Behind the Village Door with John Wehner
By Chris Manson January 2005 Issue

“I’m on an eight-day no-rest run,” John Wehner explains by way of a message on my answering machine. “Everybody thinks a club owner is some shlep who sits in the corner and drinks with the pretty girls. That can’t be further from the truth.”

A typical night for the owner of John Wehner’s Village Door (formerly the Famous Door) begins around 7 p.m. until the club closes at 2 a.m. “But the amount of behind the scenes stuff we do is phenomenal,” Wehner says. “We’ve been putting in 12 to16 hour days this past week.” General issues and unexpected meetings have come up, and on this particular night—a cold, rainy Tuesday—a film crew from the Travel Channel was due to arrive.

Wehner usually hits the sack around four in the morning. After five or six hours of sleep, he wakes up to his home office computer to take care of administration and production responsibilities—checking the previous night’s numbers, and answering e-mail. “Each week, I have a few projects I’m working on, either meeting with ad reps or upgrading sound. I’m in the club three or four nights a week, and I’m always here for events.” Wehner is also the guy who ultimately decides what bands are going to play the Village Door and how they will be promoted.

We spend very little time in his cramped upstairs office before we are interrupted by various staff members, well wishers, and a PMI representative delivering W-2 forms. Wehner leads me back down the three flights of stairs to the production booth strategically tucked above the main floor’s bar. Wehner twiddles with some knobs and sound controls, then picks up the microphone and introduces popular house band Flash Flood. Throughout this impressive display of multitasking, I never once get the impression that the amiable club owner isn’t focusing on my questions.

“From here I can control the whole pulse of the club,” Wehner says. “It’s an all-encompassing thing I developed and fine-tuned for this market.” He installed and designed the whole set-up, from the spotlights and computer monitors that control the music which plays between Flash Flood’s sets to the state-of-the-art soundboard and continuously rumbling subwoofers. “This is the best place to be. I just happen to be a good sound man.”

I get the feeling that Wehner would be content sitting up here for the duration of the evening, but soon we’re beating a path through the crowd of young, old, and in-betweens. Wehner speaks warmly to his employees, including a quiet young lady working the door. ( I’m guessing she’s not the bouncer, but I could be mistaken. Like a lot of people, I assumed the 40-ish Wehner would be much older before I met him.)

“Everybody here takes this really seriously. This year I have nine or 10 really good bartenders, all of whom have been with me more than a year. Typically, you have a lot of turnover. We try to take care of all of ‘em so they can eat and pay their rent over the winter.” Happily for Wehner and his team, it’s been a better-than-average winter.

That success can be attributed not only to the loyal and hard-working staff, but also to Wehner’s experience. The man knows how to treat his guests. “It’s their party,” he says. “They’re on vacation, business trips. Our job is to be 100 percent every night. To force them to have a good time—whether they know they’re here to have a good time or not. To ensure that everyone’s experience here is a great one.”

Wehner was born in New Orleans, but grew up and attended high school in Indiana. An accomplished drummer, he toured with bands but found life on the road miserable. A desire to play drums for a living without the dreaded travel led him to Metarie, La, and a good live music city before the casino boats took over. During a decade or so on Bourbon Street, Wehner played everything from jazz to country before he made a risky move. He borrowed money from his parents to buy and completely overhaul the legendary Famous Door club. (The club’s colorful history is well-documented on Wehner’s website, thevillagedoor.com.)

Two and a half years ago, Wehner was lured to the Village of Baytowne Wharf. “It’s very peaceful here,” he says. “In New Orleans I had guys around me with guns. Around here, no matter what, I’m always careful as far as personal security because I come from a tough city. But everyone’s very pleasant here and the surroundings couldn’t be much more beautiful. No matter where you are in New Orleans you’re only a mile or so away from a bad area.” Wehner has since sold the New Orleans club to focus his attention on the Village Door.

The key personnel—notably vice president of operations Todd Roberts—have remained pretty much intact since day one. There have been a few significant changes in the club. “The big thing is when we originally designed the club, we didn’t really consider the outside deck,” Wehner says. “All we looked at were the four walls of the physical building. We’ll be building a cover outside and making major changes. It’ll be almost like a Florida room, with ceiling fans for summer and heaters for the winter.

“When we first opened, for one reason or another, the downstairs bar was actually in the middle of the room. The first thing we did was demolish that bar. It was built and in operation for three months, but it was horrible! It destroyed the flow. We had to break the concrete, redo the electrical and the pipes in two weeks. The whole club had to be pretty much dismantled. All the space behind the bar was not being used.”

Like any worthwhile venue, the Village Door attracts its share of wildcats. “It’s controlled wildness,” Wehner points out. “The difference between here and New Orleans is we don’t allow people to get lewd here. We have to maintain standards above what New Orleans is about.

“One of the factors besides the stock market and 9/11 that really hurt Bourbon Street is the Girls Gone Wild video series. Bourbon Street used to be known as a place that had great clubs and music. When I moved to New Orleans at 18, I heard great bands that truly inspired me. But the vibe has gone from coat-and-tie businessmen to a free-for-all on the street. How can a club maintain a standard of entertainment when the show on the street is people walking around drinking a $2 beer watching some girl on a balcony flashing—people watching that as opposed to great entertainment? Of course, it was always crazy like that during Mardi Gras, but the other 360 days of the year, New Orleans was a Mecca of great entertainment.”

Wehner and the Village Door staff are looking forward to continuing prosperity and good times for all that dare to enter. In March, the club will host the kickoff party for the Price Oil celebrity event. The Chris McCarty Band—popular with college audiences and highly recommended by Wehner’s employees—will return to the stage. With Flash Flood still going strong, the Village Door promises live music seven nights a week.

“This is doing so well. This summer, I actually hope to spend some time fishing.” Wehner purchased a boat when he moved here but hasn’t had much time to take it out. “I’ve caught one fish since I’ve been in Florida.”