Pray to play

Church seeks to fill Lansdowne’s live music void

PROFILE. As September wound on, the nail guns were still clacking away madly and Church’s co-owners, Christopher Tocchio and Kristian Deyesso, realized the mooted early October opening just wasn’t going to happen. 

“I had to cancel a week’s worth of bands,” moans Deyesso, a 36-year-old restaurant veteran of Il Panino and Bricco in the North End. 

By October, the wood and construction gear was swapped for the big stage and long sleek bar that bookend the band room, and the new opening date was looking feasible.

Tonight, a three-band bill headlined by Boston rockers the Vital Might will christen the stage at Church. The restaurant side, however, was still lagging. It opens one week later.

Church is in the space that formerly held the Linwood Grill, in the Fenway. The club aims to host live bands Wednesday through Saturday (cover $7-$10) and DJs Sunday through Tuesday (no cover).

Remember those famed nasty Linwood band room bathrooms? Ugh. Church’s club loos are artfully “graffiti” sprayed in bright colors, creating a sharp contrast to the club’s slate gray and black décor. The old Linwood restaurant and bar is completely overhauled too. Chef Andy Beer (Upstairs on the Square) will preside over a menu that caters to diners as well as the club and drinking crowd: anything from pan seared halibut to a cheeseburger, with entrees ranging from ($18-$25). 

The restaurant’s tan-colored hand “marbled” plaster walls are warm, but bright. There’s a stained glass window in the exposed brick wall by the bar. An enormous commanding grayscale gargoyle painting hangs on another wall.

“It’s called Church, you’ve got to have a gargoyle,” jokes Deyesso.

“It’s simple and comfortable, and sexy,” he declares of the décor. 

Even sexier, there’s a 45-car rear parking lot available on non-Sox game nights for free. 

With Lansdowne Street losing music venues and the Basement at the Baseball Tavern a few blocks away suspending its live music, Church is a welcome addition to Boston’s music scene. 

Tocchio, 37, who also has a restaurant background and opened Kingfish Hall and Bonfire before moving on to the Rustic Kitchen empire, stresses that the aim is to have a restaurant where people will come for dinner, but, he adds, “We want to be known as a music venue first and foremost.”  

Church
69 Kilmarnock St., Boston.
MBTA: Green Line to Kenmore
617-236-7600
churchofboston.com