Features
MOKB Adding 1,200-Capacity Indoor Hi-Fi Annex In Indianapolis
HIGH-FIDELITY: A new 1,200-capacity venue will join MOKB’s Hi-Fi and Lo-Fi venues in Indianapolis. (Rendering courtesy Blackline Studios)
1,200-capacity ballroom-style venue to open early 2026
Ten years after the opening of the 400-capacity Hi-Fi and following five years of music at the Hi-Fi Annex outdoors, Indianapolis-based MOKB Presents has announced a new 1,200-capacity indoor venue on the same property in the city’s Fountain Square neighborhood. It opens in 2026 and gives the independent promoter and venue owner a larger, permanent venue to add to its business.
Tentatively named the HI-Fi Annex, the new venue will take over existing space in the Murphy Arts Center, where the current 400-capacity original Hi-Fi will remain, and replace the current outdoor Hi-Fi Annex, a 900-capacity outdoor concert space that began operations during the pandemic as a social-distancing solution in a parking lot.
The project cost was not disclosed, although MOKB is building it as a standalone venture “with some creative financing” and supportive partners on the real estate side, said Josh Baker, CEO and partner at MOKB Presents.
“We’re currently finalizing our plans for the new venue, we’ve met with several developers and will issue an RFP in January,” Baker said.
Backline Studios has led planning, architecture and development so far, with Stagetech providing early consultation for staging and rigging. Discussions on acoustics and sound systems will ramp up in the New Year, he said.
“To remain competitive in the market, it’s important for us to to have those (booking) conversations year-round,” Baker said. “We’ve developed tons of great relationships with managers, agents and artists that have requested to play our rooms because they know how much we care and how we focus on artist development.”
The outdoor Hi-Fi Annex grew into a popular spot for fans and artists, hosting shows by Band of Horses, Shakey Graves, Larry Fleet, Afghan Whigs, Charley Crockett, Guided By Voices, Wynona Judd and The Buzzcocks among others. However, with a 10 p.m. curfew and the understanding that it was a temporary endeavor brought on by the pandemic, the time had come to build a permanent venue.
The new venue will feature a ballroom-style format, with a few modest premium spaces on both sides of the stage and an underground space that serves VIP access and artist hospitality. A core concept is to allow flexible configurations for multiple types of content, from rock shows to comedy and podcast performances.
“I’m proud that all of my venues that have originated with conversations with artists first,” said Baker, who credits regular calls with the National Independent Venue Association for support. “They’re a wealth of information for pro tips on what to do, what not to do, how to make it cool, things they wish they would have done if they had the chance. I want to take all that feedback and put it into one cool space.”
The venue site is mostly a blank slate, part of the Murphy Arts Center building that has been converted from the old Granada Theatre to various office space, gallery space and artist studios.
“We’re at a place now that we’ve had the opportunity to go ahead and do this 12 months a year,” said Dan Kemer, partner in MOKB. “There are limited all-ages venues in Indianapolis, and we’ve always championed all ages so kids can start learning about their favorite artists early. We plan on doing the same thing here.”
Next year will be the final season for the outdoor Hi-Fi Annex, with some shows on sale now. What started as a hard-scrabble solution to continue operating during the pandemic shutdown now gets a swan song, which Baker says has led to fan and artist excitement.
“We typically do 70 to 75 shows in the summertime and with this being the last year of the outdoor (facility), it’s going to be busy,” Baker said. “As much as it is kind of a bummer to think about our cool little outdoor space going away, it’s growing up a little bit. Then, who knows what the future holds?”
MOKB produces and hosts about 500 concerts between the Hi-Fi, Hi-Fi Annex and the Lo-Fi 100-capacity space within the complex, and also promotes concerts at area venues including at Nickel Plate District Amphitheater in nearby Fishers, an Indianapolis suburb, and Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The promoter recently announced an exclusive partnership with ticketing platform Tixr, which Baker says is one of the most important decisions to make when operating a venue. MOKB previously used See Tickets, Eventbrite and Ticketfly, which Baker said were positive experiences.
“We’ve been talking with Tixr for a while and, being at the level we’re at right now and needing to be nimble, I like the accessibility of their CEO and a team that I can reach that genuinely cares and listens to feedback,” Baker said.
He says Tixr has helped address issues tied to bots and fraud, which have become an increasing problem for smaller venue operators as the secondary market grows more sophisticated and difficult to combat, costing fans and venues hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.
“They have a data science team (dedicated to) helping the venues, because that’s a huge aspect of what we’re doing right now and it’s a time constraint.”
Tixr’s platform integrates with event management software Prism and marketing platform Cymbal, which he says is extremely efficient.
“It took us about six months, but we have a fully integrated, automated ticketing and marketing system that saves time,” said Baker. “That’s where we needed to be, and where most clubs of our size strive to be, so they can spend that time on programming and have a good mechanism to sell the tickets. We’re excited to see where it goes.”