When The Masquerade in Ybor City closed a couple of years ago, it had degenerated into a scary place: dark and tomb-like, with couches that only the bravest dared sit on. If memory serves, the men’s room had a hole where a urinal had once been. You pissed in the hole. I think it’s safe to say that most of us miss the events that Masquerade brought in, but don’t much miss the place itself.

Here’s some good news: The venue has reopened — under its original name, the Ritz Theatre.

And the place is nice. Really. $2 million renovation nice.

The building has been owned by the Capitano family for a long time, and is being run by Nicole Capitano as an event facility, not a nightclub. The Ritz’s first major concert event will be Bogus Pomp on Sat., June 7. The Bay area band plays the music of Frank Zappa with the kind of expertise and zeal that’s truly remarkable.

As for the Ritz’s interior, well, old denizens of the Masquerade will hardly recognize it. It’s been opened up and is now square-shaped. The feel is lighter and brighter. There’s a new, higher stage, an in-house lighting rig. The room can be configured to include tables and chairs or open space; there are no fixed seats. The brick walls are covered by huge velour curtains for better sound quality. The bare concrete floor has been upgraded: It’s now tiled in large black-and-white checks. The two front rooms have been spiffed up and will feature full bars.

While I wouldn’t call the refurbished Ritz opulent, it has been significantly upgraded, having kept historic Ybor City style in mind.

Frank Zaccaro has booked Bogus Pomp, and plans on doing more shows. “I’m looking at national acts,” he said. “My objective is to bring in high-end blues, jazz and pop acts, maybe some classic rock acts. When Queensryche last came to Tampa Theatre they did less than a thousand people. The show was too small for Tampa Theatre, too big for a nightclub, would’ve been perfect for us.”

Zaccaro said that the revamped Ritz will hold around a thousand for concerts.

Promoters, it’s available for rental.

This article appears in Apr 23-29, 2008.

Eric Snider is the dean of Bay area music critics. He started in the early 1980s as one of the founding members of Music magazine, a free bi-monthly. He was the pop music critic for the then-St. Petersburg...