SAN DIEGO — An air of mystery surrounds the impending closure of the San Diego concert venue Brick By Brick, which was a bastion for heavy metal, hardcore and industrial music and also hosted performances by everyone from Jewel and Muse to the Zac Brown Band. Following Thursday night’s farewell concert by the Undertaking and three other area bands, the 400-capacity club will shutter after a 31-year run.

No reason has been given for the closing of Brick by Brick, which is located on Buenos Avenue in Bay Park and is adjacent to Bull’s Smokin’ BBQ. Two of Brick By Brick’s current co-owners, Jordan Mancino and Shannon Joy Wiles, did not cite any reasons for their venue’s impending closure when they announced the news Aug. 5 in a statement on social media.

Their 126-word post began: “After 12 incredible years, our chapter on Buenos Ave is coming to an end.” It concluded: “Thank you for every show, every memory, and all of the love and support over the years. We’d love to celebrate with all of you one last time. See you soon.”

The reference to the end of the venue’s “chapter on Buenos Ave” suggests Brick By Brick could perhaps reopen somewhere else in the future. Neither Mancino nor Joy responded to multiple requests for elaboration from the San Diego Union-Tribune last week and this week.

Neither did La Jolla real estate broker Brian Revelli, who has owned the property Brick By Brick occupies since 2023. There are no current permit applications to alter, demolish, rebuild or change the property, according to a search on Accela, a software platform used by city and county government agencies to manage and process building permits, public property management and related tasks.

Regardless of whether Brick By Brick is finished for good or eventually reactivates, the closure of one of the longest-lived music venues in San Diego will leave a void for bands and fans alike.

“I’m very sorry to see Brick By Brick closing. The venue carved out a niche presenting ‘heavy music’,” said Tim Mays, the co-owner of the 37-year-old downtown music venue the Casbah. “I put on a lot of great shows during the early years of Brick By Brick, including Black Keys, Killing Joke, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Royal Crown Revue, Cat Power and Gogol Bordello. I haven’t done a lot there in recent years, but it was a much-needed place in San Diego’s music scene.”

Those sentiments are shared by two musicians who most recently performed at Brick By Brick last Friday with their band, the Writhers.

“The rough part about losing Brick by Brick is that it hurts the community,” said Writhers’ drummer and Chula Vista native Rikk R Treat.

Treat’s band mate, Writhers’ bass guitarist Kenny Wolfsbane of Oceanside, has been attending shows at Brick By Brick since 2014. His performance there on Friday was an emotional one for him.

“It’s super full circle,” Wolfsbane said. “I wouldn’t be in the band if not for the venue. It’s extremely important to be here for the last few shows.”

Brick By Brick opened in 1995 in the same building that, for the previous 19 years, housed the Spirit club. It opened in 1976 as Spirit of ’76, then shortened its name to Spirit a few years later.

The Spirit showcased a broad array of local, national and international punk, new wave, indie rock and pop acts. They included such then budding young bands as R.E.M, the Bangles, INXS, 10,000 Maniacs, Sonic Youth and countless San Diego-based performers, including Mojo Nixon and Bad Radio (whose lead singer, Eddie Vedder, moved to Seattle in 1990 to join the nascent Pearl Jam).

Brick By Brick also featured bands from near and far. But it did so with a pronounced emphasis on heavy music acts not regularly featured at other area venues.

The bands it presented included Machine Head, Morbid Angel, Soulfly, Alien Ant Farm and As I Lay Dying, the San Diego Christian-metal group whose erstwhile drummer, Jordan Mancino, and several others of the band’s former members bought Brick By Brick in 2014. They did so not long after As I Lay Dying’s lead vocalist, Tim Lambesis, was sentenced to a six-year prison term following his conviction for soliciting the murder of his then-wife.

After buying Brick By Brick 12 years ago, its new owners made improvements to the venue and expanded its capacity. Brick By Brick co-owner and talent-buyer Shannon Joy Wiles is the ex-wife of former As I Lay Dying guitarist Phil Sgrosso. She is also the San Diego-based marketing director for Le Poisson Rouge, one of New York City’s most prestigious and eclectic live-music venues.

Former Brick By Brick security guard Sulo King began working at the venue in 2002 and was its talent buyer until 2010. He worries that its closing bodes poorly for the future of the local heavy metal music scene.

“It’s a huge loss, not just for the metal community, but for San Diego,” King said. “Brick by Brick is iconic. There are very few iconic venues left in San Diego that have had such a lasting legacy and stayed within the same building for so long.”

Across the nation in New York, Fiona Bloom also lamented Brick By Brick’s closing. She is the founder of the Brooklyn-based company the Bloom Effect, which specializes in music publicity, marketing, branding and management.

“Brick By Brick was a venue I really believed in and I know that they did right by their audience, right by the fans and also right by the artists,” said Bloom, who represents at least half a dozen acts who have performed there.

“I just can’t believe a venue of that status and reputation, (that had) all the amazing touring bands … couldn’t stay afloat. Brick By Brick was so instrumental and influential in the hard-rock and metal scene. There’s not a whole lot of venues around the country that fulfill that kind of niche.”

A more positive perspective came from Max Paul. He bought Brick By Brick in 1995 and headed it until 2014, when he sold the venue to its current owners. He has many fond memories of Brick By Brick, but most values the friendships and music community it helped foster.

“The truth is, I’m not sad at all,” Paul said. “I’m super proud of what we built and accomplished, and I’m full of gratitude. We gave San Diego’s rock and heavy metal community a true home and over three decades of unforgettable memories.”

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