After receiving complaints from the Town of Mansfield and\u00a0months of closure at their official location, indie DIY music venue\u00a0The Dog P0und has\u00a0begun transitioning to a new location.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Storrs-based collective\u00a0first began operation in August of 2024, hosting their first show for move-in day of that semester. Beginning in October of 2025, however, the organization began to see pressure from the Town of Mansfield calling\u00a0for the venue\u2019s closure. The Dog P0und\u2019s primary location has been inactive since the end of the fall semester.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Dog P0und had begun receiving communication from the University of Connecticut, the Town of Mansfield and the venue\u2019s landlord in request that the organization stop hosting events at their current location, according to founding member Alexa Udell.\u00a0While the organization had received noise complaints in the past, October was when the group started to see\u00a0this specific request, Udell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, saying that really can\u2019t be separated from the context that our previous spot was on, like, Frat Row,\u201d Udell said, referring to a neighborhood known for including fraternity houses. \u201cSo, it was next to a ton of houses that were all doing the same thing, and we were the only house that faced that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Udell is a\u00a0second-year\u00a0master\u2019s\u00a0of public policy\u00a0student\u00a0at UConn. Udell is also a primary organizer for The Dog P0und\u00a0and\u00a0does most of the group\u2019s booking, along with making flyers,\u00a0operating\u00a0the social media, working sound\u00a0equipment\u00a0and making many of The Dog P0und\u2019s \u201cbig picture\u201d decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Town of Mansfield was first to receive noise complaints about The Dog P0und, and later\u00a0contacted\u00a0UConn, according to Udell. The Dean of Students office notified The Dog P0und to expect a visit from the office\u00a0to ask that the venue\u00a0discontinue\u00a0hosting music events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the venue\u2019s closure,\u00a0The Dog P0und and its members have been looking\u00a0for a\u00a0new way for the organization to thrive. For\u00a0Udell,\u00a0the official location could never have been permanent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s inherently tenuous to\u00a0be hosting\u00a0music events at places like that, and even hosting DIY venues in general is very tenuous,\u201d Udell said. \u201cEven\u00a0established\u00a0locations, places that were intended to be a venue, sometimes go under. So, taking that into account, I knew that we would have to eventually be adapting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without the ability to host events at their official location, Udell and the rest of the team at The Dog P0und needed to evolve. Current events hosted by The Dog P0und are now held at a separate location, while the organization itself now\u00a0operates\u00a0primarily as a booking agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re\u00a0really thankful\u00a0for\u00a0people for\u00a0opening their\u00a0home\u00a0to us to allow us to host and do things there,\u201d Udell said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Udell and the rest of the team at The Dog P0und have found a venue in Vernon where they plan to begin hosting events again.\u00a0To begin, Udell hopes to host smaller artists\u00a0as opposed\u00a0to the ones The Dog P0und hosted in Storrs, to try and keep the location to smaller crowds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of work to go and scout out venues and find people who are willing to let you\u00a0host at\u00a0their place,\u201d Udell said. \u201cBut\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0really exciting\u00a0when\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0able to get those things going through.\u00a0I\u2019m\u00a0always looking for\u00a0new places\u00a0to host at, especially in Storrs just because\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0where\u00a0we\u2019ve\u00a0been super strongly rooted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While The Dog P0und has begun expanding its operations, Udell hopes to remain connected to the UConn scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important to us to emphasize the community building aspect of\u00a0it,\u00a0I\u00a0feel like specifically in the queer community at UConn,\u201d Udell said.\u00a0\u201cAt UConn, The Dog P0und is very well-known, and\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0a very important\u00a0space for people to be able to go out and have a nice night out without necessarily worrying about a lot of the considerations that you need to have when you\u2019re going out as an openly queer person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For some in the Storrs music scene, The Dog P0und\u2019s closure is more than just a venue shutting down. Eddie Dahill, the drummer for Connecticut-based band Ruby\u00a0Leftstep, saw the organization as an important way of connecting with fans.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Dog P0und was a very important\u00a0presence\u00a0to us musically and then also socially, because our, I would say 60, 70% of our loyalist fans are all at UConn,\u201d Dahill said.\u00a0<\/p>\n