Kiss the Sky owner opens The Venue performance spot in Aurora

Steve Warrenfeltz admits "people are kind of confused" about what is going on in regards to his latest music venture.

Or should we say venue? After all, it is called The Venue and it's a new live performance hall at 21 S. Broadway in Aurora, a site that came about through the work of the Fox Valley Music Foundation.

It's a little confusing because Warrenfeltz owns and operates the Kiss the Sky records store in Batavia, which also has live music on its small "Are You Experienced" stage.

But he plans to move most of the music acts, especially those with the potential to draw a good crowd, to The Venue.

Warrenfeltz helped created the Fox Valley Music Foundation after being part of a group that managed the Blues on the Fox Festival in Aurora for years before the Paramount Theatre in Aurora took over that festival and eventually expanded it into the RiverEdge Park outdoor concert arena.

"We formed the foundation in 2014 to continue doing what we loved in music," Warrenfeltz said. "It took us about three years to zero in on a building that we were interested in using as our headquarters."

That building turned out to be an empty Woolworth's location the city was ready to demolish, about a block away from the Paramount.

"We twisted the city officials' arms into renting us the building and providing money to help build it out," he added.

That site is now The Venue, a 200-plus-seat location that will offer all types of live acts and music genres.

It opened a few weeks ago to a sold-out show, but the schedule might not be full with acts this summer, as Warrenfeltz and others in the foundation want to see what people want. Check out the schedule at www.facebook.com/TheVenueAurora/.

Jim Freedlund of Batavia is part of the "sound team" that will operate equipment at The Venue.

"All of the opening night acts were happy with the room and the sound, and that is kind of nice to hear," Freedlund said.

It will be good for Freedlund's own band, Gross National Product, as well. That band, popular in Batavia in the late 1960s, has been staging annual reunion shows at Kiss the Sky.

"I'll be moving Jim's band to The Venue," Warrenfeltz said. "They have a real good following, and there is a lot more room there."

dheun@sbcglobal.net