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When Morgan Walbridge and Joe Lockwood graduated from the University of the Arts in 2020, they knew they wanted to find a place to continue practicing music in their home.
Walbridge, who plays the vibraphone, and Lockwood, who plays the trumpet, have always felt music has an important part in their lives.
“We wanted to have some sort of music space in whatever next rowhome that we got after school, whether it was a living room or something like that,” Lockwood said. “But COVID hit, and this idea of having a music space really snowballed.”
The pair purchased the Fishtown property in 2023. They decided they would live upstairs and have the downstairs portion be their own creative space. But that required some changes.
“The before and after photos are pretty nuts,” Lockwood said. “The floor was all kinds of caved in, and there wasn’t really any ceiling. So we actually renovated the place twice.”
The next two years were a series of efforts to meet commercial zoning standards – which Walbridge said had “many layers.”
Nostalgia initially started as an intimate music and gathering venue for the couple’s friends and community members. But May 1, they opened to the public.
The venue now hosts live performances, small-scale events like art galleries and comedy shows, and more. Nearly 500 groups have now booked the space, and Walbridge and Lockwood say they are just getting started.
The vision
The vibe of Nostalgia Fishtown is simple and true to the name – making people nostalgic.
“When people walk in, we want them to connect with something here that makes them feel nostalgic, whether it’s seeing something from your childhood or if it’s a vintage T-shirt from an old TV show that you like, or connecting with that emotion of nostalgia with performance and events,” Lockwood said.
It’s also intended to be an open space for musicians and creatives, Walbridge said.
“We wanted to make a space that’s really catered towards musicians, having a strong background in that,” she said. “We also want to be well-equipped, welcoming, and all that stuff.”
The room holds up to 70 people, but its ticketed capacity is 50.
Their first public performance was held on Sunday, June 28.
“[Before this], we were doing kind of ‘secret shows’ in our garage at the time, and so there were a lot of eyes on us when we were announcing our [official] opening,” he said.
The venue also mixes cozy couches, chairs and standing room to give event attendees a variety of options to enjoy the show.
“We had seating up in the front, and we had standing in the back,” Lockwood said. “It was a really good mix of atmospheres, and both sets were really good. There was something really special in the air on Sunday night.”
The space also aims to elevate musicians and creatives of all levels – evening the playing field.
“When we say we accept all different types of genres, we really mean it,” Lockwood said. “We don’t care if someone has like 100 followers and they have some really cool project that they’re trying to get out there, or if someone’s got 800,000 followers and they want to shoot a music video here, we say ‘yes’ to all of it. We just tell people originality is our top criteria.”
The venue is now booking all the way out until February. Lockwood and Walbridge agreed they are in a good spot.
“When we post something [on social media], we usually get a big influx, so we try to catch up before we post another reel or something like that, but good problem to have,” Lockwood said.
Philly roots
The couple feels deeply connected to their alma mater – The University of the Arts – which closed abruptly in 2024.
The two continue to use the skills they fine-tuned at UArts – Morgan continues to tour as a vibraphonist, while Joe has a background in teaching trumpet post-college.
But one of the couple’s favorite parts of studying at the university is the community it has created for them – and especially how it supported them post-UArts closure.
“[In 2024], we started opening our garage for little tiny performances, I think we just had our first one, maybe a few weeks before UArts closed,” Lockwood said. “So it was like fire to the fuel when UArts closed. It was like, ‘Hey, our community just got shut down, let’s go to Morgan and Joe’s garage and let’s see some shows and get together and hang out.”
Nostalgia Fishtown holds the UArts charter up on one of its water heaters and carries other memorabilia with it throughout the space. The couple said these choices are intentional – and are a way to keep the UArts community alive.
“The community is very embedded in here,” Walbridge said. “Our realtor was a bass player that we met at UArts, a lot of our friends from both of our bands are from UArts, our architect was from UArts as well. I think UArts was very open-minded in terms of genres and creativity, so it definitely has shaped the fact that we are open to having all genres here.”
As for the future, Walbridge and Lockwood said their friends and community members are really excited. They want their venue to remain a space for creativity, innovation and fun.
“[After Sunday], people were texting me saying, ‘I have to book my show here, that was super inspiring, even friends of mine that don’t usually text me,’” Lockwood said. “I think people really got excited after that first show and with the calendar coming up for us and all the other events that are going to be happening here.”
Beyond performance bookings, the couple said the space can be used for many purposes. Bands can book the venue as a place to rehearse, groups can host film screenings or art and comedy events, and podcasters can use the space to do audio and video recording.
And when they’re not hosting performances or accommodating rentals, the space still invites community members inside.
“We have a vintage pop-up in the front,” Lockwood said. “There are 90s and 2000s T-shirts from me and Morgan’s personal curation, and that’s the best way to meet us, talk to us and see the space, kind of like an open house.”
You can visit Nostalgia Fishtown at 14 E Jefferson Street.
