The stage at the Tides Tavern is now obscured by tables and chairs, but on its back wall, a few faded set lists still hang from Lucky Pierre and other old Gig Harbor bands, back from the days when live music was a regular feature at the Tides. Tides CEO Dylan Stanley remembers hearing those acts as a kid, running around the tavern opened by his father, Peter, in 1973.

“That was a long time ago,” Stanley said.

These days, live music in downtown Gig Harbor is hard to find. Dave Thomas, guitarist and vocalist for popular local rockers the Shy Boys, recalls Friday and Saturday nights 20 years ago, bouncing from band to band at different downtown spots, from the old bar W.B. Scott’s, now Spiro’s Pizza & Pasta, to Anthony’s, to the Tides.

“It was kind of like (Seattle’s) Pioneer Square, in that you could walk up and down the harbor and find five different bands,” Thomas said. “Now, zero.”

“Those were fun times, and I know people remember those fondly,” Stanley said.

But, he added: “For every one or two people who mention live music and the glory days, there’s 100 people who want to eat dinner.”

The Tides began to phase out of the music scene as the expectations of a venue clashed more with the expectations of a restaurant, Stanley said. Cover charges for bands and the noise they generated began to irk some diners, and the space the stage required ate into the room required for tables during peak hours.

“People would be scrambling to finish their dinner to try to get their cover (charge) back,” Stanley said.

Thomas said he thinks music became more trouble than it was worth for the always-popular tavern.

“They don’t have much reason to play music anymore – they’re always full,” he said.

The mantle of hosting live music in recent years has largely fallen to venues away from downtown, such as Forza Coffee Company on Olympic Drive NW. The café started to showcase music two years ago, and it’s now booked every Friday and Saturday night for three months in advance, owner Erika Lowery said.

Forza had its first Thursday night performance two weeks ago for the new “ladies night,” which will be a regular addition to the schedule. Lowery said she’s heard from many local bands that see a decreased number of booking options.

“There are a lot of people looking for new avenues,” she said.

Thomas has heard the same. “For up-and-coming bands, it’s pretty limited in the harbor now,” he said. “Which is why a place like Forza has been able to do so well.”

The Shy Boys now primarily play at Forza and at private and corporate events. Forza has taken advantage of the changing local scene by offering a different environment for listening to music, Lowery said. In the absence of the old downtown venues, the options for Gig Harbor concert-goers have been limited to a few bars, such as the Floatation Device on Sherman Drive NW, the Halftime Sports Saloon on Point Fosdick Drive NW, or Forza.

“We’re not a bar,” Lowery said. “We can have music and a casual atmosphere.”

She said Forza shows often draw children, families — and even her own 86-year-old grandmother.

“I know I’d rather go somewhere at 7 to listen to music than wait for a bar to start at 8,” she said. “It’s just a different feel.”

Local bands looking for gigs may not have many options downtown, but Steve Lynn, the owner of Morso Wine Bar, disputes the idea that there aren’t music options downtown anymore. He said it all depends on what you’re looking for — and what your definition of downtown is. Lynn said his customers would certainly consider a night at Morso, an upscale restaurant in the Finholm District, to be a night out downtown, and, like patrons at Forza, are they’re looking for something entirely different than what used to be offered in downtown’s live-music heyday.

“Some people like to have a cover band in the corner and continue to drink beer and have a party,” Lynn said. “Our approach is quite different — we’re looking for touring singer-songwriters.”

Morso holds a concert, for which they sell tickets, once every two or three weeks featuring what Lynn called “nationally-known Americana acts.” He said his focus on booking established, touring musicians, such as roots guitarist Kelly Joe Phelps, who will perform this weekend, sets Morso apart from what you might hear at a bar.

“We want an environment where you can really hear the music,” Lynn said.

Stanley believes part of change in Gig Harbor’s music scene can be attributed to a local demographic that’s grown older in the past two decades. The current community may not be as interested in going to hear a bar band and might rather go somewhere like Forza or Morso, he said, but that may be changing.

“All communities go through cycles,” Stanley said. “I think Gig Harbor is due for a renaissance.”

He pointed to ongoing development around town and the Smithsonian Magazine’s selection of Gig Harbor as the fifth-best small town in America earlier this year.

“There’s a lot of energy going around,” he said. “It won’t be so sleepy for long.”

For the Tides’ part, Stanley said he’s interested in something of a live-music revival. “We’re going to put our foot in that water a little more,” he said. This year marks the tavern’s 40th anniversary, and Stanley said he foresees bringing bands in more regularly throughout the year.

“We’ve been talking more about bringing some of that back without alienating some of our clientele,” he said.

Stanley mentioned the Tides’ popular holiday parties as an example of a way to blend special events into the tavern’s calendar.

Thomas said the Shy Boys have played a number of fundraisers at the Tides, and that the band is happy with their current bookings. But, he said, a renewed emphasis on live music at the Tides could help downtown Gig Harbor regain some of its lost musical flavor.

“There used to be bands in there all the time,” Thomas said. “It would be nice to see more.”