At the end of 2025, a new music venue quietly opened on West Main Street in Durham. Named after a Polish court jester, Stanczyks Music Bar (pronounced STAN-chicks) is the latest venue to open up in the space that was once known as The Casbah.
Stancyks is owned and operated by a group known as the West End mob. That group includes Josh Wittman, who has led booking and event management at Motorco since 2013. He says that the group is excited to bring live music back to West Main Street, an area they feel has been somewhat neglected by the city.
"We like the name, but we realize it's going to be very difficult for people to spell," he said. "But the harder you have to work for it, maybe the more memorable it'll become."
Since late December, Stancyks has hosted a handful of events, including a New Year's party, to help break the room in.
Throughout the rest of January and February, they'll continue to host local bands to help test out the room and its operations. In March, they'll begin booking touring bands, mostly in collaboration with the local booking and promotion agency andmoreagain presents.
Stancyks has a capacity of 300, which makes it a little bigger than The Pinhook, and a little smaller than Motorco.
"With Rubies, The Pinhook, us, and then Motorco, local bands will have a really nice staircase to grow and move on to bigger rooms as their careers evolve," Wittman said.
The venue plans on being open seven days a week. On the nights where there's not a show booked, they'll still be open as a bar.
