London venture tvg hospitality continues to expand its footprint of Alabama music venues.

On Feb. 22, tvg, the group behind Huntsville’s Orion Amphitheater and the upcoming Meridian Arts Club, announced they’d acquired Saturn, the 500-capacity Birmingham venue known for hosting notable alternative-rock acts like Soccer Mommy, Dinosaur Jr. and Ty Segall.

Its name spelled all lowercase, tvg announced the Saturn acquisition via social media, posting, “tvg hospitality is thrilled to announce that we have acquired Birmingham’s @saturnbham! Saturn’s founder Brian Teasley will join tvg as Senior Operations Manager and we are excited to bolster the legacy that Teasley and his team have already built at Saturn.”

A Pollstar report by writer Debbie Speer also noted tvg “will also support Huntsville’s historic Tip Top Café with their reopening this year.” Although tvg assisting with Tip Top’s reboot has been known in certain Huntsville circles for a bit, Pollstar’s report is the first time tvg has gone on the record about it.

Reportedly, tvg’s involvement with Tip Top — beloved defunct dive that brought acts like Widespread Panic, Goo Goo Dolls and Black Crowes to Huntsville before they’d made it big — is centered around food service, although it’s yet to be confirmed if that’s the extent of tvg’s Tip Top involvement.

Although Tip Top appears to be getting legitimately closer to reopening, and many Huntsville music fans are hopeful for that (including this writer), it’s worth noting a fall 2016 reopening was previously touted.

tvg hospitality has targeted spring 2023 for opening Meridian Arts Club, a planned 350-capacity venue in the former location of Huntsville’s A.M. Booth’s Lumberyard.

The 2022 closing of SideTracks Music Hall, which during its five-year run brought in rising touring bands (Greta Van Fleet, Shovels + Rope, etc.), top local songwriters (Rob Aldridge, Wanda Wesolowski) and buzzy new festivals (Sluice Fest), left a void for a dedicated club-sized Huntsville venue.

The 8,000-capacity Orion Amphitheater, featuring a classic coliseum-inspired look, got off to a hot start in 2022. The vibrant first-year lineup boasted around 25 concerts, including superstars like Stevie Nicks, Dave Matthews Band and Jack White who’d never have come to Huntsville otherwise.

Industry buzz around Orion led to a Rolling Stone feature on Huntsville’s blossoming music scene, with the story centered on the amphitheater. Orion’s 2023 lineup already includes high-wattage names like Robert Plant, Phish and Billy Strings.

In addition to Orion, tvg, cofounded by Mumford & Sons musician Ben Lovett, has venue/hospitality projects in London, Austin, Texas, Washington D.C. In early 2022, tvg secured $50 million in new funding to expand its venue portfolio and staff.

That financing includes participation from music-biz heavyweights – including Irving Azoff, who’s managed superstar bands like Van Halen and helmed major-labels, Live Nation and Ticketmaster. Lovett previous told AL.com tvg has allocated $15 million of that $50 million funding towards Huntsville projects.

In late 2022, Orion Amphitheater general manager Ryan Murphy told AL.com tvg’s future plans include bringing a large-scale music festival with big-name headliners back to Huntsville, something the city’s been without since Big Spring Jam, which booked acts including Foo Fighters, Taylor Swift and Al Green, shuttered in 2011 after a multi-decade run. “We’re just getting started,” Murphy said.