Venue Llama is your backstage pass to smarter show-going. We gather essential venue info—parking, policies, seating, and nearby spots to eat or crash—so you can skip the search and focus on the music. Each page is a quick, simple guide to making show day smoother.
But we don’t stop there—we’re also telling the stories behind the scenes, with interviews from venue owners, crew, and fellow fans, plus features that shine a spotlight on the people who make the live music scene so vibrant. Whether you’re catching one show or chasing the whole tour, Venue Llama helps you do it right.
Venue Llama was founded in Fall 2022 by Jordan Busch – live music fan, Portland restaurateur and serial idea guy. His pal from the old neighborhood and former Widespread Panic webmaster, Brian Sofer, gave JB the perfect opportunity to bring the idea to life – and in April 2023 Venue Llama 1.0 was launched.
Jordan and Brian have known each other since grade school but reconnected in the early aughts when they discovered they were both passionate Widespread Panic fans and Deadheads. After Jordan opened Fire On The Mountain in Portland, Brian’s band was one of the first to perform at the venue in 2005. Nearly two decades later their friendship has endured and inspired them both to join forces on Venue Llama – an undoubtedly awesome labor of love, destiny and grease.
J & B
Jordan Busch is a live music maven, entrepreneur, and longtime chili-head who has been cooking his entire life. Hailing from Long Island, NY, he attended Indiana University and went on to become the proud owner of Fire On The Mountain restaurants in Colorado and Oregon. He loves the Grateful Dead, Phish, Widespread Panic and seeing live music since his first ever concert in 7th grade – Squeeze at Madison Square Garden. Since then he’s seen thousands more shows all over the world. As an advocate for good causes, Jordan believes in cultivating meaningful relationships over good conversation and tasty meals. When it comes to family, he’s a dedicated husband and father who loves nothing more than sharing memorable experiences with those closest to him.
Brian Sofer has been pursuing music and web development since the ’90s. Born and raised on Long Island, Brian’s love of the Grateful Dead and Widespread Panic activated his inner wanderlust, leading him to explore Georgia, Colorado and California, before finally settling down in Greenville South Carolina. His passion for music led him to become Widespread Panic’s first webmaster from 1997-2006 as well as found several fan websites, including The Sandbox, Tapetrading.com and An Honest Tune. As a musician, he spent time as the guitarist, singer and songwriter for Denver’s Breaking & Entering. An independent web developer since 1995 Sofer is currently the director of Buzzword, a digital design agency. When not working, he enjoys being a husband, father and maintaining his musical and creative roots.