On Friday, Nov. 4, “Ardmore Night” celebrated the grand re-opening and new location of The Living Room, the award-winning, BYOB live music venue reopened in a new, custom-built location in tandem with the new Cricket Cafe. 

Laura Mann, a singer-songwriter and Ardmore resident, owns both The Living Room and Cricket Cafe. In 2018, Mann opened the original location of The Living Room at 35 East Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore, and it was awarded Philadelphia magazine’s “Best of Philly” award for Best Small Music Venue, and Main Line Today magazine’s “Best of the Main Line and Western Suburbs” award for Unique Live Music Venue. 

“Laura started with a place on Lancaster Ave called the Living Room at 35 East,” said Larry Ahearn, a friend of Mann and a performer at The Living Room. “It was a 30-50 seat venue; it was wonderful and lovely. She is a recording artist, and she loves music. And then of course COVID came, and everyone in the music business just stopped one day. No more touring, no more clubs. She had to close. This place – I don’t know how she did it – but she put this place together herself, and it’s just beautiful.”

The re-opening event allowed Main Line locals to get the first look at the venue’s new location. A 5 p.m. ribbon cutting with local officials was followed by an open house at 5:30 p.m. featuring a live performer, free menu samples, beverages and raffle prizes contributed by local Ardmore businesses. 

Senior Ava Lundell, who attended the event on Friday evening, described the venue as having an avant-garde aesthetic and an artistic, elegant style. 

“The Living Room is a community center where local artists and their supporters can gather to learn from and share each other’s company,” Lundell said. “It’s a really special place.”

The Living Room’s new, permanent home offers comfortable lounge seating for live music, comedy and other performances with a 150-person capacity. The adjoining Cricket Cafe, offers homemade snacks, light meals, desserts and non-alcoholic beverages from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. 

“The sound is great, the lights are great, the setup is great,” Ahearn said. “[Mann] has comfy couches and a little cafe. It is people friendly and customer friendly. This is a listening room; this is where an artist comes to develop an audience and an audience comes to find an artist at the beginning stages of their career.”

The Living Room held its first official shows on Saturday, Nov. 5 and Tuesday, Nov. 8. This week, there will be an open mic night hosted by Ahearn (Nov. 9), a jazz night with Chico Huff and Friends (Nov. 10), a solo performance by Eric Bazilian (Nov. 10) and two nights with legendary rockers NRBQ (Nov. 11 & 12). In addition to live performances, The Living Room will offer yoga classes on Friday and Saturday mornings. 

“I’m very excited about the access to music and art we will have,” Ardmore resident Tracy Hatton said. “I’m excited to have a space where people can come together to be creative. I think this will attract more local, up and coming artists, but also some well-established artists as well. Anything can happen here, and I like that.”

Both the Living Room and Cricket Cafe are conveniently located at 104 Cricket Avenue in Ardmore, just 10 minutes from Villanova’s campus. 

“You get on the train at Villanova, you get off the train at Ardmore and walk 200-300 yards and you’re here,” Ahearn said. 

All show schedules and ticket information for The Living Room and menus for Cricket Cafe can be found at livingroomardmore.com. On Facebook, visit

www.facebook.com/livingroomardmore, and on Instagram, visit www.instagram.com/livingroomardmore.