Boston's only dueling piano bar shuts down

Why it matters: D's Keys is the latest Boston-area entertainment venue to have rebounded after a long pandemic closure — only to be knocked down by the current economic headwinds, owners Matt Nichols and Robert Morse say.

State of play: D's Keys will close after Saturday night's show, ending a nearly seven-year run.

• Reserved tables are full, but the venue still has 100 seats for walk-ins the next two nights.

That used to be normal for the venue, where pianists played Lady Gaga and Meghan Trainor alongside Journey.

• And where a patron once requested "'Streetlights, People,' by Foreigner," (aka "Don't Stop Believin'" — people get the names wrong more than you'd think).

At the only dueling piano bar in town, empty nesters bonded with their adult children.

• Locals fell in love and got engaged.
• Tourists happened upon a fun, wacky corner of Boston.

Then the visits slowed in late 2023.

• Online reviews never soured over the next 15 months, but locals visited less and companies scaled back holiday parties, Nichols and Morse say.
• The winter months, which had previously helped sustain the business the rest of the year, started off stronger late last year but failed to bring the crowds D's Keys had come to rely on.

Zoom in: Morse and Nichols have racked their brains, unable to pinpoint the reason.

• Maybe it was the $10 cover. Maybe it's younger people going California sober. Maybe D's Keys was among the many little luxuries that people gave up amid inflation.
• Whatever the reason, it cost Boston another homegrown entertainment venue.

"If you don't get out and support live music venues, especially the ones that are locally owned and independently owned," Nichols tells Axios, "they go away."

The bottom line: D's Keys is open 7pm through midnight (or later) Friday and Saturday.