underestimate your audience. Something we talk about all the time is the idea of having our brand mean something. When we bring in an act, we try to curate it and I think people respond to that and they do identify that we're not just taking any show that comes to us. We are selective and that helps when we bring in shows and are maybe smaller, we're still able to deliver good crowds.
Heidi: Yeah, you're building trust.
Chris: Exactly. Yeah.
Heidi: How do you make sure artists have a positive experience?
Chris: We manage an Airbnb behind the venue, and artists love staying there. We also just finished a new green room, themed like the rest of the bar, with a TV and VHS player, so it’s a cohesive experience. And we’ve got a great sound team. We try to make sure everything’s seamless, especially for comedians who need more tech, like projectors. I take a lot of pride in executing that stuff.
Heidi: That’s all huge. Makes such a difference.
Heidi: What’s the technology you couldn’t run the venue without?
Chris: For shows, it’s the Mac Mini. It runs everything—our lighting, audio recording, camera system, house music. It’s super affordable, around $500 or $600. On the back end, Opendate. Everything lives and ends there. It keeps our part-timers and freelancers in the loop, and the schedule management is key.
Heidi: Nice. Tell me more about what you appreciate about Opendate!
Chris: We have a really small team. It's just me and one other person full time. And everybody else is part-time. Opendate has really helped unify our business where you don't have to be full-time to be aware of what's going on all the time. You show up that night and you can see what's going on. Everybody is set up with information. The marketing stuff is in there. We work a lot with freelance graphic designers so having the ability for them to just drop in files and click here to see info about the show was huge for us and the schedule management piece of it is really important too as we have a lot of people coming to us now and keeping holds and dates straight. I don't think we would be able to do it otherwise.
Heidi: What trends are you keeping an eye on?
Chris: The dance party trend, like Swift nights, is fading for sure. But comedy is in a great place, and we’re excited to see that grow. We’re also experimenting with quirky events that build community, like our live reading of the Twilight script last night. We packed the place, and it was such a fun, weird night.
Heidi: That sounds amazing. Thanks so much for chatting with me, Chris!
Chris: Anytime, Heidi.
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