Amesbury's The Space is the place to rock

AMESBURY — The city’s newest destination to enjoy live music is led by a familiar name to anyone who has taken drum, guitar or bass lessons in Greater Newburyport.

Zach Field, owner of Zach Field Drums & Music in Newburyport and Amesbury, and his wife, Sacha, recently unveiled The Space at 6 Chestnut St. in the Trades Mill and are billing it as an extension of their Amesbury location.

Field said shortly after acquiring the original Amesbury location in 2019, he began expanding the space to create a new venue, which took more than a year and a half. He began with an initial plan to use it for student performances and ensembles.

“So our main focus was to have rehearsals and ensembles there and also to have a space for our private student recitals because for years, we’ve rented churches or different spaces and you know, we have over 600 students,” Field said.

As The Space continued to take shape, Field decided it would be perfect place to host shows. That decision came after seating about 100 people at student recitals starting in June.

“That was a huge success because we could leave everything set up and then people could come and go,” Field said. “So that was great. and then, we just started slow rolling. We had a couple different baby showers, people rented it for birthday parties, we’ll also do drumming birthday parties and just different things like that.

“So, you know, kind of turning it into an event space, but not really advertising it, just doing it, renting it for those things, tweaking it, learning from mistakes and whatnot,” he added.

That all changed when Field was approached by the musical duo Tall Heights, which he described as a “very substantial band.”

“They’ve been rehearsing in our spaces for years before they even got signed by Sony,” Field said.

Tall Heights performed two shows Saturday, with one at 2 p.m. for all ages and another in the evening for a 21-and-older audience. Both shows sold out, he said.

Field said he hopes to make the venue stand out with the talent they showcase.

“We’re working with national booking agents. We’re not going to do cover bands and things like that. We’re going to try to do one live show at The Space every month where it is a national or semi national act,” he said. “I have no issues with cover bands. I play in cover bands myself, but you can go to other places to hear that. We want to be like, ‘If you come to The Space to see a show, even if you don’t know the artist, it’s going to be incredible.’”

Phil DeCologero, executive director of the Amesbury Chamber of Commerce, spoke highly of the new venue and its owners.

“For anybody who has ever attended any of our public music events, a lot of times we partner with Zach Field to help coordinate and identify talent, he’s really great at engaging existing talent,” DeCologero said.

“I am excited that we as a community have this great new space,” he added.

Field said he hopes The Space will be a place where the whole family can go while also learning how to respectfully enjoy the performances.

“I’ve worked in public schools for many years, around 20 years,” he said. “And the in-school performances are few and far between as time goes on. and so a lot of the students just have no idea how to act during a performance. and there are many adults as well who have no idea what proper audience etiquette is.

“So part of what we want to do here is, you know, this is a listening room. Come to The Space, disconnect, be present and learn, or relearn, how to be an audience.”

Shows and student performances will be a constant at The Space, with the hope of hosting a major artist or group each month with a seating capacity of 80 people, according to Field.

Shows will have two times, one for all ages and one for 21 and over. An event calendar is available at www.thespacezfdm.com.

Matt Petry covers Amesbury and Salisbury for The Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: mpetry@northofboston.com.