Before re-opening in October 2014 as Le Ritz PDB, Il Motore was a highly regarded and popular concert venue. Owner Meyer Billurcu ran Il Motore with various business partners over the years, but they gradually dropped out until he was running it alone. His concert promotion business, Blue Skies Turn Black, intersected with Il Motore somewhat, but Meyer was interested in taking the location in a new direction. He started looking for new business partners to do just that - to create a space that stayed open for more than just events.
At the same time, Thierry Amar and Efrim Menuck came back from touring with their bands, Godspeed You Black Emperor and Silver Mt. Zion, and were looking to open a bar in the area. A possible location across the road from PDB fell through. They looked around for an alternative and saw the space.
“The timing was perfect,” says Meyer. “It was only two months from our first meeting that we officially opened.”
